The State of Gaming VC in 2024

Jan 21, 2024

Moritz Baier-Lentz, Head of Gaming at Lightspeed, discusses the state of gaming VC in 2024, including lessons learned as an investor, growth-stage deals, and Lightspeed Gaming's first year. He also highlights areas attracting their attention, such as cross-platform forever games, generative AI, interactive media, 3D innovations, XR, and AI-driven devices. The podcast delves into the evolution of gaming VC, the impact of AI, XR, and sensing devices in gaming, and investment strategy in the competitive landscape.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

The State of Gaming VC in 2024

02:00 • 18min

The State of Venture Capital in the Gaming Industry

20:25 • 24min

The Evolution of Gaming VC and the Impact of AI

44:06 • 9min

Exploring the Potential of XR and Sensing Devices in Gaming

52:57 • 4min

Investment Strategy and Being Open-Minded

56:34 • 4min

Reflections on Growth and Decision Making in Investing

01:00:16 • 3min

Venture markets – within and beyond gaming – soared in 2020-2021 and fell back to earth over the past couple of years, but what should we expect in 2024? And what may change about gaming VC longer-term?

To answer these questions and more, host Aaron Bush is joined by Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner and Head of Gaming at Lightspeed. Moritz shares his thoughts on the state of venture capital, lessons learned as an investor, why he’s targeting increased exposure to growth-stage deals and post-product-market fit opportunities, and shares an update on Lightspeed Gaming’s first year.

Moritz walks us through his first three investments at Lightspeed: Believer (raised $55M in Series A), Gardens (raised $31.3M in Series A), and Inworld AI (raised $50M+).

We then dig into what corners of the market are attracting Lightspeed’s attention in gaming & interactive media today. This includes new studios (like cross-platform forever games), generative AI applications (for developer workflows + novel user experiences), interactive media applications and platforms (leveraging UGC, applied game mechanics, etc.), 3D innovations (like new game engines, generative 3D, and reality capture methods), as well as XR and new AI-driven devices. He also discusses how Lightspeed supports teams across the traditional boundaries of geographies and at the cross-sections of gaming and other industries (like consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, and blockchain).

Additional links:

Lightspeed’s website: https://gaming.lsvp.com/
Game Changers: https://lsvp.com/lightspeed-gamesbeat-game-changers-winners/
Gaming x AI Market Map: https://naavik.co/deep-dives/lightspeed-gaming-x-ai-market-map/

Please enjoy the episode!

We’d also like to thank Nexus for making this episode possible! Nexus’s creator program in-a-box makes it easy for game devs to build and manage a world-class creator program, driving significant growth in conversion, ARPPU, retention, and LTV. To learn more, go to http://nexus.gg/naavik

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.