Fuzzybot, a new studio formed by EA veterans, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding from Bitkraft Ventures to finance its debut project.
The nascent company was co-founded by Tatyana Dyshlova and Max Spielberg–who previously worked at EA as lead producer and designer director, respectively–and officially opened last year.
The core team includes former leads from AAA studios like Bungie, Ubisoft, and Retro Studios, and has been tasked with creating “ambitious cross-genre co-op games that are deep, repayable, and socially creative.”
Fuzzybot’s first project is being pitched as a long-lasting co-op experience called a “roguelife” that blends combat and progression mechanics with other elements pulled from the roguelite and life sim genres.
Studio CEO Tatyana Dyshlova said Fuzzybot intends to scale-up its development team while avoiding the pitfalls of “high-crunch culture.”
“The games industry is notorious for its inflexible high-crunch culture and we are determined to chart a new path in how our company operates and brings games to market,” said the chief exec. “We value the collaborative speed that comes from working within a small team and look to capitalize on the benefits that a remote studio can provide.”