Postcard Game Studio receives $3.5 billion seed investment from Smilegate

This week, a handful of industry veterans revealed Postcard Game Studio, a new development outfit based out of Irvine, California. Fueled by a $3.5 million seed investment from Smilegate, the Korean publisher behind Crossfire and Lost Ark, Postcard is billing itself as a AAA studio whose first project is an unannounced open-world RPG-shooter.

“Postcard Game Studio is a dream four years in the making,” Ray Almaden, CEO and director, told GameDaily. “Back then, [I] had a simple thought: what would it be like to create a place where talented developers can band together to make the games they want to play?”

Almaden boasts a 17-year career in the games industry spanning a number of prominent studios, including 343 Industries, Naughty Dog, and Daybreak. Most recently, he was an assistant game director at Guerrilla, where he worked on Horizon Forbidden West. 

“[My] career making games has allowed [me] to cross paths with some incredible talent, many of which are today’s founding members of Postcard,” Almaden explained. “Each of them bring unique skill sets and experience to the table, but more importantly, they bring the passion and willpower to follow through on [my] favorite mantra: ‘making games is a dream job, so it should feel like one.’”

Considering that the founding team for Postcard boasts a background working on franchises like Halo, Destiny,and Horizon, it shouldn’t be surprising that the team has its sights set on the open-world RPG-FPS market. It’s where their passion lies, and Almaden is particularly attracted to the freedom offered by the genre.

“We want to chase after that feeling of discovery a player can get when encountering something new in the world, like an enemy that requires a change in strategy, or a new area that is both beautiful as well as mysterious and full of secrets to uncover,” he said. “Allowing the player to discover a new world on their own through engaging gameplay, and contextualizing that experience with a compelling narrative, is what’s got us most excited about working within this genre as a team.”

The funding from Smilegate should go a long way in realizing this vision. Almaden said that the studio’s immediate priority for the investment is building out a prototype that showcases Postcard’s strength and vision for its new IP.

“Smilegate has been the perfect partner in this, providing us with all the support and freedom needed to bring about the next great open world FPS franchise.”

It all boils down to building the game the team wants to play. This is the driving force behind Postcard’s efforts, and the center of its development philosophy. Almaden hopes to build a culture that encourages creativity and individuality, and believes this strategy will result in an exciting final product.

“Our team boasts enough years working on some of the world’s favorite game franchises to know that the only way to bring the best game we can to our players is to build a culture around people and provide them with what they need to let their creativity shine through,” he said.