In the aftermath of Diablo 4, its Vessel of Hatred expansion, and the early access launch of Path of Exile 2, it's an exciting time for ARPGs and any accompanying loot explosions. Moon Beast Productions, a development studio formed in 2021 by ARPG veterans who worked on Diablo 1 and 2, is hoping to add its own entry to the nascent ARPG boom, and it's secured $4.5 million in seed funding to do it.
According to a press release announcing the studio's seed funding success, Moon Beast is "exploring an alternate trajectory for action RPGs," and based on its founders' histories I suspect they have a pretty strong sense of where the genre has room to grow. Erich Schaefer, Moon Beast's chief creative officer, started his work on ARPGs as lead designer on Diablo 1, going on to share credits with CEO Phil Shenk and president Peter Hu on Diablo 2 and other storied ARPG names like Hellgate: London and Torchlight.
Moon Beast's seed investors include 1AM Gaming, 1UP Ventures, Overwolf, and "a network of angel investors" like Gaingels, Cohh Carnage, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. Apologies for any vivid Farmville flashbacks you might've experienced from that last one.
"For the past 20 years, we’ve dreamed of ARPG gameplay in more open, dynamic worlds," Schaefer said in the press release. "We finally have the technological capabilities and decades of design experience to bring those visions to life. We're going back to what made those early Diablo games feel so awesome but taking them in some cool, fresh directions."
While Moon Beast isn't revealing any details about its ARPG project until next year, Hu said the studio's working to support user-generated content—which is how you say "mods" in a business setting—as a key component of its design philosophy. "Our world technology is inherently dynamic, which makes it incredibly easy for players to create and integrate their own content," Hu said. "We're building in-game tools that allow players to not just mod, but potentially create entirely new game modes using our robust, client-server ARPG systems."
"Think about how MOBAs emerged from Warcraft 3 mods," Shenk said. "Our UGC tools could similarly unlock entirely new genres built on ARPG gameplay and systems."
It's a big pitch, but we've seen proof of how malleable the ARPG genre boundaries are. Across its years of Path of Exile leagues and content additions, Grinding Gear Games has managed to meld the core Diablo-like gameplay with tower defense mechanics, settlement building, and more. Meanwhile, Blizzard's open world ARPG experiment continues with every Diablo 4 season.
Of course, in the cases of Path of Exile and Diablo 4, it was the studios themselves flexing the genre boundaries. The Moon Beast press release didn't indicate whether its UGC plans involve any compensation for creators.
Moon Beast plans to release the first details about its ARPG project in early 2025.
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