Seattle-based startup Live Aware Labs recently raised $4.8 million in seed funding to continue developing their feedback management platform for game developers. The funding round was led by Transcend, with participation from A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN, Lifelike Capital, and various angel investors. Live Aware’s platform aims to provide video game creators with tools to improve feedback, iterate faster, and collaborate closely with a community of players and testers. CEO Sean Vesce, a longtime game developer, emphasizes the importance of building games in partnership with their audience to increase the chances of success.
Live Aware’s management platform utilizes machine learning to sift through feedback from game testers and extract the most valuable information for developers to iterate on game design quickly. Co-founders Nathan Wheeler and Dave Berger, along with Vesce, recognized the need for tools to support a player-first approach after their success with the game Never Alone, which was developed in collaboration with the Alaska Native community. The Live Aware platform allows developers to gather feedback in real-time from their community and implement changes almost instantly.
The AI technology provided by Live Aware allows game testers to record their gameplay sessions, with their vocal reactions providing crucial data that the platform can analyze and present to developers as plain text. This streamlines the feedback process, which is typically time-consuming and inefficient. Other features of the Live Aware platform include automated translation in 30 languages and integration with popular game development tools like Unity, Unreal Engine, Slack, Discord, and Monday.com. Several studios worldwide, including Krafton, GSC Game World, and Believer, have already incorporated Live Aware into their development processes.
Co-founder Dave Berger, who was the former engineering director of 343 Industries (now Halo Studios), shares his excitement for the Live Aware platform and expresses his wish for having such tools available while working on Halo. The company plans to launch a pay-as-you-go plan for Live Aware in 2025 to make the platform accessible to developers with varying levels of funding. The focus on community-driven and player-first development is a key aspect of Live Aware’s mission, as Vesce emphasizes the importance of involving players in the development process from the earliest stages to increase the chances of creating successful games.
Overall, Live Aware Labs provides game developers with an all-in-one solution for feedback management, leveraging AI technology to streamline the iterative process and improve communication with their community of players and testers. The company’s success in securing significant seed funding and attracting partnerships with prominent investors and game studios is a testament to the value of their platform in the gaming industry. By enabling developers to work closely with their audience and iterate rapidly on game design, Live Aware is poised to make a significant impact on the way games are created and refined in the future.
