Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
On March 7, 2023, The Believer Company announced $55 million in Series A financing led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The former Riot Games leaders behind the studio said they planned to use the funding to build an original-IP open-world game centered on meaningful player choices and shared play. The announcement describes a launch-era plan—not the company’s current financing, operating status, or a confirmed game release.
Who founded The Believer Company?
The March 2023 announcement named Michael Chow as CEO and Steven Snow as chief product officer. Chow was a former Riot Games vice president and executive producer on League of Legends: Wild Rift. Snow was a founding Riot member and executive producer on League of Legends. These are the roles and credentials reported at the studio’s launch, not verified current positions. The Believer Company’s announcement also described the studio as headquartered in Los Angeles, with developers around the world.
The launch announcement listed other members of the team, including CTO Landon McDowell, CCO Jeremy Vanhoozer, COO Tim Hsu, CMO Shankar Gupta-Harrison, Director of Operations Grace Park, VP of Design Jeff Jew, Associate Game Director Juno Blees, and VP of R&D Technologies Julien Bouvrais. Those titles likewise reflect the announcement, not confirmed present-day roles.
Who invested in the $55 million round?
Lightspeed Venture Partners led the Series A, according to the company’s March 7, 2023 announcement. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) was named as key support. The announcement also listed additional seed funding from the following investors:
#1 Best Overall
- BITKRAFT Ventures
- Riot Games
- 1Up Ventures
- Upfront Ventures
- Next Play Capital
- Alumni Ventures
- Villam Ventures
- Don Thompson’s Cleveland Avenue
- Michael D. Eisner’s Tornante Company
The $55 million figure is the financing amount announced at the studio’s 2023 launch; it should not be read as a current valuation, total funding to date, or evidence of the company’s financial position today.
What game did the studio plan to make?
Believer said the funding would help it build a team for a next-generation open-world game based on original intellectual property. The stated design goals included stories in which player choices matter and systems intended to bring players together. In a same-day TechCrunch interview, Snow described the ambition as making open-world adventures playable with friends.
These were concept and positioning statements, not details of a demonstrated or released game. The company announcement said it would adopt emerging technologies selectively when they improved development or gameplay. In the interview, the founders said NFTs were not a goal and discussed possible responsible uses of generative AI while emphasizing human creators. Those remarks describe the founders’ views at launch; they do not establish current company policy or implemented game features.
Were platforms or a release date announced?
No specific supported platform or release date was announced in the launch materials. The founders expressed interest in making the experience broadly accessible across platforms, but did not identify which ones. TechCrunch reported Snow considered a three-to-five-year horizon reasonable for a first product, while the founders said they were not ready to announce a date and wanted to involve players in stages. That was a March 2023 estimate, not a commitment or a verified schedule today.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Is The Believer Company still active?
The available announcements and contemporaneous interview establish what the studio said when it launched in 2023, but do not establish whether it remains operational or whether it has since announced or released a game. Without a later verified company update, it would be inaccurate to infer either that the studio is still active or that it has closed.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
