League of Legends investors put $10 million into Hawken

Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital invested in League of Legends and that turned out well, so they're hoping for repeat success with another free to play title, mech game Hawken. Combined, the outfits have sunk $10 million into the project.

“We are seeing the rise of the direct-to-consumer model, where all is downloadable and free-to-play,” Rick Heitzmann, founder and managing director of FirstMark Capital, told VentureBeat. “You can disrupt the business with a free-to-play title. Gamers are willing to pay via virtual goods to do that. League of Legends is a fantastic title, but it is just one game and one genre that has blown up. We think it’s possible to produce very high quality games that have huge audiences that are willing to pay.”

Lasky added, “It’s a phenomenon akin to other incumbent areas like music, TV, film, and newspapers, where the internet is disrupting both
business models and consumption patterns. We have seen it happen again and again. The internet levels the playing field.”

Hawken is set to launch December 12 on PC.