Hipster Whale (Crossy Road) co-founders Andrew Sum and Matt Hall have agreed to back Prettygreat, the Brisbane-based indie studio (pictured) founded by former Halfbrick folks earlier this year, to the tune of $500,000 AUS (~$380.1k USD).
Last year Hipster Whale made a tidy chunk of change on the back of Crossy Road’s microtransactions and video ads. Sum told Gamasutra earlier this year that “we far exceeded any financial goals we had,” and now he and his compatriot are putting some of that money back into a fellow Australian indie; they will also formally join Prettygreat as shareholders and advisors.
Back in February, Prettygreat managing director Phil Larsen told Gamasutra (on “literally day one”) that he and his fellow studio co-founders were “open to everyone and ready to knock it out out of the park.” With its first round of funding wrapped up, the founders of Prettygreat — former Halfbrick CMO Phil Larsen, ex-Halfbrick art director Hugh Walters and former Halfbrick CCO Luke Muscat, the creator of Jetpack Joyride and Fruit Ninja — are aiming to launch their inaugural game before the end of the year.