Scriptic might not be a name that jumps to mind when you think of gaming, but they are creating game experiences like no other. Now, they’re pushing even further into gaming with player-created, generative AI games.
What Is Scriptic?
Scriptic is a storytelling platform that creates experiences that are a mixture of TV dramas and games. They have created BAFTA-nominated content for the likes of Netflix, the BBC, and Amazon, and now they’re pushing further into this new genre of game.
Utilizing tools such as Midjourney, ElevenLabs, and ChatGPT, among others, Scriptic has created interactive game experiences, however, the vision for the future takes things to new heights. Scriptic wants to focus on User-Generated Content (UGC) by offering a suite of AI-based creator tools to players. In essence, players will be creating their own interactive dramas.
Today’s funding, from an incredible cast of new and returning investors, will empower us to pursue our vision of becoming the ‘Roblox of narrative’. We’re excited about building out our pipeline of interactive shows across new and existing IPs, opening up our community for user-generated content, and taking the next step in our ambitious company journey.
— Nihal Tharoor, Co-founder and CEO at Scriptic
The term “Roblox of narrative” stands out here and I can imagine that pulled its weight in any pitch to VCs. UGC has been front and center of gaming for a decade or more, with the likes of Minecraft and Roblox, but also in the more recent example of Fortnite Creative 2.0 which partnered with Nike.
The $5.7m raised is the second funding round, bringing the total of the seed rounds to $8.2m, and included investment from some familiar names: BITKRAFT (who led the second round), Twitch co-founder, Kevin Lin, and Unity founder, David Helgason.
Final Thoughts
Scriptic’s vision strikes me as a potentially rich vein in the games industry for a number of reasons. Firstly, innovation is warmly welcomed in a sector that goes through extreme peaks and troughs with creativity; one moment we are seeing new genres pioneered with cutting-edge technology, and the next we are seeing re-releases of old games and copy-paste versions of the same format on a weekly basis. What Scriptic is doing is undoubtedly the former.
However, I believe the reason it has garnered attention from VCs is the parallels that can be drawn between what Scriptic is doing and the first wave of social games: they attract non-gamers. In VentureBeat’s article on Scriptic, they wrote, “For the company’s BAFTA-nominated Dead Man’s Phone, 80% of players identify as true crime fans rather than gamers.” This is the financial allure. Social gaming on mobile and on platforms such as Facebook captured a near uncapturable demographic, turning them into gamers, and the rewards were monumental.
