Layer AI Inc., an artificial intelligence-driven toolset platform for video game assets, today announced it has raised $6.5 million in a seed round.

The company provides a professional suite of tools for game developers to quickly build, manage and refine 2D, 3D and video assets for production that allows them to significantly reduce content generation time significantly. “At a time that everyone was creating point solutions, we saw that the best path to effectively apply AI models to games in the most custom, flexible and long-term way, was to have a multi-modal, tool-agnostic platform,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Volkan Gurel.

Gurel said that the company has become the preferred company for mobile game companies. Since launching in 2023, Layer AI says, it has gained traction with more than 200 studios, including big names such as Zynga Inc., Tripledot Studios, SciPlay Corp., Huuuge Games and Machine Zone Inc.

Layer’s tools revolve around generative gaming art production and delivery, allowing professionals the time to refine their work by either building in-game assets, such as items and objects or scenes that can be reused or painting scenes. It can also be used to provide assets for live service content as well as marketing, using the company’s branded style.

“The team at Layer fundamentally get games, and they have the right vision and momentum to create a new industry standard to transform how world-class studios are scaling game development and production with AI,” said Tripledot co-founder and investor Akin Babayigit.

The adoption of AI has caused considerable waves in the development of video games, from the emergence of AI assistants to the production of video game assets. Coplay, an AI copilot for game developers, raised $1.2 million in December to build a Unity game engine-based AI assistant that works directly with game developers. Google LLC also revealed that the industry has been adapting with AI, using tools that assist with game testing and creating “living games,” that adjust storylines alongside player choices.

Arcadia and an investment vehicle connected to Riccardo Zacconi, co-founder of popular social gaming leader King.com Ltd., led the funding round, with participation from existing investor E2.vc. “Layer is the first solution I have seen to provide developers with the simplest way to bring AI into their production pipelines,” said Zacconi.

With the funding, Layer said, it intends to expand its team and build new features to support a wider range of gaming experiences.

Image: Layer