Mobile Start-up Red Robot Secures $8.5M In Funding

Mobile gaming start-up Red Robot Labs has raised $8.5 million in funding for its popular location-based mobile MMO title Life is Crime. The game sees players committing virtual crimes at real-life locations, such as selling contraband and fighting other players to own a particular location. This round of funding for the studio comes from Benchmark Capital and Shasta Ventures, the company said Wednesday, along with existing investors Playdom's Rick Thompson and Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive. Mike Ouye, CEO at Red Robot said in a statement that his company "recognized the enormous opportunity presented by location gameplay on mobile devices -- location games are very sticky." Benchmark general partner and mobile game veteran Mitch Lasky, who's joining Red Robot's board, added, "We are extremely excited to invest in what we believe to be a huge market opportunity for location-based mobile gaming." Red Robot said it will use the funds to "accelerate studio growth, propel development of their R2 location gaming platform, build third party studio partnerships, and deliver the most sophisticated and engaging games for mobile devices."