CHINA'S NetEase on Tuesday poured US$120 million in funding into game developer and publisher Kepler Interactive, spreading its wings overseas amid Beijing's crackdown on the gaming industry.

Singapore and London-based Kepler Interactive is a collective where game studio founders band together and become co-owners. The game studios share resources, operational support and financial gains, while maintaining their own creative independence.

So far, Kepler Interactive's partner studios are found worldwide. They are A44 in New Zealand; Alpha Channel and Timberline in North America; Awaceb, Ebb Software and Sloclap in Europe; and Shapefarm in Asia.

Kepler Interactive will have operational hubs in London and Singapore, with teams spread over 10 countries. Its slate of titles for next year include third-person action game Sifu, first-person survival horror adventure video game Scorn, and open-World adventure game Tchia.

Kepler Interactive has set up its key strategic office in Singapore. Chief executive Alexis Garavaryan said that the city-state "has always been a thriving global business hub and an attractive destination for local and international talent".

"It's only natural for us to have a key strategic office here. It also helps to be closer to our existing studio collective in Asia and Australasia and build deeper relationships across the region with other companies in our ecosystem. We hope to further strengthen the links between gaming and Singapore as Kepler Interactive grows and develops," he added.

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The executive team is led by the founders of Kowloon Nights, a fund that deployed over US$100 million across 50 projects to independent game developers. Mr Garavaryan is a former Tencent executive who led a number of initiatives ranging from equity investment to platform building. He also supported Tencent's internal studios on one of the world's top-grossing games, Honor of Kings.

Beyond 2022, Kepler Interactive said it will grow by welcoming more partner studios, as well as expanding into cross-platform content production including film and other media.