Update 9/27: The company previously known as “Dusk” has renamed itself to “Rune.” A spokesperson for the company informed Game Developer that its app will now be known as “RuneMatch.”
A new app has launched for multiplayer phone games in the form of Dusk, and its creators have already secured more money to build it out.
Created by Bjarke Felbo and Sanjay Guruprasad, the app is a platform that lets players meet up and play games in a quick and easy matter.
Dusk is currently in beta, and the press release notes there’s already 50 games on the platform. Those games are made by indie studios using a platform-specific SDK, it automatically runs cross-platform across browsers, along with iOS and Android apps.
According to the press release, those beta games are taking off quite well and players have used Dusk’s voice chat for “over 50 million minutes” (or over 95 years after conversion) since launch.
Can Dusk properly court the youths?
Guruprasad and Felbo previously collaborated together on Rune, a companion app for mobile versions of PUBG and Call of Duty. Rune’s since shut down, but with five million downloads, the two teamed again on an app for casual games and younger players.
The allure of the teen demographic drew the attention of firms like byFounders and Makers fund, and King founder Thomas Hartwig, to put a collective $8 million in funding toward Dusk.
Guruprasad noted larger platforms on console and PC are geared toward “more hardcore players,” giving Dusk a potential advantage. “Gen Z wants fun, casual games that they can play together on their phones as they share a laugh on voice chat,” he said.
“This funding is a testament to the confidence our investors have in our vision to revolutionize how social multiplayer games are built and played on mobile.”
While Dusk is still building out its future, it has two rivals in Roblox and Fortnite. Both of those games have had a grip on Gen Z players (for better and worse), further helped by their own sizable presence in the mobile market.
Getting teens onboard with a new platform isn’t always easy, especially when there’s already so much fighting for everyone’s time, regardless of age or demographic.