Frenzoo, a Hong Kong and San Francisco-based company producing 3D lifestyle games for women and girls, announced today the addition of US$1 million in new funding led by existing investors, including Fresco Capital, K5 Ventures and Anshe Chung Ltd. The company has now raised over $3 million in total seed funding.
According to Frenzoo, the latest round will be used to accelerate the development of its forthcoming Me Girl titles, invest in app marketing and user acquisition, and to hire for key positions in game development, engineering and product management.
At the same time, the company also launched meTropolis, a cross-game universe in which characters, quests and storylines carry over from app to app within the Me Girl franchise. meTropolis enables players to interact with Frenzoo’s Me Girl cast across a diverse range of experiences spanning seven games in total, including four new roleplaying and simulation games — Me Girl Love Paradise, Me Girl Love Story, Glamour Me Girl and Me Girl Celebs — plus the three existing Me Girl titles. These titles have now exceeded 20 million installs between them.
Screenshots of Frenzoo’s New Apps
Throughout meTropolis, the Me Girl characters in one game might ask a player to help them or their friends out by completing quests in another game, impacting the story in both. For example, a dating columnist in Me Girl Love Story might be asked to help her editor achieve her dreams of being an actress in Me Girl Celebs, and then discover what happens next in Me Girl Love Story upon completion of the quest.
“meTropolis is the first time a mobile gaming company has delivered this level of story integration across apps, and we think our players are going to love it,” said Frenzoo co-founder and CEO Simon Newstead.
The Me Girl line of 3D lifestyle games are based on Frenzoo’s 3D avatar technology, built on top of Unity to provide realistic body movements and facial expressions that help bring the characters to life. Aside from the four new games, other titles in the franchise include Style Me Girl, the role playing game (RPG) that invites players to become a stylist to the stars; Teen Vogue Me Girl, launched in partnership with publishers Conde Nast; and Me Girl Dress Up, in which players step into the role of junior stylist for a popular fashion blog. More Me Girl games will be added to meTropolis later this year.
Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)