Meteor Entertainment konnte im Februar knapp zehn Millionen Dollar als Finanzspritze für das Free-to-play Online-Mechspiel Hawken ansammeln, dies berichtet VentureBeat. Zu den gewonnenen Investoren zählen u.a. Benchmark Capital und FirstMark Capital, die schon Riot Games mit League of Legends in der Frühphase unterstützt hatten. Laut Adhesive Games soll das auf die Zielgruppe "Hardcore-Spieler" ausgerichtete Onlinespiel (Spielszenen) am 12. Dezember 2012 veröffentlicht werden. Wer früher mitmischen will, kann sich auf der offiziellen Webseite bereits für den geschlossenen Betatest registrieren.

"We are seeing the rise of the direct-to-consumer model, where all is downloadable and free-to-play. Gamers are willing to pay via virtual goods to do that. League of Legends is a fantastic title, but it is just one game and one genre that has blown up. We think it's possible to produce very high quality games that have huge audiences that are willing to pay," First Capital's Rick Heitzmann, added.

"Meteor Entertainment has raised $10 million in a bid to launch a downloadable online game called Hawken. Aimed at hardcore gamers who battle each other online, Hawken is a fast-action shooting game where players can equip themselves with giant armored mech robotic suits and pummel each other in the ruined cities of a toxic planet. (...) The large amount of funding for a studio that has only one unpublished game in the works is a big bet, but one that the backers are making with a great deal of confidence. The investors include Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital, the same investors who backed the highly successful Riot Games, maker of League of Legends (...)"