Dark Passenger raises $3 million for The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 veterans

dark passengera studio made up of veterans of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, has raised $3 million in a seed round.

The Games Fund led the round, with support from the Blite Fund. The investment fuels the development of an unannounced, cutting-edge, first-person multiplayer PvPvE action-stealth game set in a unique universe inspired by feudal Japan and martial arts cinema.

Co-founded by Jakub Ben and Paweł Kuleta of renowned CGI studio RealTime Warriors, Dark Passenger also brings together CD Projekt Red veterans, including Marcin Michalski. With their experience in iconic titles such as The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, the team aims to create an original IP unlike anything players have seen before.

The core team combines the artistic expertise of RealTime Warriors with top talent from acclaimed studios such as CDPR, People Can Fly, Reikon, Flying Wild Hog and Covenant.dev. With the backing, Warsaw, Poland-based Dark Passenger plans to grow its team to more than 30. The company aims to reach more than 60 by launch.

Poland has solidified its position as Europe’s leading video game developer and exporter: the industry generates almost one billion euros a year and exports more than 96% of its production globally (according to the Polish Agency for Business Development). This success comes from a group of passionate and ambitious creators. Dark Passenger is tapping into this rich talent base with aspirations to become a leading force in the European gaming landscape.

The team is ready to deliver the ultimate ninja experience, with thrilling rooftop chases through stunning vertical landscapes and intense, fast-paced combat. Players will wield bladed and ranged weapons, use gadgets, and navigate environmental hazards, all from an immersive first-person perspective.

Dark Passenger promises to redefine hand-to-hand combat in the first-person perspective genre, abandoning slow-paced gameplay for ultra-dynamic, responsive combat inspired by fighting games, martial arts films, and anime classics. The team is developing an advanced locomotion system that enables fluid movements, including fast climbing, wall running, base jumping, running on water, and even creating new paths with spears and arrows.

To provide the best ninja experience, Dark Passenger will allow players to unlock and extensively customize their characters, equipment and abilities and even create their personal dojo. The game’s arsenal will feature a wide range of fully customizable weapons and firearms, including original and iconic historical variants. Some weapons will even improve mobility, allowing players to climb higher, jump over obstacles, or support wall running, making combat and locomotion truly interconnected.

Dark Passenger focuses on creating a rich intellectual property with a compelling, multi-branching story filled with twists, extraordinary characters, and tense conflicts within a dark, evolving world. As the game progresses, new secrets will be revealed, ensuring its longevity and potentially expanding the narrative into other media. The founders believe that modern online experiences are about more than just competition; Its goal is to create an immersive and socially focused game on interpersonal dynamics. Their passion for multiplayer action games fuels this vision and offers unique opportunities for developers passionate about the genre.

“While we’re best known for triple-A story-driven RPGs, our true passion has always been multiplayer,” Jakub Ben, CEO of Dark Passenger, said in a statement. “This obsession started over two decades ago, playing fighting games, LAN Parties and tournaments in Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament. The intense emotions of playing together and against each other forged unforgettable stories. “We have always dreamed of creating a multiplayer game that orchestrates those moments.”

Ben added: “While the multiplayer landscape is more exciting than ever, we still see huge untapped potential. It takes imagination, confidence and vision to fully understand our direction, and these are the qualities we find at The Games Fund. This investment is a turning point for us: it has helped us expand our team and lay the foundations for our project, allowing us to focus on production.”

The Dark Passenger team is exploring the most attractive aspects of the game-as-a-service (GaaS) model, focusing on avoiding predatory practices and unfair mechanics. Instead, it aims to prioritize live operations, community engagement, a constant stream of meaningful content, and events that shape the game world. They put communication with players at the forefront with the intention of listening and observing their actions to continually improve the experience.

“We are committed to investing in the Central and Eastern European gaming industry, and Poland has always been strong in developing single-player games for PC and consoles. However, this team decided to follow their passion for cooperative multiplayer games, which is a vision we strongly believe in,” said Ilia Eremeev, Managing Partner at The Games Fund, in a statement. “There’s a dearth of games that dare to take risks and deliver bold, unapologetic experiences, leaving players craving that ‘Hell yeah’ factor.”

He added: “After seeing its initial demo, we instantly recognized that Dark Passenger is set to deliver exactly that. The quality of the experience, given the size of the team and development time, was amazing. We immediately aligned ourselves with his vision: a pure, exciting power fantasy. “We are delighted to partner with these great founders on this adventure.”