Hello world 👋
I’m Charles: Founding Partner of Nocturne, entrepreneur, and gamer.
I’m also a big believer in building in public, which is why I’m eager to start showing people what Nocturne is all about. Sharing something real means embracing transparency: wins, fails, lessons, everything that really matters to a community based on trust and humility.
This article is just the opener, the beginning of an ongoing series where I and others on the Nocturne team share our process and progress.
< Start >
Nocturne provides funding and self-publishing support for indie studios that are building iconic games.
As incorrigible gamers, everyone at Nocturne is very aware of the seismic shifts that are reshaping the gaming industry. As tech industry veterans, we’ve also noticed how these shifts mirror a lot of what happened in the post-2008 startup world.
Barriers to entry for indie game developers are now lower than ever: initial costs are minimal, distribution channels are fully digital, and practically anyone* has the potential to ship a hit game.
(*”Anyone” ≠ “everyone”: actually creating a hit requires a blend of skill, network, dedication, luck, and a bunch of other things. But tomorrow’s big hit could come from anyone who finds the magic formula, not just a AAA studio or someone with 20 years of industry experience.)
Those lower barriers to entry have led to a surge in indie game production. Platforms like Steam are introducing about 40 new games daily. And the advent of generative AI is revolutionizing game design and content creation, leading to unprecedented opportunities for blending creativity and efficiency.
This new landscape is why we’ve founded Nocturne as not just another venture fund. We’re a new breed of gaming investor, one that’s committed to fair, transparent and supportive partnerships. Our ultimate goal?
Enable indie studios to successfully self-publish community-centric, enjoyable, profitable games.
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<Why Nocturne?>
Nocturne wants to fund a future where game developers reclaim the power taken from them by traditional publishing models.
The gaming industry is brimming with talent that feels shackled by capital constraints and rigid contracts. We saw a clear need for a funding partner who wouldn’t just provide money but could also collaborate with indie studios as they grow. The approach seemed obvious: invest in the studio’s game vision, share the risks, and celebrate our mutual success.
This is a big contrast with the traditional studio-publisher relationship, which is marked by unbalanced revenue sharing, opaque contract terms, and bitter conflicts over IP rights – all of which contribute to that sense of creative freedom being stifled.
Today’s top indie studios are already seeing that there could be a different way: engaging directly with their fans, maximizing community interactions and branding opportunities, and bypassing traditional publishers.
But even with a different approach, there’s a lot that needs to come together to score a hit. Nocturne plans to do its part, and in a big way: by raising and deploying €1B over the next ten years to support indie gaming hits. We want to be a huge boost for the indie revolution, fueling millions of hours of extraordinary fun for gamers around the world.
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<How does Nocturne work?>
At Nocturne we invest in systemic games through revenue sharing, providing capital and self-publishing support to indie studios. We prioritize fairness and community-validation strategies, with the goal of transforming promising game concepts into blockbuster hits.
We offer up to €1.5 M per game. This isn’t in return for equity in the studio, but just for a share of that game’s revenue.
Nocturne only earns money when you, the studio, are earning money from the game we invested in: Nocturne doesn’t recover all of its money first, and there are no contractual rights to any other games your studio might produce.
Nocturne is focused on systemic games (we call them “Infinite Unique Situation Generators” or “Endlessly Replayable Games”). This includes genres like Sandbox, Simulation, Strategy, Open World, RPG, City Builder, MOBA, Survival, Roguelike/Roguelite, Tower Defense, Deck Builders, etc.
Here are our terms in a nutshell:
We can invest up to €1,500,000 per game;
The funds can cover pre-production, production, contingencies, and marketing costs;
Nocturne and the studio share revenue from the first unit sold;
The revenues are split 70/30 until Nocturne makes 1x its investment; then 50/50 until Nocturne makes 5x its investment; then 30/70 for the rest of the game’s life;
The developers keep full control and creative freedom over their game;
There are no IP rights, no strings attached, nothing.
(See, we told you it’d all fit on one page, even once you add in a bit more legalese.)
Our strategy is based on setting community-driven milestones, encouraging rapid iterations, and helping you find and benefit from a strong game-market fit. To get there, we look beyond just funding, also providing hands-on support in production, community building and marketing – basically, everything you need to successfully self-publish your game.
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<Who are we?>
There are nearly a hundred people who are part of Nocturne at the moment, so I won't introduce everyone one by one (you can visit our website for that :)
Running an investment fund involves (i) raising funds, (ii) deploying these funds (a.k.a., investing), and (iii) helping our investments succeed.
The "Core Team”
We are 4 Partners: Arnaud, Bobby, Jason, and myself. Each of us has specialties, such as fundraising, scouting, engineering, coaching, etc. We are the ones who vote on investing in a new game (just so you know, it takes 3 YES votes out of 4!). It's a fantastic mix of entrepreneurs and industry titans, covering all of a game developer's needs to ensure their success.
We are also fortunate to have Magdalena onboard. She is one of the most talented Game Scouts we’ve met. She works closely with the Partners to help us find games, analyze them, respond quickly, and build our conviction.
The "Senior Advisors”
In each specialty, we have a market expert who focuses exclusively on the support we can provide to our portfolio. To give you a few examples, we have François Masciopinto, one of the best deal makers around, Simon Carless, a master at game "discoverability", Ben Smedstad for Creative Direction, Jean-Yves Lapasset for Market Research etc.
The “Investors”
Nocturne’s own investors are primarily entrepreneurs and/or video game experts. They include founders of studios, publishers, gaming corps directors/managers, influencers, etc. Similar to what we think our indie studios want, our goal was to maximize our “SMART MONEY”. That meant finding investors who would not only provide cash, but also be able to help our growing portfolio of games.
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<The current situation>
Over the past six months, we’ve laid a robust foundation for the journey ahead. We’ve assembled our team, including some of the most talented professionals in the industry. We’ve successfully navigated all legal and compliance challenges, ensuring a smooth pathway forward. We also raised several million euros, set up effective operational processes, and started to position ourselves at the forefront of the gaming industry.
We are excited to announce that Nocturne is now fully operational!
Since January, we've received around 700 game submissions, reflecting the vibrant creativity in the indie game community. We are currently in due diligence with 4 of these games and are about to sign our first title. Our goal is to invest in approximately one new game per month, continually bringing fresh and innovative titles to gamers worldwide.
Creating a new funding/publishing model is challenging, especially given the current market conditions. (And that’s doubly true when you’re raising the first fund.) So, while we’re still raising our first fund, our innovative approach includes a “Deal-Warehousing” strategy. For now, we use “Single Purpose Vehicles” (SPVs) to make our investments. This strategy allows us to start investing in games while we simultaneously work towards our final Fund 1 goal of €35 million. This means we can start investing in your game today - no need for you to wait around to get the financial (and other) support you need.
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<Only the beginning>
First off, a big thank you for reading this far. You can't imagine how happy and proud we are to be able to share all of this with you.
Once again, we know how fascinating yet challenging starting a business can be. We hope that by sharing our stories as they unfold, both our successes and failures, we can encourage you to keep pressing on towards your goal.
The path ahead is always full of obstacles, but everyone in our team wakes up in the morning excited by the prospect of transforming the gaming scene. Our energy stays high as we have the privilege of seeing how hundreds of independent developers are trying to satisfy millions of players around the world.
We’re building a future where the ability to create a massive amount of new games doesn’t end in oversaturation, but in a fertile - community-based - ground for fantastic successes.
Feel free to visit our website for more information or write directly at hello@nocturne.games.
I can't wait to write to you again!