Overwolf Raises $52.5M, Launches UGC As A Service Platform

Israeli gaming platform Overwolf announced on Tuesday that it has completed a $52.5 million Series C round and launched CurseForge Core, a User Generated Content (UGC) as a service platform.

Founded in 2009, Overwolf is an all-in-one platform that enables users to create, build, distribute, and monetize in-game apps and mods and helps players win and have more fun with their favorite PC games.

The round was co-led by Griffin Gaming Partners and Insight Partners with participation from investors including Ubisoft, Warner Music Group, Meg Whitman, Israeli based Jibe Ventures, Gen.G Co-Founder, Kevin Chou and existing investors Marker, Intel Capital, Atreides Management and Liberty Media.

The funding will be used to boost “development firepower” dedicated to creating services for creators, the company said. It will also be used to create more opportunities and vehicles to invest in, and with, the in-game creator community.

CurseForge Core provides an SDK for game developers that integrates into the game itself and functions as a gateway for users to discover and install mods in-game, across all platforms and storefronts.

In 2020, as part of its commitment to empower in-game creators, Overwolf acquired CurseForge from Twitch, the biggest repository of mods for video games including top titles like World of Warcraft and Minecraft.

CurseForge and Overwolf have supported creator communities for over 15 years with a combined platform that includes over 30,000 creators, 90,000 mods and add-ons, and 18 million monthly users. Overwolf has experienced 300% growth in the last year as the market for content around games rises. 

“We are at a new user-generated content inflection point, and the strong growth of gaming lies largely in the hands of ‘in-game creators,’ a term we coined to categorize this new generation of in-game app creators and mod authors. The more content and customizability a game has, the more likely a gamer will keep experiencing its content and by that extending the longevity of the game and generating more value for game developers and publishers in the long run,” said Uri Marchand, CEO and co-founder of Overwolf.

“By offering CurseForge Core, we are accelerating the community-created content movement by enabling publishers to easily integrate mods safely and seamlessly into their existing and new games. With the backing of the most notable investors in the space, we are confident that the Overwolf platform will lay the groundwork for a new era of AAA game creation,” he added.

“We’ve been following UGC in gaming for many years and believe Overwolf has established itself as a leader in this category,” said Teddie Wardi, managing director at Insight Partners. “AAA game studios will want to allow creators to build and express themselves, and Overwolf is positioned as the platform to make this possible by ensuring that creators are recognized for their contributions, and easily integrating creations into games. Overwolf has proved themselves to be strong champions of the creator community and we look forward to helping them scale up in 2021.”