Ayeah Games said today it has closed a round of seed funding to develop its “social reality games,” which mixes social networking and breaking news.
The Boston-based company was founded this year by Doug Levin, a serial entrepreneur. It plans on launching a casual social gme on Facebook in October. The game play will be similar to FarmVille and Mafia Wars — two popular Zynga games on Facebook — but will have a new look and feel. Levin previously founded Black Duck Software in 2002 and served as CEO for seven years. He remains on its board.
“Ayeah Games is about real people and real events and capitalizes on the rapid adoption of Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms,” said Levin. “In many ways, Ayeah is building on the immense popularity of existing online gaming environments, which are easy to use and encourage interaction among friends. By adding in the gossip we all love in our daily lives, Ayeah’s experience will be even more viral.”
Ayeah Games put users at the intersection of media trends and breaking news, letting them interact with others in real time and see how day-to-day events impact their lives. Screen Digest Reports estimates that social games revenue grew from $76 million in 2008 to $639 million in 2009. This year, it forecasts the market in the U.S. will be $1.5 billion.
Investors include John Landry, founder of Lead Dog Ventures, and Janpieter Scheerder, general partner of Eureeka Ventures, among others. The company has six employees.