How a seasoned venture capitalist at IDG Ventures views game investments (interview)

Venture capitalists have had a hot and cold view of gaming. When the sector is hot, they invest in games by the hundreds of millions of dollars. But when it cools down, like it did in 2012, when social-game company Zynga’s stock price crashed, venture investors fled. Game developers are so wary of VCs that they have turned to crowdfunding site Kickstarter and angel investors for sources of income.

But Phil Sanderson, a game-savvy partner at IDG Ventures, has been investing in games for a long time. He has invested in companies such as Telltale Games, the maker of the acclaimed The Walking Dead episodic adventure game series; Hammer & Chisel, the developer of an upcoming tablet multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA); game-discovery firm Iddiction; and mobile developer Funzio, the creator of titles like action role-playing game Crime City.