The name says war, not wonder. Ares Interactive did not show up to the mobile games market to meditate. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, this studio came out swinging with a posture that feels less like hype and more like intent. On Feb 3, 2026, Ares Interactive disclosed a $70M Series A led by General Catalyst, with Niccolo de Masi also participating. No prior institutional rounds. No warmup lap. Just capital, conviction, and a plan that reads like it was written by operators who have already seen the third act.
Niccolo de Masi is not new to this fight. Former CEO of Glu Mobile, now also President, CEO, and Chairman of IonQ, Niccolo de Masi has spent a career learning where scale breaks and where discipline saves you. At Ares Interactive, Niccolo de Masi is joined by Mike DeLaet, President, a 25+ year industry veteran whose resume runs through Mattel, Scopely, Kabam, Rogue Games, and Glu Mobile. This is not a nostalgia tour. This is a memory of what worked, sharpened by what hurt.
The company operates across Austin, San Francisco, and Berlin, with studios anchored by 7th Inning in San Francisco and Swift Games in Berlin, led locally by Carsten Stefan Granig, Managing Director. 50 people, give or take, building with the kind of quiet efficiency that does not trend but compounds. The product philosophy is straightforward and unforgiving. Free to play, cross platform, player first. AI enabled workflows across development, marketing, and live operations, not as a buzzword flex but as a way to move faster without losing the thread.
Heroes vs Hordes is the proof point already in market. 13M+ installs and counting for a survival roguelike RPG that understands repetition is only boring when it forgets to listen. Next up is Baseball Hits 26, officially licensed by MLB Players, Inc., a sports title that knows nostalgia sells best when it respects the grind of modern mobile play. More announcements are planned for 2026, which in this case feels like a promise, not a tease.
The advisory bench reads like a greatest hits album from the last decade of mobile gaming. Chris Akhavan, former CRO at Glu Mobile. Matt Fischer, former VP overseeing the App Store and Apple Arcade. Andrew Stalbow from Seriously Digital Entertainment. Kent Wakeford from Kabam. These are not decorative names. These are scar tissue resumes.
General Catalyst did not back a genre. They backed a posture. Erin Schaefer, COO at General Catalyst, called out the combination of creative vision and disciplined execution. That discipline is the tell. Ares Interactive is not chasing virality. It is building franchises meant to survive contact with players, platforms, and time, and the war god tends to reward those who plan for all three.
