Ramen VR, the creators behind crowd-funded VR MMORPG Zenith: The Last City, announced it’s closed a Series B round of $35 million, something the studio says will allow it to significantly expand in size as it aims to develop Zenith into a metaverse platform that goes far beyond its current scope.

The studio’s latest financing round was led by Anthos Capital and Dune Ventures. Additional investments come from Makers Fund and personal investments from Andreessen Horowitz partners Andrew Chen and James Gwertzman.

The studio’s Series B brings its outside investment to over $45 million; Ramen VR’s penultimate round of $10 million was led by Makers Fund in September 2021.

Ramen VR says the funding will be used to “double the size of the studio as it transforms Zenith into a gaming super-app containing multiple worlds and gameplay experiences across VR, desktop, and mobile.”

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“The reception for Zenith has been amazing. We’re already profitable but now we want to take the game to the next level, building massive interconnected gaming worlds for all to explore,” said Andy Tsen, co-founder and CEO of Ramen VR. “Closing this important round of funding will help us grow our team so we can continue to build out our vision. We are fortunate to collaborate with these exceptional investment partners who believe in us as we continue to support Zenith throughout the game’s lifecycle.”

Ramen VR gained quick success on Kickstarter in a 2019 campaign that raised $280,000 to create the VR-native MMORPG for PC VR headsets, Meta Quest and PSVR. Since its January 2022 launch, Zenith: The Last City has been a resounding success: the game currently sits at the top-5 most popular games on the Quest platform.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • NL_VR

    actually, it doesnt sound good at all.

    • StillSkittles

      i mean youre just flat out wrong, orbus has existed for years and is probably the least played game on VR. just say you didnt play the game and move on

      • NL_VR

        Yes but thats what happenens if you let your game die.
        Do you want Zenith to become a “Metaverse plattform” with flatscreen and mobile and shit?
        All i see when i hear that is microtransactions, grind and paywall.
        But what do i know, maybe thats all you know to what gaming is.

        • ViRGiN

          “”Metaverse plattform” with flatscreen and mobile and shit?” is definietly a much better outlook for the owners than making a game for super entitled PCVR users not blinking once at going to Rec Room, Beat Saber and Pavlov.

          • NL_VR

            Zenith is not a PCVR only game.
            And going mobile and stuff may be good for the developers but not for the players, except those who doenst know better.

          • ViRGiN

            You are not getting a “much” better product at PCVR at all, and clearly those resources would have been much better used to develop even better content for the platforms where it’s actually sucessfull.

          • NL_VR

            all games that are on both pcvr and quest are better on pcvr.
            those who doesnt see that are blind.

          • ViRGiN

            Better on what ways? Lol
            Contractors has tons of stability issues and fps on pc. None on Quest. There is no real pcvr superiority, stop that propaganda

          • NL_VR

            Better in all ways, performance and visually.
            I play Contractors both on PCVR and Quest.
            I choose PCVR version all dag.

          • Ookami

            honestly the man can’t be more clear that he’s never played pcvr, except maybe on a 5-year-old machine.

    • mappo

      Being the “only one” of a thing is the very definition of “special”.

      • NL_VR

        Yes but for how long?

        • ViRGiN

          Next couple of years obviously. Nobody is going to develop a cross-platform MMORPG for a orthodox fanbase that takes about 50% in the same old 3 games for YEARS.

          • NL_VR

            Of course it is, you will see.
            you have to much feeling invested so you get personally offended.

          • ViRGiN

            And you’re just spreading toxic positivity and wishlist. Surely I’ve read the very same thing years ago. PCVR is dead, and all those “biggest releases” of the past year are totally insignificant.

          • NL_VR

            No i started to reply to many of your crybaby posts to do a social experiment, its called trolls online behaviours.

    • ViRGiN

      What? Zenith has died on PCVR. From initial over 4000 players, at a good day it has a 24h peak of about 150 LOL.
      Everyone went back to – YEAH YOU GUESSED IT – REC ROOM, BEAT SABER, PAVLOV/GORILLA TAG.

      The investors are gonna get soooo fuked.

      • NL_VR

        Yes, but the player numbers have gone down on all plattforms.
        Well those games probably better to some people, why the crybaby act again.

        • ViRGiN

          Crybaby? It’s the state of VR art. There is zero point of getting PCVR. Where are you getting data that Quest/PSVR version is loosing players?

          • NL_VR

            You cry about the same all time, why do you even bother commenct on PCVR if you are only interested in Quest.
            no one really cares, you just make foor of your self in your little personal fanboy-war.

          • ViRGiN

            Then why do you even bother commenting back?
            Have you missed the block button?

          • NL_VR

            im doing a online social experiment.
            you are the perfect target.

        • Mr.Philgood

          The number of players on the Quest is constantly rising

          • NL_VR

            im not here to say this plattform is better than the other, from what i have heard total player count has dropped which isnt anything unusual with this type of games.

          • ViRGiN

            heard from who? lol. you’re making things up, and can’t get over the fact that PCVR is the platform to play beat saber, rec room and gorilla tag primarily, after you beat alyx.

          • NL_VR

            From players who play the game and sort of done everything end game.
            So its bad you can play those games on PCVR? You want them to be Quest exclusive?
            No surprice if so.
            What games do you play your self? I bet no multiplayer, people wouldnt stand out with you.

          • ViRGiN

            Why you sudenly make it all about me?
            Quest is blooming, and expanding all the freaking time. PCVR people never stepped out of their boundaries and are continously occupying beat saber and rec room. Get over it. Despite unlimited potential of PCVR, they are all playing extreme kind of mobile games. There is nothing PCVR quality in the top 10. Xbox 360 had way better games.

          • NL_VR

            its pretty much the same games on all plattforms, popular games for the masses but maybe not for the dedicated.
            PCVR has games that not even the Quest can run that are ranked the top VR-games of all time.
            And the games that are on PCVR, PSVR & Quest, PCVR is always the superior version.

          • Ookami

            How can you find the number on Quest players? this is something that I’ve been interested in looking into, but there doesn’t seem to be a Quest version of SteamDB

  • mappo

    Sounds like they want to Wreck Room it – start with a great VR game then pivot into yet another iPad game.

  • sfmike

    Adding a desktop version makes me lose all interest. VR games need to stay VR.

    • Mr.Philgood

      Rec Room is pretty successful with that strategy

    • Ookami

      Honestly the only major perk Zenith has is that it’s in VR. as a flatscreen game it would be very underwhelming. Adding a desktop mode also has the very real danger of pulling back the VR version, since all players need to be able to do the same things–which limits the VR-unique interactions you can have.
      I haven’t lost all hope for Zenith, but I am disappointed.

  • Tabp

    “We’re already profitable” is a good start if that’s sustainable and not just a momentary high water mark. Probably the latter, but now it comes down to whether they can execute effectively and grow it into a social hub with a network effect.

  • BananaBreadBoy

    Damn it, nothing they talked about mentioned metaverse. Please don’t tie that name to them…

  • These guys launched the right VR game at the right time… a true successful business strategy. Kudos to them