Human Computer raises $5.7M in seed funding to build indie portfolio

Indie studio Human Computer announced today that it had raised $5.7 million in its seed funding round, bringing its total funding to date up to $7.7 million. Makers Fund participated in the round, with former Airbnb COO Belinda Johnson also participating. According to the studio, it plans to put the funding towards building its portfolio, with its debut title launching sometime in Q4 2025. It’s also working on other titles for potential launch across multiple platforms.

Human Computer’s founders spoke with GamesBeat about their plans for their new funding, along with details about their new game. According to CEO Alex Schleifer, the studio plans to set its games in the same shared universe, balancing multiple different games in development: “We want people to really fall in love with the universe and enjoy the things that we release, whether they’re like, tiny little things to do, just like more kind of tentpole style games that come out on consoles and PC. That’s, I think, unique to gaming… It can be something that happens entirely in a chat room, or it can be like a fully realized 3d world. It can be any one of those things. And that’s huge. That gives us so much to work with.”

Human Computer’s founders say they wish to run their game development process differently, integrating emerging tech and possibly building their IP out into other mediums — though they note that games are their focus for now. They are focused on building “Triple-i” indie titles with high production value.

Eliot Garcia Weisberg, COO and gameplay director, added that he and Schleifer had been building out their world over their 15 years of friendship, meaning they’d already had a start. “I think there’s a ton of long-term value to original IP — having the very specific and clear vision that we have, to bring that world to life, it has so much expansion potential and value… The part that I feel giddy about is now really putting it into action. And I think the hardest part of it is there. The breakthrough and sharing it with the world and seeing if they like it. That’s certainly the risk, but that’s probably the thing again, we’re also excited about.”

Jay Chi, founding partner at Makers Fund, said in a statement, “We are proud to support Alex and Eliot’s vision to transform the indie game development process. The Human Computer team has created a scalable development model that is designed to deliver powerful narrative experiences that combine high production quality with mechanics, storytelling, and gameplay that feel novel, experimental and fresh.”