Red Robot Labs

The firm operated in the freemium mobile gaming market, generating revenue through in-app purchases. Its business model centered on developing a proprietary location-based gaming platform, the R2 Gaming Network, which could also be licensed to third-party studios. The company secured significant venture capital, raising a total of $15.5 million across three rounds from investors like Benchmark Capital, Shasta Ventures, and notable individuals such as Playdom co-founder Rick Thompson and former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya. A strategic partnership with Next Media in March 2012 included a $5 million investment to expand into Asian markets and establish Next Media as the first third-party studio on the R2 platform.

Red Robot Labs' breakout title was *Life Is Crime*, a location-based multiplayer game launched for Android in August 2011 and iOS in January 2012. The game allowed players to form gangs and compete to commit virtual crimes at real-world locations, turning their neighborhoods into a contested game board. Players could customize avatars, level up their criminal reputation, and generate in-game currency by controlling territories. Following this, the company released *Life Is Magic* in late 2012, a fantasy RPG that transformed real-world maps into a fantasy kingdom with dungeons to explore and monsters to battle. The company also acquired UK-based Supermono Studios in December 2011 to bolster its development team. Despite its early traction and successful funding, Red Robot Labs is now considered a deadpooled company.