One More Level self-funded 40-50 staff through Take-Two's AA retreat, signed Lyrical Games
Summary
One More Level kept its 40-50 person team on payroll using its own savings after Take-Two's Private Division exited Valor Mortis funding in 2024.
Lyrical Games, a 2025 spin-off of film company Lyrical Media, closed the funding gap; headcount has since grown past 70.
Savings from Ghostrunner's estimated 5.6 million unit sell-through funded the bridge, a buffer most AA studios lack.
"We probably need a few more Expedition 33s to just prove them wrong"
01
Take-Two's AAA pivot pulled Valor Mortis funding in 2024
One More Level signed Valor Mortis with Private Division after 505 Games published Ghostrunner and its 2023 sequel.
Take-Two began scaling back Private Division in 2024 to concentrate on AAA output.
"We're in the business of making great big hits"
Private Division's catalogue was sold and reemerged in 2025 as Fictions, now publishing Game Freak's Beast of Reincarnation.
02
Self-funded headcount replaced the hire-and-layoff milestone cycle
One More Level drew on Ghostrunner savings to keep its 40-50 person team paid during the publisher search.
"Fortunately, we had our own savings from back in the day, so we were able to just live through the time and not cut the team, which was not easy"
"The team is worth it - because it's very hard to build a proper team for a game, and it's very easy to destroy it"
Sustaining stable headcount through savings substitutes for the milestone-tied hiring that dominates project financing.
03
A film-studio spin-off filled the AA financing vacuum
Lyrical Games launched in 2025 under former Private Division heads Blake Rochkind and Roger Kurtz, spun off from film company Lyrical Media.
"You guys are like an oasis in the desert is really gratifying and obviously scary, because, of course, we can only do so much"
Rochkind names Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as his funding benchmark: "If we have one of those in our life as a label, that would be a dream" - Blake Rochkind, Lyrical Games.
Headcount grew past 70 once Lyrical signed on, though not all staff work on Valor Mortis.
04
Where the self-funding model breaks down
The strategy required a savings buffer from a 5.6-million-unit hit that most AA studios lack.
Ratusznik caps growth even with new backing: "We don't want to just change immediately to some AAA company" - Radek Ratusznik, game director, One More Level.
"We use external QA. But almost all of the assets were done in-house"
In-house asset production avoids outsourcing costs but demands a larger core team the savings must carry.
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: Self-funding buys leverage in publisher talks only if a prior hit built the buffer.
For Investors & VC: Lyrical Games signals film-to-games spin-offs are entering the mid-tier vacuum abandoned by Take-Two.
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