Second Dinner is Working on a Marvel Game

We’ve heard very little from Second Dinner, the studio founded by ex-Blizzard developers Ben Brode and Hamilton Chu, since it opened its doors this past July. That changed today, as the Irvine-based startup broke its silence to make a couple of very significant announcements.

Via a press release posted on its website, Second Dinner revealed that it has raised $30 million in funding from a minority investment by Chinese internet technology company NetEase. Some gamers will recognize NetEase as the company that helps Blizzard operate its games in China. It is also the co-developer of Diablo Immortal, the mobile Diablo game that was infamously announced at BlizzCon 2018 in November. In a YouTube video that was also posted today, CEO Hamilton Chu said that the investment will allow Second Dinner to hire the team it needs “without really needing to compromise.” In addition, the funds will help the studio “get to the end of the first project.”

Second Dinner also announced that the aforementioned “first project” will be a Marvel game. Brode and Chu didn’t give any details as to what type of game it will be, but since the studio is staffed by quite a few developers that worked on Hearthstone, it could be a new digital card game. Aspiring developers who may be interested in working at Second Dinner should check out the studio’s careers page, as there are job postings for a Client Engineer and Technical Artist that have experience with Unity.

Marvel seems intent on releasing games that are a cut above the typical licensed fare that we’ve seen in the past and working with the former Blizzard veterans at Second Dinner is further proof of that. Most recently, the comic giant partnered with Sony and Insomniac to release Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, which is considered by many to be one of the best superhero games ever made. Additionally, the company is working with Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics on an Avengers game, though nothing has been shown for the project outside of a small teaser trailer.