Agave Games, a Turkey-based mobile gaming studio, has quickly established itself in the casual gaming space with Find the Cat, a hidden-object game inspired by Where’s Wally-style illustrations. In under three months, the game has achieved 10 million downloads and generated €10 million in revenue on Android, according to SensorTower.
To produce these detailed visuals, where dozens of cats are cleverly hidden, Agave Games leverages artificial intelligence alongside its artistic team. AI is used to create the initial illustrations, significantly reducing production times. The artists then refine the images to ensure a polished final product, striking a balance between automation and human creativity.
“Five years ago, it would have taken six artists to complete a single screen. Today, AI accelerates the process while still leaving room for human creativity to perfect the results,” explains Alper Oner, CEO and co-founder of Agave Games. This approach enables the company to focus on designing new titles and quickly testing game concepts.
Agave Games plans to launch two new games in 2024, following the same strategy. The rapid success of Find the Cat highlights the effectiveness of this model in a competitive market where speed of production and visual quality are critical for player engagement.
The studio has just raised €18 million in a Series A round, co-led by Felix Capital and Balderton Capital, with participation from E2VC. All three firms were already on the cap table, with Balderton having led the previous seed round. This new funding brings Agave Games’ total capital raised to €25.5 million, with a post-money valuation close to €100 million.
