Independent studio Human Computer recently raised $5.7 million in seed funding.
The round was led by venture firm Makers Fund. a16z and ex-AirBnB COO Belinda Johnson provided further investment, bringing the developer’s total funding to $7.7 million. It’s the latest burst of funding for the industry this week, preceded by Pragma raising $12.75 million and a $150 million UA fund from Tilting Point.
Based in San Francisco, Human Computer was founded in 2024 by creative director Alex Schleifer and gameplay director Eliot Garcia Weisberg. Both previously worked together at AirBnB and Universal Entities, another indie studio Schliefer founded in 2020.
A “broad portfolio” for Human Computer
According to the announcement, this new team has a “broad portfolio of games” it’s developing which “explore unique gameplay mechanics for the current-generation of consoles, PC and mobile devices.” Its debut title will launch in Q4 2025.
“Rather than chasing endless content or massive open worlds, we’re focused on creating contained, meaningful experiences that push creative boundaries,” the Human Computer website reads. It later mentions the use of “emerging technologies” without specifying what those are, or how it plans to use them to “enhance human creativity, and enable new forms of storytelling.”
In the funding announcement, Schleifer considered his studio’s upcoming work to be “triple-I indie games that combine high production value with efficient development that respects players’ time.”
