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A little over a month ago we covered the fact that Coffee Stain Studios were expanding into investments as well as publishing. It started with the company publishing Westport Independent. Following this was the minority stake acquisition of Ghost Ship Games and the publishing rights for Deep Rock Galactic.

The company has now announced another investment in developers Lavapotion. Lavapotion is a new developer founded by former Palringo CMO Magnus Alm. With him are three other veterans of the social and free to play market; Carl Toftfelt, Niklas Borglund and Patrik Liljecrantz. Their first project is to be a premium strategy title for the PC and Tablet. What should be noted is that unlike with Ghost Ship Games, this investment doesn't come with an agreement for the publishing rights of Lavapotion's upcoming title.

Coffee Stain and Lavapotion

What this investment does give Coffee Stain is a position on the board of the company. Should they want an influence on matters, they're in a position for that, but it seems that they're excited by the company's first project. There's little doubt that they have any intentions on returning to the social and free to play sector, as Alm can be quoted saying:

Honestly, it feels just great to leave the free to play bullshit behind us. Getting to work with an investor who cares more about the way we design spell systems rather than how we maximize profit is a fresh break from what we are used to.

It's ambitious for a new company to aim for a premium release strategy title as their first project. With aims of moving from their starting team of four, to ten, it will be a long journey for Lavapotion and it seems Coffee Stain will be there for the long-term. The team is currently working on prototypes and trying to find a base for what they hope will be their first game of many.

Coffee Stain, on the other hand, are continuing their outward look. Every deal they offer a company is different, catering to individual needs. They're looking to fill the gap that is left by other publishers that aren't willing to commit to smaller scale projects or simply want too much in terms of IP control.

This approach will undoubtedly see Coffee Stain as an attractive option for others and it'd highly likely we'll see other deals from the company in the near future.