Firstpoint VC launches 50 million euro fund for AI-driven games

Money is still chasing AI-first pitches in games, and Firstpoint VC’s new €50 million fund is the latest proof. Launched April 22, the firm said it will back AI-driven gaming and entertainment startups across Türkiye, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, putting fresh capital behind a part of the market that large publishers still treat with caution.

The fund is led by Burak Yılmaz and Mike Fischer, two operators with long résumés across WePlay Ventures, Square Enix, Epic Games, Amazon, Bandai Namco, Sega and Microsoft. Firstpoint’s pitch is straightforward: it wants AI to sit at the center of product development, growth and reach, not as a minor feature tucked into a wider game plan. Its own site says it is focused on helping “lean teams” scale fast and turn AI into a competitive edge.

That matters beyond the startups courting the firm. If more investors are underwriting AI-native pipelines in emerging markets, Nintendo’s vendors, middleware partners and potential co-development studios will feel that pressure too. Faster asset generation, quicker iteration and lower operating costs are becoming the selling points that win meetings. For Nintendo, where quality control still outranks speed, that raises a familiar test: whether a tool actually improves production or merely shortens the path to something that still needs human cleanup.

Nintendo has been careful in how it talks about that balance. In its June 27, 2025 shareholders Q&A, Shuntaro Furukawa said the company planned an animated Super Mario Bros. film for April 2026 and a live-action Zelda film for May 2027, while stressing that Nintendo stays deeply involved in visual-content production to preserve quality. He also said in July 2024 that game development and AI have a close relationship, but generative AI remains problematic from an intellectual-property standpoint. Later, on October 5, 2025, Nintendo denied contacting the Japanese government about generative AI and said it would continue taking action against IP infringement whether generative AI is involved or not.

The broader market is moving anyway. The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association said in its 2025 report that 51% of Japanese game companies were using AI in development. A July 2025 Steam analysis found nearly 8,000 titles disclosed generative AI use, about 7% of the platform’s library and 20% of 2025 releases. Firstpoint’s launch shows why the pitch keeps landing: capital likes the promise of scale. Nintendo’s edge has always come from something slower, harder and more expensive to fake, a product culture built on trust, polish and franchises that last.