welevel

What welevel does

Welevel is an independent Munich-based game studio founded in 2021 and operating from a single co-located studio in the Leopoldstraße area of central Munich. The company employs more than 20 people across at least seven nationalities and is led by Managing Director Christian Heimerl (welevel GmbH, HRB 278949, Amtsgericht München). Its sole product is SolidRiver, an AI-powered co-op survival city-builder RPG that combines survival mechanics, gridless physics-based city building and RPG progression into a single persistent multiplayer experience. The product is currently in closed alpha, with public early access planned for early 2027.

SolidRiver is built on welevel's own proprietary Unreal Engine 5-based engine, into which the studio has integrated an in-house AI infrastructure covering procedural world generation, adaptive non-player character behavior, dynamic quest and dialogue systems, and a real-time AI "dungeon master" that can act as friend or foe. Handcrafted visual assets and MetaHumans complement the AI-generated world, and villagers are designed to earn skills, build weapons and remember player actions. Distribution is planned as a direct-to-consumer self-serve early-access release on PC; the specific storefront and game price have not been publicly disclosed.

The studio is pre-revenue and is funded entirely by venture capital and non-dilutive public support: a $5.7M seed round led by Bitkraft Ventures in March 2025, followed by an $8.5M Series A led by Transcend in late May 2026, with participation from Bitkraft Ventures, Burda Principal Investments, Century Games and the German government (via BMWK/DLR), bringing total disclosed funding to $15M. Go-to-market combines an Epic/Unreal technology partnership, presence at major industry conferences (GG Bavaria, Gamescom, GDC, Unreal Fest), earned media (including GamesBeat) and a community-driven development loop with bi-weekly playtests. Customers are PC gamers seeking AAA-quality co-op survival and city-builder experiences with player-tailored worlds, RPG progression and persistent NPC behavior.

Name

welevel

Legal name

welevel GmbH

Website

https://welevel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Welevel is an independent Munich-based game studio developing SolidRiver, an AI-powered co-op survival city-builder RPG built on its proprietary Unreal Engine 5-based engine, targeting PC gamers and currently in closed alpha with early access planned for early 2027.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Video games (co-op survival / city-builder / RPG)

akta.pro primary industry

UGC Game Creation Platforms (Roblox-like, Fortnite Creative, Core) (MPAFAIAA)

Keywords

• Co-op survival games
• City builder games
• Action role-playing games
• Procedural world generation
• Unreal engine development

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Game sales (planned): Pre-revenue. The company intends to monetize SolidRiver through game sales, moving from closed alpha to early access launch 'early next year' (relative to 2026-06-12). Pricing and revenue mix not yet disclosed.
2. Investment capital: Funded by venture capital and government support ($5.7M seed round in 2025 plus $8.5M Series A in 2026, totaling $15M). Not an operating revenue stream but the financial model during development.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Welevel is an independent game studio developing SolidRiver, an AI-powered AAA-quality co-op survival city-builder RPG for PC. The game combines procedural survival terrain, gridless physics-based city-building, and adaptive RPG systems, powered by the studio's proprietary Unreal Engine 5-based engine and in-house AI infrastructure that generates worlds, NPCs and quests around each individual player. The studio is pre-revenue, currently running a closed alpha with early access planned.

Product overview

Welevel is an independent Munich-based game studio whose offering centers on a single core product, SolidRiver, an AI-powered co-op survival city-builder RPG currently in closed alpha with early access planned for early 2027. The studio's proprietary Unreal Engine 5-based engine and in-house AI infrastructure (covering procedural world-building, adaptive NPC behavior, and dynamic quest systems) are not sold as standalone products but are tightly integrated as the underlying technology stack of SolidRiver, complemented by handcrafted visual assets and MetaHumans.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SolidRiver: AI-powered city-building survival game developed by welevel on Unreal Engine 5, combining survival, city building, and RPG elements; in closed alpha with early access planned.

Products and services

• SolidRiver SolidRiver is an AI-powered AAA-quality co-op survival city-builder RPG for PC, currently in closed alpha with early access planned for early 2027. Built on welevel's proprietary Unreal Engine 5-based engine, it combines procedural survival terrain (every map generated around the player, every piece of terrain movable), gridless physics-based city-building, and adaptive RPG systems including a real-time AI dungeon master, dynamic quests, and named villagers with jobs, skills and memories.

Quantifiable outcome

• $15 million in total funding raised across seed and Series A rounds
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability10 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Epic Games (Unreal Engine)flagshipTechnology or IntegrationWelevel is a 'proud Unreal partner', attends Epic Game events and builds SolidRiver on its own Unreal Engine 5-based engine. Technology partnership underpins the studio's AAA-quality visuals, MetaHumans usage and PCG pipeline.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Coffee Stain Studios: Developer of Satisfactory and publisher of Valheim, operating directly in the co-op survival + city-builder space. Most directly comparable peer as a studio combining physics-based building with survival mechanics in a co-op format.
• Iron Gate AB: Swedish indie studio that developed Valheim, a breakout co-op survival crafting hit built by a small team. Highly comparable as a small indie studio building a survival hit with community-led development and similar team size profile.
• Endnight Games: Developer of The Forest and Sons of the Forest, a small indie studio specializing in co-op survival games with strong narrative and atmosphere. Comparable scope and indie team profile in the survival genre.
• Stunlock Studios: Swedish developer of V Rising, a co-op survival game with strong RPG progression elements that became a Steam hit. Directly comparable as a small studio delivering survival + RPG fusion to co-op audiences.
• Hello Games: Developer of No Man's Sky, a small studio that built a procedurally generated AI-driven universe and delivered it as a co-op survival exploration experience. Demonstrates the trajectory a small team with procedural-generation technology can take over multiple post-launch content cycles.
• Facepunch Studios: Developer of Rust, one of the most successful co-op survival games ever made. Comparable as an independent studio building a flagship survival title with a long content runway.
• Klei Entertainment: Developer of Don't Starve and related survival crafting titles, an indie studio with strong art direction and a long-running survival franchise. Comparable in indie studio profile and survival-crafting genre focus.
• Ghost Ship Games: Danish developer of Deep Rock Galactic, a co-op survival game with strong community engagement and post-launch content cadence. Comparable as a small-studio co-op survival developer with a community-led roadmap.
• Keen Software House: Czech developer of Space Engineers, a survival/building game with physics-based voxel construction and co-op multiplayer. Comparable as a studio combining survival gameplay with physics-driven building mechanics.

Emerging players

• Inworld AI: AI platform provider specializing in NPC behavior and dialogue for games. Adjacent emerging player in the AI-for-games space that addresses a similar problem to welevel's proprietary AI infrastructure, but as a licensable platform rather than a single in-house game.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/welevel-studios

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about welevel