Hidden Door
Hidden Door operates an AI-powered interactive storytelling platform where consumers role-play in licensed fictional worlds through procedurally generated narratives, while creators build and monetize custom worlds via the Atlas tool and a revenue-share program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersBrooklyn, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Hidden Door does
Hidden Door is an AI-powered interactive storytelling studio that builds a social role-playing platform where players co-create narratives inside licensed and user-built fictional worlds. The platform, accessible via web at hiddendoor.co, uses an AI Narrator to combine human-authored plot beats, player choices, character state, and a curated trope library into procedurally generated story scenes; players collect cards, apply Modifier Cards to remix worlds, and share Moments socially. The company also operates a Creator Program and an Atlas worldbuilding tool that allow authors, novelists, RPG writers, and fanfic authors to build and publish playable worlds, retaining IP rights and earning revenue share via Stripe Connect.
The underlying technology is a proprietary narrative AI stack consisting of a fractal combinatorial trope engine, a database-driven game engine layer that maintains structured world state, an NLP-based content safety system with a per-world dictionary of tens of thousands of tagged words and a trained appropriateness classifier, and a vector-based paper-doll art system that uses ML to compose character avatars. Hidden Door does not train on copyrighted material; human writers author plot beats that the system recombines at runtime.
Commercially, the company runs a consumer subscription product processed through Stripe, a creator-side revenue-sharing stream processed through Stripe Connect, and a globally distributed remote team of fewer than 10 people. It has raised $9 million in disclosed funding across a March 2022 pre-seed led by Northzone and a July 2022 seed led by Makers Fund, with participation from Betaworks, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Homebrew, and angels including Dan Sturman (former Roblox CTO) and Joshua Schacter (founder of del.icio.us). The company was founded in February 2020 by Hilary Mason and Matt Brandwein and publicly launched its social role-playing platform in August 2025 with IP licensing partnerships spanning Dracula, Pride & Prejudice, The Crow, Wizard of Oz, Sherlock Holmes, and Call of Cthulhu, among others.
Hidden Door firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hidden Door
- Legal name
- Hidden Door, Inc.
- Website
- https://hiddendoor.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Hidden Door operates an AI-powered interactive storytelling platform where consumers role-play in licensed fictional worlds through procedurally generated narratives, while creators build and monetize custom worlds via the Atlas tool and a revenue-share program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hidden Door industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Interactive Narrative Games
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Virtual Worlds & Social Sandbox Experiences (persistent social spaces) (MPAFAIAG)
Keywords
Where Hidden Door is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brooklyn
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Hidden Door business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Player Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to the platform with paid subscription plans providing access to premium features. Auto-renews at end of billing period. Processed through Stripe.
- Creator Payouts: Revenue sharing program where eligible creators receive payouts proportional to player engagement in their published worlds. Processed through Stripe Connect.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Subscription plans with varying feature access |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Hidden Door product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hidden Door operates an AI-powered interactive storytelling game platform where players role-play as characters inside licensed fictional worlds. The platform combines human-written plot beats with proprietary narrative AI and procedural generation to produce unique story experiences shaped by player choices, accompanied by card-collecting mechanics and a creator worldbuilding tool (Atlas) with revenue sharing.
Product overview
Hidden Door is a game technology studio offering an AI-powered interactive storytelling platform. The core product is the Hidden Door game (hiddenendoor.co), a social role-playing platform combining fan fiction with tabletop RPG mechanics. The platform is built around Atlas, a worldbuilding tool enabling creators to build and monetize playable worlds. Players engage through Modifier Cards that remix storylines, share Moments on social platforms, and participate in a Creator Program with revenue sharing. The platform features official licensed worlds (Dracula, Pride & Prejudice, The Land of Oz, The Crow, Sherlock Holmes, Call of Cthulhu, and others) alongside user-created content, all powered by a narrative AI system that generates interactive stories combining human-written plot beats with procedural generation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hidden Door Platform AI-powered interactive storytelling game accessible via web browser where players role-play as characters in fictional worlds, make choices that change the story, collect cards, and experience procedurally generated narratives guided by an AI Narrator. Designed for individual players who love fan fiction and tabletop role-playing games.
- Atlas Worldbuilding Tool Worldbuilding tool that lets creators build playable worlds from existing writing or new ideas via an editing wizard, without AI training on pasted content. Includes templates for blank-slate creation and supports revenue sharing for published worlds.
- Creator Program Partner program for authors, novelists, RPG module writers, fanfic authors, and forever DMs that provides access to the Atlas worldbuilding tool and revenue sharing via Stripe Connect based on player engagement with their published worlds.
Quantifiable outcome
- Every playthrough is unique due to procedural narrative generation and player choices
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Hidden Door
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Hidden Door technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability5 records
Feature6 records
Hidden Door partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Authors/IP Holders (Licensing Partners)coreAuthors and IP holders who license their works for conversion into playable worlds. Most authors are deeply involved in creation process, deciding player entry points, character selection, and plotlines. Authors receive revenue share from their worlds.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Hidden Door competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Replika: AI companion product with subscription tiers and character-driven narrative interactions. Overlaps in character-based AI storytelling and consumer subscription mechanics.
- NovelAI: Subscription-based AI storytelling and image generation tool with strong overlap in the AI-fiction/fan-fiction creator market and similar PLG monetization.
- AI Dungeon (Latitude): Pioneer of AI-driven interactive narrative/roleplay with subscription tiers and a creator/content ecosystem. Closest direct competitor on AI-generated story worlds with player choice.
- Character.AI: AI character chat platform where users converse with fictional and user-created personas. Overlaps with Hidden Door's character-driven, roleplay-first experience and subscription monetization.
- Inworld AI: AI NPC and character engine for games and virtual worlds. Comparable narrative-AI technology targeting interactive storytelling, with developer-tooling rather than direct consumer platform GTM.
Emerging players
- KoboldAI: Open-source AI-assisted storytelling/roleplay interface. Comparable use case for narrative generation but distributed and free rather than a consumer subscription platform.
- World Anvil: Worldbuilding platform for novelists, RPG writers, and creators. Closely comparable to Hidden Door's Atlas tool in enabling creators to construct structured fictional worlds, though without AI narrative generation.
- HoloAI: AI fiction-writing subscription service targeting fan-fiction and original-fiction authors. Comparable creator-side use case for narrative AI generation.
Others
- Dungeon Scrawl (Megasploot): Tabletop-RPG map and campaign-authoring tool ecosystem adjacent to Hidden Door's forever-DM creator segment. Useful as a comparable creator-tools monetization signal even though it is not a direct competitor.
Broad incumbents
- Roblox: Massive UGC gaming and social platform with persistent virtual worlds, creator economy, and revenue share. Comparable on social roleplay worlds and creator monetization, but operates at vastly larger scale and across multiple modalities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hidden Door social profiles
Digital presenceHidden Door financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hidden Door leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Hidden Door funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hidden Door M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hidden Door
What does Hidden Door do?
Hidden Door operates an AI-powered interactive storytelling game platform where players role-play as characters inside licensed fictional worlds. The platform combines human-written plot beats with proprietary narrative AI and procedural generation to produce unique story experiences shaped by player choices, accompanied by card-collecting mechanics and a creator worldbuilding tool (Atlas) with revenue sharing.
Is Hidden Door a public or private company?
Hidden Door is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Hidden Door founded?
Hidden Door was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Hidden Door based?
Hidden Door is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States, in the North America region.
How does Hidden Door make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Player Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are creator Payouts.
Who are Hidden Door's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Replika, NovelAI, AI Dungeon (Latitude), Character.AI and Inworld AI. Emerging players are KoboldAI, World Anvil and HoloAI. Dungeon Scrawl (Megasploot) is listed as an others. Roblox is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Hidden Door have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hidden Door.
What industry is Hidden Door in?
Hidden Door's product category is Interactive Narrative Games. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAIAG, Virtual Worlds & Social Sandbox Experiences (persistent social spaces). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7990.