Norwegian/Israeli company Sloyd has secured funding from VC Antler to launch their AI-based 3D generation tool on the international market. Following 20 months of development, the newly founded company is setting out to disrupt the video game development industry with co-founders Øyvind Sørøy, Andreas Edesberg, and Avi Latner.
“I wanted to make it easier for game developers to make their games, and working in the game development industry for 20 years I had felt the pain of making 3D my entire professional life,” says Øyvind, CTO of Sloyd. “On one hand it’s a wonderful creative journey to make 3D, but as a game designer and programmer, it could take me weeks to get a decent game up because I needed the right 3D models. This is why I set out to automate 3D creation.”
The first version of the tool (which you can try here: sloyd.ai), allows you to instantly create 3D just by typing in text. It might seem like searching, but in the background a lot of stuff is going on. “We want 3D creation to be as simple as typing in what you want, ” Andreas explains. “But then our algorithm allows the user to customize just with a few simple sliders so that you get a unique object, and something that fits the style of the game. Talking to our users, this notion of customization and uniqueness is really important to them.”
The founders have spent a lot of time talking to game developers to get feedback on their tool, and the feedback is generally very positive, with 1000 developers having signed up in just a few months. However, there are also a few who see problems with this. “Of course we see some developers who are sceptical of using a tool that automates part of their creative journey,”Andreas explains. “We hope to help those who are keen on spending less time making the thousand building or prop in the background, and more time making the main character or other things in the foreground.”
The first full version of Sloyd will be out later this fall. To stay updated, sign up at sloyd.ai.
