Playtox raises $3M in funding to further develop browser-based mobile MMOs

The mobile gaming market doesn’t live entirely in the Apple App Store or the Google Play market. Companies like Playtox have popular games that reach directly to players through mobile browsers — and it’s bringing in more funding to do so.

Playtox announced today that it raised $3 million in its latest series of funding. Venture capital firm Runa Capital was the sole investor for this cash infusion. Playtox will use the money to further developer its lineup of mobile browser-based massively multiplayer online games.

“Runa is investing in fast-growing areas of the tech sector, and we recognized that Playtox has an opportunity to grow and position itself as a global leader in mobile browser-based gaming,” Runa Capital senior partner Serguei Beloussov said in a statement. “Playtox is helping to advance the gaming industry by providing easy browser access to any user or partner without the hassle of lengthy downloads or incompatible devices. We see Playtox really excelling as they expand into new areas, and we are pleased to assist them in this growth and accelerate it.”

Playtox believes that it is at an advantage by bypassing the major app stores. Unlike the U.S., not every market is flush with smartphones. The studios games also work on feature phones with browsers that support HTML 5.

“The support that Runa has provided us is instrumental not only in a financial sense but also with their vast experience and know-how in the technology industry on a global level,” Playtox chief executive Artem Zinoviev said. “We’re gearing up to take web-based mobile MMO gaming to the next level – an international level — and with our new funding we will achieve this.”

Playtox already has 25 million registered users, and the studio’s chief marketing officer, Bogdan Grishin, believes it will continue to grow precisely because it uses browsers.

“People spend more time surfing the web and social networks than they spend in the app store — hence the need for all the app discovery platforms recently popping up – people can’t find what they are looking for or what they would be interested in,” Grishin told GamesBeat. “The era of downloadable content on the mobile will also come to an end, just as it did on the PC. History will repeat itself.”

While it’s true that a lot of PC gaming is done through the browser, digital-download stores like Steam aren’t struggling. Still, Playtox is probably right that the mobile browsers will play a major role in gaming on tablets and smartphones.