Acquisition
Jan 2025Pocket Worlds acquired Infinite Canvas, an AI-driven UGC team, to deepen creator tools and Highrise innovation; transaction terms were not disclosed.
SourceOur platform enables creators to build experiences, games, and worlds…
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Overview
Pocket Worlds is an Austin-based social gaming / virtual world company best known for Highrise and Everskies: creator-driven environments where users build worlds, socialize, trade virtual goods, and monetize creations. Public sources conflict on the founding year and funding totals; the company’s current profiles list 2015 and about $10.1M raised, while some databases list 2013 and slightly higher totals.
Primary product
Highrise, a cross-platform social virtual world with creator tools (Highrise Studio), a creator portal, and an avatar / virtual-goods economy; Pocket Worlds also operates Everskies.
Founded
2015
Headquarters
Austin, Texas, United States
Team size
70-80 employees
Work style
Flexible
Industry
Technology, Information and Internet
Sub-industry
social gaming and virtual worlds
Offices
Austin, Texas, United States
San Francisco, California, United States
San Antonio, Texas, United States
Business model
free-to-play consumer app
virtual goods / marketplace monetization
creator revenue-share and creator exchange
Funding
Stage
Series A
Total raised
$10.1M
Latest round
Series A · Jan 2021
Latest amount
$7M
People & investors
Leadership
Co-founder & CEO
Co-founder & CTO
Head of People
Head of Trust & Safety
Engineering Lead
Marketing Lead
Software Quality Assurance Lead
Founders
Gordon Su
Co-founder & Board Member
Work & culture
Public-facing culture is fast-paced and ownership-heavy: no micromanagement, no endless meetings, quick execution, impact orientation, and a strong bias toward action. The company frames itself as a meritocracy where experts lead experts, and employee testimonials emphasize autonomy and building without management overhead.
Work style
Flexible
Compensation
No public employee salary bands were found. The public docs emphasize creator earnings instead: revenue share, creator exchange payouts, marketplace sales, and monetization opportunities for builders and designers.
Product & market
Pricing
Free-to-play consumer platform monetized through virtual goods, marketplace fees, and creator revenue-share programs.
Differentiators
- —Highrise Studio lets creators build in Unity and deploy with one click
- —creator monetization via marketplace and revenue-share programs
- —social world plus avatar / fashion economy
- —two-platform portfolio: Highrise and Everskies
- —cross-platform access on mobile and desktop
- —small, lean engineering team with high ownership
- —creator portal and asset store for builders and designers
- —youthful / young-adult social community positioning
Technology
Unity
MongoDB
Redis
Python
Kubernetes
Terraform
React
Angular
Elasticsearch
Grafana
Prometheus
Firebase
Snowflake
Slack
Notion
Customers
players and users
creators and builders
avatar / fashion customization community
young adult social gamers
brand and IP partnership audiences
Competitors
Roblox
ZEPETO
IMVU
Rec Room
VRChat
Fortnite Creative
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
~$14.6M-$16.4M estimated ARR (third-party estimates; public sources vary)
Estimated monthly visits
14.9K
Signals & risks
Latest news
Fast Company · Mar 2025
Fast Company included Pocket Worlds / Highrise among 2025’s most innovative gaming companies, citing its UGC-driven virtual world model.
GamesBeat · Jan 2025
Pocket Worlds acquired Infinite Canvas to strengthen Highrise creator tools and AI-driven UGC capabilities; terms were undisclosed.
PocketGamer.biz · Nov 2024
Pocket Worlds hired Sean O'Grady to lead trust and safety and expand moderation capabilities across Highrise.
GamesBeat · Jun 2024
Highrise surpassed $250M in marketplace and primary revenue, highlighting creator monetization and user-generated content economics.
GamesBeat · Mar 2024
Pocket Worlds released Highrise Studio and a Unity-based Highrise 4.0 rewrite to help creators build and deploy worlds more easily.
Jobs and careers at Pocket Worlds
0 jobs at Pocket Worlds
No open positions
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