Liminal Raises $5.8M in Seed Funding Backed by BITKRAFT, Riot Games and OTK Media Group

UGC Gaming Startup Founded by Veterans from Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment and More Emerges from Stealth to Build AI-Powered Adventure Creation Platform Championing Human-Centered Creativity and Community Building

Liminal Experiences, Inc, a new UGC gaming startup dedicated to harnessing artificial intelligence to empower human-centered creativity, has emerged from stealth with $5.8 million raised to date in seed funding. The investment comes from prestigious games industry backers, including BITKRAFT Ventures, Riot Games, and OTK Media Group, with participation from angel investors including Marc Merrill, founder of Riot Games. Liminal transforms creation into a game, making it possible for players to joyfully build their own RPG-style adventures. With powerful new AI tools players can craft their own immersive worlds, bring life to their original heroes, and collaborate with friends on epic adventures.

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Liminal Experiences, Inc Team Photo 2025 (Photo: Business Wire)

"AI in gaming is a sensitive topic, as many developers worry about being replaced, and players grapple with its ethical issues," says Liminal Experiences Founder and CEO Brendan Mulligan. "Wading into the debate is fraught, so most gaming companies avoid discussing AI while quietly exploring options internally. This leaves the public conversation to startups founded by tourists to the industry to pitch their vision of the future. There’s a real need for studios willing to stand for a positive vision of an AI-enabled future, which should come from developers focused on unleashing, not replacing, human creativity."

Mulligan believes the future of gaming is millions of players discovering their creativity and telling their stories to a global audience. Liminal enables worldbuilding with magic, not with code, making creation possible for anyone. Inspired by the innate way children create entire universes through play, the platform puts players of all ages inside the world of their imaginations. Liminal invites players to design their own narratives as episodic content, bringing forth new possibilities for worldbuilding.

The Liminal platform also provides existing beloved IPs with a badly needed solution for reaching a generation that has grown up with games and want to be met where they are. Mulligan explains, “We hear the same thing again and again from the teams behind some of our favorite universes, ‘we need a gaming/UGC strategy but the current solutions don’t make sense for our brand.’” With official episodes that can be remixed and shared, Liminal brings fandoms together to connect over the most immersive interaction fanfiction possible, letting them wield their imagination to bring to life their favorite characters and insert themselves into the story.

Liminal’s key features:

• Creation through play of 3D episodic adventure stories, no coding needed
• Full building, decorating, and character editing systems
• Easy quest creation and advanced gameplay editing
• AI-powered storytelling assistance and game creation concierge
• Seamless creation and sharing of adventures with 1-4 players

"A positive vision of the future should recognize the power of AI to ignite the imaginations of players of all ages, letting everyone realize the fantasy of making their own game experiences," says Mulligan. "At Liminal, we’re focused on centering humans in the creative process, ensuring that AI is a tool to create shared experiences that build communities, bringing players closer together."

Liminal remains in development with a planned 2026 alpha. Apply to playtest here, and follow the developer on X for additional updates.

About Liminal Experiences:

Liminal Experiences is a fully remote game development studio founded in 2022. Liminal believes in joyful creation and an AI-powered future that builds community and ignites human creativity rather than stifling it. Founder and CEO Brendan Mulligan spent 8 years at Riot Games variously leading investments and acquisitions, strategic business partnerships, League of Legends economy design, and more. He is joined by Technical Cofounder David Lieberman, previously Group Product Lead at Riot Games and VP of Engineering at no-code game engine Buildbox, and a passionate team of developers obsessed with storytelling and joyful creation.

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