# Joseph Kim

> Joseph Kim is the CEO and co-founder of LILA Games, a venture-backed mobile game studio headquartered in Bengaluru, India, building Project Black - an ambitious free-to-play extraction shooter for mobile. With a career spanning two decades across Gaia Interactive, FunPlus (King of Avalon), Demiurge Studios, SEGA Networks, and NBCUniversal, Kim brings rare publishing-to-studio expertise to one of gaming's most competitive genres. Backed by $12.8M from BITKRAFT Ventures and top gaming angels, he's on a mission to prove India can be the next great hub for world-class game development.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at LILA Games
- **Organizations:** LILA Games, GameMakers, Deconstructor of Fun
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, UC Berkeley, MBA in Entertainment Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management
- **Known for:** Co-led development of King of Avalon: Dragon Warfare at FunPlus, which became a top-grossing mobile title globally, Successfully raised $12.8M total for LILA Games from top gaming investors including BITKRAFT Ventures, Built LILA Games to 160 employees in Bengaluru, India - one of the largest independent mobile game studios in India

## Career timeline

- **1995** — Graduated UC Berkeley with BS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- **2005** — Completed MBA in Entertainment Management at UCLA Anderson
- **2006-2010** — VP of Product Management at Gaia Interactive, an early social gaming platform
- **2011-2014** — Studio Lead, Strategy Games Division at FunPlus; helped launch King of Avalon: Dragon Warfare
- **2014-2015** — Interim General Manager at Demiurge Studios, known for Marvel Puzzle Quest
- **2015-2017** — Chief Product Officer, Western Mobile Games Division at SEGA Networks
- **2017-2019** — SVP of Games & Digital Platforms at NBCUniversal
- **2019** — Partner and podcast producer at Deconstructor of Fun; launched GameMakers platform
- **2020** — Co-founded LILA Games in Bengaluru, India with Paul Leydon and Avinash Pandey
- **2021** — Raised $2.8M seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures
- **2022** — Raised $10M Series A led by Rainfall Ventures; grew team to 160+ employees
- **2023** — LILA Games revealed Project Black, a free-to-play mobile extraction shooter
- **2024** — Continued development of Project Black; multiple podcast and conference appearances

## Achievements

- Co-led development of King of Avalon: Dragon Warfare at FunPlus, which became a top-grossing mobile title globally
- Successfully raised $12.8M total for LILA Games from top gaming investors including BITKRAFT Ventures
- Built LILA Games to 160 employees in Bengaluru, India - one of the largest independent mobile game studios in India
- Served as SVP of Games at NBCUniversal overseeing mobile, PC, and console publishing
- Oversaw Demiurge Studios as Interim GM - the studio behind Marvel Puzzle Quest
- Co-founded GameMakers, an industry platform for F2P game development best practices
- Regular keynote speaker at India Game Developers Conference (IndiGDC)
- Prolific podcast contributor and host via Deconstructor of Fun

## Latest updates

- **2024-06** — Appeared on 'Building the Open Metaverse' podcast discussing his career and LILA Games' mission
- **2023-07** — Published 'Lessons Learned From My Startup Journey' on Deconstructor of Fun blog
- **2022-03** — LILA Games closed $10M Series A round led by Rainfall Ventures
- **2022-01** — LILA Games revealed Project Black mobile extraction shooter to the public
- **2021** — LILA Games raised $2.8M seed round from BITKRAFT Ventures and Mike Sherrill

## Links

- Website: https://lilagames.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokim
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jokim1
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jokim1/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/joseph-kim
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12