HiberWorld

Hiber AB, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, developed HiberWorld, a web-first platform that let users create, share and play 3D games and interactive experiences directly in a browser without writing code. Creation was possible on PC and on mobile devices, and finished experiences could be shared instantly through a web link. Content on the platform ranged from conventional game genres and shooter levels to 3D hangouts, playgrounds, speed-run challenges, interactive scenes, virtual museums, roller coasters, pixel-art showcases and personal messages or memorials.

The platform combined creation tools with social features including multiplayer sessions, chat with friends, likes, followers, comments, personal player homeworlds and public playgrounds. The company positioned the service as a way for a younger, largely mobile audience to communicate and express themselves through short-form games, and described itself as operating at the intersection of connected devices, AI and creator-focused entertainment.

The HiberWorld service has since been discontinued. The company's website states that Hiberworld has closed its doors and that the team is building a new product to replace it, with an email sign-up list for future announcements.

Founding story

Hiber was founded in 2017 by CEO Michael Yngfors and Mattias Johansson. Yngfors had more than 20 years of experience in digital media and entertainment, including work at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe and management roles at advertising agencies and technology firms since the late 1990s. Johansson, who served as chief creative officer and later as chief innovation officer, had spent two decades building front-end and creative technology solutions for graphics and entertainment, including ad-tech work as a senior front-end developer and digital creative at LBi (later Publicis Sapient). The name Hiber was described as a reference to the Latin root of hibernation, or dreaming.

Business model

Hiber operated a consumer creation-and-play platform at hiberworld.com that was free to use, with the company stating in 2020 that monetization was planned for the following year. A startup profile lists the company's business model as both B2C and B2B.

The platform was free to use at the time of its 2020 seed round, with the CEO stating that monetization would be introduced the following year.

Traction

By September 2020 the platform had accumulated more than 300,000 games from 250,000 monthly active users, with the company reporting exponential increases in engagement and retention after adding multiplayer, friend chat, player homeworlds, public playgrounds and shooter-game creation. In May 2021 it announced more than one million user-created games, with thousands of interactive 3D experiences created each day.

Latest developments

The HiberWorld platform has closed. The company's website thanks users for years of worlds, multiplayer sessions and experiments, and says the team is building a replacement product but is not ready to share details, offering an email notification list.