Finnish games livestreaming platform Noice is shutting down operations six years after its founding, with CEO Tuomas Rinta announcing the closure to staff on Monday, June 9. The company is ceasing operations amid what executives describe as a challenging fundraising environment.

“It wasn’t a surprise to anyone in the company, as we’ve been openly discussing the tough fundraising market we’re in, but of course, we wanted to be hopeful until the end that we could deliver a positive outcome and our story would continue,” Rinta wrote. “I’m incredibly proud of what this team has been able to achieve, the way they’ve worked, that community they have built.”

As Pocket Gamer reports, Noice raised $26 million across two funding rounds during its operational period. The company secured $21 million in Series A funding in November 2023, with backers including Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen, Wolt CEO Miki Kuusi, F4 Fund, and Bitkraft. The platform previously received $5 million in seed funding in 2021.

The company developed a platform combining competitive and cooperative multiplayer gaming with livestreaming capabilities. Noice aimed to merge watching livestreams with multiplayer gaming and free-to-play monetization models. 

The platform offered creators a 70/30 revenue split and introduced Partner Reward Units, which allow creators to earn units based on viewership and engagement that can be converted to cash upon a potential stock listing or acquisition. Noice incorporated gameplay elements that allow viewers to predict stream outcomes, reporting enhanced interaction between creators and audiences.

Noice competed in a market dominated by established players, such as Twitch. The platform supported streaming for games including “Apex Legends,” “Dead By Daylight,” “EA SPORTS FC 25,” “Fortnite,” and “Valorant.”

Executive Statements on Closure

Chairman and co-founder Jussi Laakkonen described the platform as a “next-gen livestreaming platform” developed over the course of six years. He noted partnerships with creators who established a presence on the platform.

Rinta announced plans to compile a list of available team members and their roles for potential employers.

“As we shut down Noice, that does mean that there is an incredibly talented team looking for new challenges, people I will personally vouch for, every single one of them,” Rinta wrote. “We’ll be putting together a list of names and roles that people are looking for. If you are hiring, feel free to reach out to me directly, and I can put you in touch with people from the team.”