We know that we've been a little doomy of late with our coverage of the UK video game industry, so it's interesting to report that Lemmings creator, David Jones' company, Realtime Worlds has raised $50 (£25m) in additional funding.

Realtime World's, you might like to recall, is also the developer of Crackdown (see our review, over here).

We are told that, "Maverick Capital, the renowned investment firm founded by Lee Ainslie, led the new investment round with existing investor New Enterprise Associates and WPP, a world leader in marketing communications services. The Series B investment will support Realtime Worlds’ continued growth and expansion as the company develops new creative properties and brings innovative online gaming experiences to market.

Rather than saying what he's going to be doing with the cash, David Jones, slipped into the expected 'messaging', saying, "Securing funding of this size from partners that are leading the financial and marketing communications industries further affirms Realtime Worlds’ position as one of the most creative, respected and successful game development companies in the world".

What the cash does enable the developer to do, however, is remain independent of any platform holder or publishing behemoth.