VCs Continue to Bet on Web3 as A16z Leads Roboto Games’ $15M Round

Quick take:

• Roboto Games has raised $15 million in a round led by A16z.
• The venture capital firm has continued to bet on Web3 startups despite the FTX saga.
• The funding is part of A16z’s $600 million gaming fund launched in May 2022.

Roboto Games has announced a $15 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (A16z). The new gaming studio wants to onboard web2 games to the blockchain by integrating web3 in-game features. 

Web3 is a user-centric blockchain-based internet that prioritises decentralisation, trustless communications and the development of community-owned platforms.

The fundraising announcement comes at a time when the crypto market is in turmoil amid the collapse of the world’s third-largest crypto exchange company FTX. The investment shows A16z’s commitment to backing exciting web3 gaming projects after launching a $600 million gaming fund in May this year.

According to Roboto Games founders Curt Bererton and Mathilde Pignol, the current tranche of financing will be used to hire new creative and marketing talents, as it continues to build towards its second game.

Its first game, “Last Mage Standing” has already attracted millions of players according to Bererton. However, the focus remains on the second, game monikered “Foragers and Fighters”.

The survival/crafting massively multiplayer online (MMO) game has been described as a blend of Minecraft and Genshin Impact and will have character collection and asset/structure-building aspects. It will initially be without web3 elements when it is released in the first quarter of 2023.

The fundraising also attracted participation from Ancient8, Animoca Brands, Gumi Cryptos Capital, Harrison Metal Capital, Makers Fund, Merit Circle, and Transcend, as well as, several angel investors.

Roboto Games’ latest fundraising brings its total capital raised to $19.5 million including a seed round announced in 2019.

The San Mateo, Calif gaming studio is focused on building free-to-play games that can be played on multiple platforms including mobile, web and PC. Players will also have the option to play with or without web3 elements like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

An NFT is a blockchain-based digital file representing proof of ownership of a digital collectible, a JPEG, an artwork, or in Roboto Games’ case, a playable avatar and other in-game assets (weapons, skins, etc). 

Web3 game developers use NFTs and tokenomics to empower players and creators giving them an opportunity to claim a share of the game’s ownership.

“We want to make sure that we have the game core solidified and it’s working well and it’s really fun first before we launch any sort of NFTs or tokens associated with the project,” Bererton told CoinDesk. “Because, for example, if we change a big aspect of the game, we don’t want those NFTs to be invalidated by some design change that we make.”

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