Image: CCP Games
The VC giant is supporting CCP Games’ development of a new game that will utilise blockchain technology to create a more realistic virtual world.
CCP Games, the creator of the popular game Eve Online, has raised $40m in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z).
The VC giant said this funding will be used to develop a new AAA game that utilises blockchain technology. This new game will be set in the same universe as Eve Online.
Other investors in the round included Makers Fund, Bitkraft, Kingsway Capital, Hashed, Nexon and additional, unnamed participants.
CCP Games said the new title will leverage smart-contract blockchain technology, with a focus on in-game persistence, composability and “truly open third-party development”.
The company’s CEO Hilmar V Pétursson said CCP Games has a vision to create “virtual worlds more meaningful than real life”.
“With advancements made within blockchain, we can forge a new universe deeply imbued with our expertise in player agency and autonomy, empowering players to engage in new ways,” Pétursson said.
“This financing has marked an exciting frontier in our studio history as we begin our third decade of virtual world operations. We are humbled by the confidence from our partners in the development of this new title.”
Eve Online is a sandbox game set in space, which lets players trade and interact within a virtual economy. The game first launched in 2003 but has retained a large following to this day, with estimates that more than 170,000 players are still active in the game this year.
Andreessen Horowitz said it believes the next generation of web3 games will share similar principles to Eve Online, such as being “built from the ground up to merge proven gameplay with open economies, player-driven social systems and composability”.
A16Z general partner Jonathan Lai said CCP games is a “pioneer of virtual worlds”, with experience in creating sandbox games with “unparalleled depth”.
“They’re a veteran team and we believe in their ambitious vision to deliver incredible player experiences at the intersection of best-in-class game design and blockchain technology,” Lai said.
Last year, the VC giant made a big bet on the blockchain sector when it launched a $4.5bn fund for crypto start-ups.
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