Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts have tried and failed to combine the multi-billion dollar video game industry with NFT and blockchain technology. According to a report by CoinGecko, of the 2,817 Web3 games launched between 2019 and 2023, 75.5% failed. For some reason, the two industries haven’t been able to mesh well, but that doesn’t mean investors have stopped looking for potential synergies.
Pantera Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and NFX are the latest companies to bet on Sacramento-based video game developer Azra Games to crack blockchain gaming. Founded in 2022, Azura announced it has raised $42 million in a Series A funding round led by Pantera, bringing its total funding to $68.3 million.
CEO and founder Mark Otero is a veteran game designer best known for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Electronic Arts’ highest grossing game. Otero was also the CEO and founder of the former video game company KlickNation, which was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2011.
Otero plans to develop sustainable, immersive role-playing games, a type of video game in which players take on the role of characters in the game’s fictional world, before integrating new technologies such as NFTs and blockchain. We are planning to take on this difficult challenge.
“Since the company was founded, our approach has always been that we first need to build great games, great RPGs that people love and want to share with their family and friends,” Otero said. Ta. “Once we establish that, we can incorporate additional technologies such as web3 to improve the player experience.”
Otero also believes his vision is different from others in the industry as he strives to be part of a new generation of RPGs. These games are usually played on a PC or game console because they require a huge amount of computing power. Otero said the “fourth generation” of RPGs will be played on mobile devices because of their advanced computing power. He told Fortune that the $42 million will be used to develop “amazing, world-class games.” The game is available on the App Store, and the first game is codenamed “Project Legends.”
“Project Legends has the very visual fidelity you’ve come to expect from previous generation PC and console games in a mobile form factor,” Otero said. “And because we’re going mobile-first, you can now take the game and port it to PC or console with very little work.”
He plans to use some of the funds to discover new talent and build a world-class team. He also plans to further develop the IP Center, a division of Azura Games that supports the company’s intellectual property and helps generate new ideas quickly.
“The team at Azura Games has an incredible opportunity and vision to pioneer the fourth generation of mobile RPG games, combining the creativity and experience of new game formats with the digital ownership of blockchain,” said a16z crypto. said General Partner Arianna Simpson. statement.
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