Indie game developer CCP Games, known for its online multiplayer game Eve Online, has announced that it has secured $40 million in funding from third-party partners to develop a new AAA title set in the Eve universe.
We are pleased to announce that we have secured $40 million in financing, led by @a16zto create a new AAA game within the EVE Universe using blockchain technology.
Learn more here: https://t.co/IZJlPRcZ0z pic.twitter.com/y9cqZKtt2l
— CCP Games (@CCPGames) March 21, 2023
The funding was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Makers Fund, Bitkraft, Kingsway Capital, Hashed, Nexon and other investors.
According to CCP Games, the upcoming project will build on blockchain technology and smart contracts to develop core game systems, prioritizing persistence and composition, and enabling open third-party development to connect players and virtual worlds. CCP Games aims to create a new relationship between virtual worlds and players by developing a game with a deeper level of player autonomy and agency. The developer believes that blockchain technology will help in that goal.
Founded in 1997, CCP Games is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, with additional studios in London and Shanghai.
Related: What are Web3 games and how do they work?
Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, is a leading venture capital firm that lost billions in the cryptocurrency industry in 2022. Despite suffering losses, a16z said it remained committed to investing in the cryptocurrency market and the Web3 vision of the Internet. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 26, a16z general partner Chris Dixon said that the crypto market downturn represented an opportunity to continue supporting crypto entrepreneurs and that the sector has a long-term growth horizon.
On January 17, Carry1st, an African mobile game publisher, raised $27 million in a funding round involving Andreessen Horowitz. The funding will be used to advance its digital content creation and publishing platform, as the backers believe the African continent is ripe for Web3 adoption.
