The company, which offers players true ownership of in-game items, will use the funding to scale mainstream adoption of decentralized gaming economies.
SYDNEY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Immutable, a company that builds video games with player-owned assets, today announced that they have raised a $15 million Series A round led by Naspers Ventures, part of Naspers, a global internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, and Galaxy Digital EOS VC Fund, a $325 million ecosystem development fund run by blockchain-focused merchant bank Galaxy Digital. Apex Capital Partners also participated in the round. The Immutable team will use the funds to accelerate the development of their flagship game, Gods Unchained, a trading card game led by Chris Clay, the former director of Magic The Gathering: Arena. Gods Unchained made waves last year as the world’s highest grossing blockchain-powered video game. Funds will also be used to build out the Immutable Platform, an open-source blockchain toolkit that lets developers create “immutable assets,” or truly ownable in-game items like cards, skins, weapons, and more, for their third-party games.
“We’re building foundational products and technology to make true ownership of digital objects a new normal,” said James Ferguson, CEO of Immutable. “This round of financing helps us accelerate the speed and direction by which we approach that reality. One acceptance criteria for investors was ensuring they shared our passion and vision for the future. Not only do our new partners exceed these expectations, but they just so happen to be the best in the world at what they do across our relevant domains. Needless to say, we couldn’t be happier.”
Immutable’s use of blockchain technology unlocks a whole new class of digital assets — one which holds real-world value and can be freely exchanged on peer-to-peer marketplaces. Players can buy, sell, and gift their in-game items such as cards, skins, swords, and more, and extract value from the time they spend gaming.
Sam Englebardt, Co-Founder and Co-Head of Principal Investments at Galaxy Digital said, “True ownership of digital objects reflects the next paradigm for interactive content by aligning the long-term incentives of publishers, developers, creators, and players. We’re investing broadly in the studios that are best executing on this vision across a variety of video game genres and Gods Unchained is in a class by itself amongst trading card games. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Immutable.”
“Naspers Ventures partners with innovative entrepreneurs in high-growth markets across the globe and we recognize the potential that blockchain technology has to radically transform most industries in the future, including gaming. We believe tremendous economic value can be unlocked in digital worlds using blockchain technology to bring true digital asset ownership to games, building upon a decades-old ecosystem,” said Banafsheh Fathieh, Principal and Early Stage Investment Lead at Naspers Ventures.
Immutable, formerly known as Fuel Games, raised a seed round last year led by Continue Capital and Nirvana Capital, and also included Sora Ventures and US digital currency exchange Coinbase. Their first game, Gods Unchained, is still in beta and has already sold more than 4 million cards, generating over $4.5 million in revenue through their limited “Genesis Sale,” which ends on October 10th. This includes a one-of-a-kind digital card that made headlines last year when it sold at auction for $62,000, becoming the 2nd most valuable TCG card in the world. Immutable is using some of this revenue to contribute to next year’s World Championship, which has a current prize pool of around $450,000.
About Immutable
Immutable (formerly known as Fuel Games) is an Australian-based company and market leader in blockchain gaming. Through the Immutable Platform, the company is bringing transparency to the opaque world of in-game economies and providing gamers with true digital property rights. They are showcasing these advancements through Gods Unchained, a play-to-earn, AAA trading card game directed by the former director of Magic The Gathering: Arena, Chris Clay. To learn more about Immutable, visit: https://immutable.com/
The announcement follows news last month that Chris Clay, former director of Magic The Gathering: Arena, signed on to direct the company’s digital trading-card game Gods Unchained.
About Naspers Ventures
Naspers Ventures partners with entrepreneurs to build leading technology companies in high-growth markets. It identifies companies and founders with high potential and the ambition to scale globally. The team provides tailored support to help its portfolio companies become leaders in their chosen markets. The Ventures team brings in-depth experience, knowledge and resources from around the world to help entrepreneurs build, grow and scale their businesses. Every day, millions of people use the products and services of companies that Naspers Ventures has invested in including Brainly, BYJU’S, Codecademy, DappRadar, Dott, Honor, iFood, Joymode, Meesho, Movile, SimilarWeb, SoloLearn, Swiggy and Udemy.
About Galaxy EOS VC Fund
The $325mm Galaxy EOS VC Fund (the “Fund”) is a partnership between Galaxy Digital, a leading blockchain focused merchant bank, and Block.one, the publisher of EOSIO, a next-generation, open source blockchain protocol designed to be adapted and utilized to create a more secure and transparent digital infrastructure. The Fund invests broadly across the interactive entertainment landscape in order to drive mass adoption of blockchain technology globally and to build out the EOSIO ecosystem.
Immutable Website: https://immutable.com
Gods Unchained Website: https://godsunchained.com
Contacts
Chris Bowden, Communications Director
chris.bowden@immutable.com
