Andreessen Horowitz leads $40M funding round for CCP Games

CCP Games has secured $40 million in a funding round led by VC giant Andreessen Horowitz. CCP Games is the creator of EVE Online, and the funding will go towards supporting the development of a new AAA title that has integrated blockchain technology.

CCP Games raises $40M

Eve Online is a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that has amassed a vast and highly engaged audience. The recent $40M funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz. The other firms that participated in the funding round include Makers Fund, Kingsway Capital, BITKRAFT, Nexon, and HASHED, among others.

CCP Games will use the new funding to support its research and development team to create a new AAA title that utilizes blockchain technology. This new title will be based on the EVE gaming universe.

The CEO of CCP Games, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, noted that the new funding was an exciting development for the studio. The executive said that the company is starting its third decade of offering virtual world operations, and it was excited about the confidence shown by its partners in creating the new title.

“Since its inception, CCP Games’ vision has been to create virtual worlds more meaningful than real life. Now, with advancements made within the 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 project will see critical game systems being created on the blockchain. The new project will also use smart-contract blockchain technology to boost persistence and composability. The project will also support third-party development to establish new relationships between players and virtual worlds.

Jonathan Lai, the general partner at a16z, said that CCP Games has been leading virtual worlds and digital economies. Lai noted that the veteran team was ambitious and would deliver unique player experiences that integrate both in-game design and blockchain technology.

BITKRAFT Ventures Partner, Carlos Pereira, said that the offerings by CCO Games were unmatched, and the company was excited to see how the team would use blockchain to support more players.

CCO Games’ interest in blockchain

In the recent announcement, CCP Games noted that the production of this new title was different from the current and previously disclosed projects such as EVE Online. As aforementioned, EVE Online is a project marking its 20^th year.

However, it is not the first time CCP Games has shown interest in blockchain technology. In 2020, Pétursson said that the blockchain gaming market was too small for CCP to make any move related to the sector. He also said there were complexities in handling cryptocurrencies, adding that it would take nearly a decade before a competitive blockchain game emerged.

However, the company has now changed its views on the matter. The development also comes when traditional game makers are doubling down on blockchain plans. Sony recently filed a patent filing to boost the interoperability of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in gaming environments.