Block Tackle, a San-Francisco-based game studio, announced on its official launch that it has closed a $5M seed round co-led by Cadenza Ventures and Play Ventures.
Other investors Seed investors, including Animoca Brands, Coinbase Ventures, Solana Ventures, Brevan Howard, Concept Art House, House Fund, Hustle Fund, Pirata Ventures, joined the round. The company will use the funds to accelerate its growth and product development.
Blockchain and gaming
Blockchain technology has become one of the most promising technologies in the recent past. In addition to the application of distributed public ledger, blockchain is now the foundation of decentralised application (Dapps).
The rise of blockchain has made an impact in digital games, especially those with multi-player scenarios. Particularly, Play-to-earn (P2E) crypto gaming. And Block Tackle is one such company that’s making use of the opportunity.
The US company is on a mission to upgrade the traditional gaming model — where players pay to have fun and developers profit.
By making entertaining games that involve blockchain technology and digital asset ownership (NFTs, or non-fungible tokens), the platform allows players to literally invest in the game and its community while having fun.
“Block Tackle is dedicated to building the first generation of great games in blockchain,” said co-founder Ben Topkins. “We’ve assembled a team that believes in the future of blockchain technology but doesn’t believe it should come at the cost of pure player enjoyment.”
Block Tackle team is made up of game developers from such AAA companies as Kabam, EA, Lucasfilm, Roblox, Supercell, Apple, Telltale and Drone Racing League
Fun-first blockchain games
Founded by Rob Oshima and Ben Topkins, Block Tackle Inc. is a studio dedicated to creating the first generation of fun-first blockchain games.
Oshima and Topkins met while working at Kabam (the company behind successful games like MARVEL Contest of Champions and Transformers: Forged to Fight) and later built NERF Strike on Roblox, a NERF FPS game that now has more than 30M plays, 10M+ players, and an 84 per cent positive rating.
The company’s debut title is SkateX, a multiplayer online game (MMO) in which players own their own one-of-a-kind skateboards, which can be used not only in the game but in the wider Web3 universe.
The game is due for release later this year, after the highly anticipated drop of 1080 unique and customisable animated skateboards in April.
“Our goal is to make blockchain games accessible and irresistible to all, and there is no better way to start than with SkateX,” said Block Tackle co-founder Rob Oshima. “Players own their in-game items and participate in the game economy while building their skills alongside other skate enthusiasts from around the globe. We’re taking gaming from a zero-sum experience to a positive-sum experience for players.”
Based out of San Francisco, Cadenza Ventures is an investment firm with a focus on digital finance and related technologies. Some of the investments include BlockFi, Blockfolio, Rain, ZEBEDEE, and FalconX.
“The future of gaming means embracing blockchain technology, NFTs and crypto — but for many, those concepts are hard to understand at best,” said Cadenza Ventures Managing Partner Max Shapiro. “We are thrilled to support Block Tackle and its team of seasoned gaming veterans as they usher in a new era in games by redefining the value proposition for players.”
Play Ventures is a venture funding that invests globally in games and game services startups.
