Murasaki, a gamefi startup run by Japanese developers based in the Netherlands, has raised €1.5 million in funding. The round was led by Incubate Fund, one of the largest Japanese venture capital firms specialising in seed stage investing.
NFT-focused game launch in 2023
With the investment, Murasaki will be able to strengthen its commitment to developing the next generation of decentralised, community-powered games. It is also gearing up to release Cyberstella, an NFT-focused game with a new take on the play and earn model in early 2023. An NFT and official token launch will follow the beta version release in late 2022.
Murasaki co-founder Shunsuke Sasaki, said, “The world of Cyberstella is set in the year 2222, two hundred years from now in cyberpunk city. The background is that humans began to expand their economic, social and military activities into space after initial explorations were built upon. The birth of interstellar exchanges and the beginning of the second era of voyages allowed the curiosity of humans to greatly accelerate the manifestation of greater possibilities to rapidly expand these very human activities.”
Shinnosuke Murata, Murasaki’s CEO & Co-Founder, said: “This investment round is incredibly exciting for us, as it will allow us to further develop our assets and optimize the beta version of Cyberstella, adding new features, worlds, missions and environments. We are also planning to develop a subsequent title as well. We can’t wait for people to discover what playing a blockchain title is really like.”
Keisuke Wada at Incubate Fund said: “We are thrilled to partner with the Murasaki team, formed by two experienced Japanese entrepreneurs, Mr. Murata and Mr. Sasaki, in taking on the Game-Fi challenge. We look forward to transcending national borders and pioneering an ever-evolving frontier.”
Eyes to build decentralised games
Founded by a consortium of Japanese and European entrepreneurs in the Netherlands, including Shinnosuke Murata and Shunsuke Sasaki, Murasaki wants to build decentralised, Japanese video games and products, entirely on the blockchain.
It works with the mission to develop next-generation Japanese video games with an emphasis on creating titles that will last a millennia.
At a time when there is a transformation in the gaming industry with emerging technologies like the blockchain opening new doors and creating endless revenue opportunities for both players and creators, Murasaki aims to harness the power of community and make a future game engine available to anyone wanting to build blockchain titles.
