Image credits: GunZilla Games
Gunzilla Games, a Frankfurt-based AAA games developer, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $46M (approximately €44.9M) in a funding round led by Republic Capital.
Griffin Gaming Partners, Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, Raptor Group, CoinFund, Shima Capital, Dominance Ventures, GSR, Kucoin Labs, Spartan Investment Group, AlphaCrypto Capital, Blizzard, Digital Strategies, Morningstar Ventures, Gamegroove Capital, NGG, and Huobi Group also participated in the round.
Notable angel investors and advisors, including Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch, also participated in the round.
The company says the latest funds will allow the gaming studio to build their new platform, GunZ, enabling players to own their in-game possessions.
The announcement comes two months after announcing “Off The Grid” (OTG), a new AAA Battle Royale 2.0 third-person shooter set in a dystopian cyberpunk future.
Off The Grid
Gunzilla says GunZ will be the foundation for “Off The Grid” (OTG). The game will feature “in-game item trading,” where players can buy new in-game items (characters, custom weapons, clothing items, and accessories) from others who collected them in the game or acquired them from others. In addition, players will also be able to take their items out of the game.
The company says that as the universe of OTG continues to evolve, gamers will discover new items each time they play.
The German company says trading will be handled via an internal blockchain-based marketplace or any third-party marketplace that supports NFT technology.
The company also promised they would never sell NFTs directly to their player community, nor will they hide progression or any game features behind a monetised paywall.
If any player is not interested, they can skip this feature and play the game for free without any limitations, adds the company. It is due for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2023.
Vlad Korolev, CEO and co-founder of Gunzilla, says, “We are striving to provide players with complete freedom in every detail of OTG and each step of its gameplay. In OTG, besides the core gameplay, players can own and trade their in-game items with other players. As well as assure players that their hard-earned items remain theirs to keep, no matter what. In today’s free-to-play games, it isn’t yours if you pay for something. You do not, and cannot, own anything. Anyone can read the EULA of any game to verify this.”
He adds, “If you’re banned, for example, any item can be taken away from you, even if your ban is accidental. The money you’ve put in disappears when you stop playing any free-to-play game. We are re-inventing the system, putting the power back in gamers’ hands, and using blockchain technology to make this happen. With OTG and GunZ, we are creating a universe that will set a new standard for the industry.”
Gunzilla Games: What you need to know
Founded by Vlad Korolev and Alexander Zoll in 2020, Gunzilla Games is an independent AAA developer working on next-generation multiplayer shooter IP in three locations: Frankfurt, Germany (HQ), Los Angeles, USA, and Kyiv, Ukraine.
Gunzilla’s team comprises talent from various industry-leading studios and publishers, including Ubisoft, Electronic Arts (EA), THQ, and more.
Brian Johnson, a Senior Director of Republic Capital, says, “The Gunzilla team is nothing short of stellar with industry veterans having contributed to games many of us grew up playing. We believe that free-to-play reigns supreme and that by combining it with an optional Crypto component, Gunzilla will lead by example, marrying the Crypto and gaming worlds. There’s no doubt that the future of Crypto gaming needs to involve next-gen consoles, and we believe Gunzilla will allow this to happen easily.”
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