Blockchain game pitches are flooding into game VCs
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Blockchain game pitches are flooding the inboxes of investors. That comes as no surprise, but the scale of the change in gaming entrepreneurship is pretty stunning considering a year ago it was almost nonexistent.
It was perhaps no surprise to see blockchain-related game companies receive a third of all game startup funding — with 128 companies receiving $1.2 billion — in the first quarter, according to investment bank Drake Star Partners.
In some ways, that was reassuring. It meant that blockchain games are hot, but game developers and gamers don’t have to worry that the funding will crowd out the funding for traditional PC and console game companies. That fear is one of the reasons blockchain games — especially those that use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — have been unpopular with Western hardcore gamers and some developers. Yet it seemed baseless based on the Q1 numbers, which are a lagging indicator.
But there is a forward indicator that might be a bit scary to some. Last week at our event, one investor said that 90% of the inbound pitches at one game VC were blockchain related. I followed up and asked a number of game venture capitalists. They say that anywhere from 50% to 90% of the pitches coming into them involve blockchain games in some way. One game VC told GamesBeat that only one pitch that came in this year was unrelated to blockchain games. Back in November, Forte snared a record funding by raising $725 million for its blockchain gaming infrastructure.
The game VC community isn’t universally excited about blockchain. Some pro blockchain technology investors, like Yat Siu, chairman of Animoca Brands, aren’t so
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