a16z Backs $33M Raise for Blockchain Game Studio Proof of Play

The studio and blockchain tech startup is led by one of the co-creators of FarmVille.

Proof of Play, a decentralized game studio and blockchain technology company, has raised $33 million in a seed round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) general partner Chis Dixon and Greenoaks founder and managing partner Neil Mehta, according to a press release provided to Unchained.

The funds will help Proof to Play scale its studio and technology teams to continue development of on-chain games built around autonomous worlds, starting with the first title, a free-to-play role-playing game called Pirate Nation.

Silicon Valley-based Proof of Play was founded by veterans of major game studios including Epic Games, Zynga, Electronic Arts (EA) and Activision Blizzard. CEO Amitt Mahajan was a co-creator of FarmVille, the first breakout game on Facebook. Alongside the fundraise, the startup announced that former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has joined the board.

Pirate Nation’s decentralized infrastructure aims to create a “forever game” that doesn’t rely on outside intervention or external servers to continue operations. Players have the ability to evolve the game by adding or removing content, reshaping the in-game world. Proof to Play also has plans to open-source its tech framework to allow other creators to easily use the infrastructure to produce new on-chain games and applications.

Other investors in the round included Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, the founders of Twitch, Anchorage Digital, Mercury, Firebase, Zynga and Alchemy.

“We’re thrilled to be backing Proof of Play as they build an on-chain gaming future with composability, interoperability, and permanence at the core of gameplay, enabling players to truly own their assets and anyone to create a new game on top of another,” said Chris Dixon in the press release.

The news comes a day after a16z led the $3.6 million funding round for crypto firm Freatic, which is developing a decentralized information protocol.