Neon Machine raises $20 million in Series A funding for “Shrapnel,” a blockchain-based Call of Duty rival.

• Neon Machine raises $20 million in Series A funding for “Shrapnel,” a blockchain-based Call of Duty rival.

Amassing a cohort of employees whose combined portfolios in the entertainment industry boast titles such as Halo, Call of Duty, and Westworld, the company makes bold claims.

Neon Machine, a pioneering Web3 gaming developer, has successfully secured an impressive $20 million in Series A funding, a significant milestone in the creation of its much-anticipated extraction shooter, Shrapnel. This fundraising endeavor follows a previous seed round in June 2021, which amounted to $10.5 million and was spearheaded by Polychain Capital. Notable contributors to this endeavor include Griffin Gaming Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Franklin Templeton, IOSG Ventures, and Tess Ventures.

Shrapnel is an ambitious gaming venture passionately labeled as a AAA game by Neon Machine, signifying a pinnacle of production value, budget, and marketing. If you were to view the gameplay footage on Neon Machine’s YouTube channel or explore the game’s official website, you’d discover that Shrapnel is a first-person shooter enriched with multiplayer components. Interestingly, the competition within the game, which is still in its pre-alpha testing phase, centers around “extraction” mechanics, necessitating players to escape with any in-game loot to secure these valuable items.

In the initial gameplay clips, one may discern a gameplay loop reminiscent of Call of Duty: Warzone, a renowned free-to-play extraction shooter crafted by Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard studio. What sets Shrapnel apart from its AAA counterparts is its firm reliance on Web3 and blockchain technology. While other games like The Division 2 feature extraction mechanics, where players can secure valuable in-game items for their characters, Shrapnel takes this concept a step further by linking these assets to the blockchain. The studio asserts that this approach grants players complete ownership of their in-game assets.

Furthermore, Shrapnel is poised to introduce a modding toolkit, potentially permitting players and developers to embed various blockchain assets into the game world, fostering an environment ripe for seasonal competitions and tournaments.

According to a press release from Neon Machine, the game is scheduled for early-access testing in December, exclusively available to paid subscribers. Following this initial phase, Neon Machine aims to release the game as a free-to-play title sometime in 2024. Beyond the development and launch of Shrapnel, Neon Machine has disclosed its plans to eventually license its Web3 developer’s API platform, GameBridge.