A16z has launched a new fund that seeks to invest $600 million in gaming experiences including Web3 and metaverse. The fund, which seeks to build the future of the gaming industry, aims to back several startups and projects in different areas including gaming studios, the intersection of gaming and consumers, and infrastructure. This move complements the investments that the VC has made in other gaming and metaverse-involved startups.
On how the fund might help their portfolio startups, the company stated:
We will continue to add more functions and develop deeper networks that are tailored to the games ecosystem so we can help our portfolio companies with everything from building digital communities, to managing their virtual economies, to IP licensing best practices, to helping build their development teams.
A16z supports the idea that these investments will also be key to the development of the metaverse, an alternate world in which people will be able to interact. In this sense, a16z declared:
We believe games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse, an opportunity that dwarfs the current $300 billion game industry itself.
The introduction of the metaverse in the gaming field means that there could be an emergence of new technologies capable of supporting such activities in the virtual world. These gaming experiences can also bring tokens into the environment, directed to satisfy the need for native payments in the area. A16z recognizes this potential, stating that “games are also driving innovation across the entire consumer ecosystem, pioneering … monetization, such as microtransactions, battle passes, and web3 tokens.”
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