Lead investor Andreessen Horowitz put a $10 million extension of a previous $15 million seed round into Azra Games Inc.
The Sacramento-based gaming studio is developing immersive science fiction fantasy role-playing games, which feature game characters that players can own, collect and trade on blockchain technology.
"Azra Games, which we initially invested in last May, is one of those teams. They are experts in crafting immersive RPG gaming experiences," stated Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Arianna Simpson, in a blog post on the venture capital firm's website. Menlo Park-based Andreessen Horowitz is one of the largest venture capital firms in the world. It led Azra's $15 million seed investment last year.
Azra Games CEO and co-founder Mark Otero is a former general manager at game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: EA), where he led the team that launched Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, a game that generated more than $1 billion in revenue. Before that, he started KlickNation, still Sacramento's most successful gaming startup, which he sold to Electronic Arts.
Otero has assembled a veteran team of game designers and serial entrepreneurs to create Azra Games' first title, Legions & Legends. The game studio, based in the historic district of Old Sacramento, has 41 employees.
Otero has worked with many of the core team of game developers over the years. This is the ninth game Otero has developed in his career.
"We brought the band together to make a new album," Otero told the Business Journal.
The vast majority of the Azra team work in the office, which Otero says is critical in developing games.
"I don't believe in remote gaming," Otero said. "It is fiendishly hard work. … The unannounced, unscheduled meetings that take place in the office create the little nuances that are required to make a great game."
Azra has lured some of its game developers from Los Angeles to work on Legions & Legends, primarily because they are excited about the game, Otero said.
"Our approach is that we are a gameplay-first company," Otero said. "Most players won't know it is a Web3 game."
Web3 refers to crypto and blockchain technology. Azra's game characters are digital assets that players can own, collect and trade.
In September, Azra released its first characters, Genesis Explorers, which are also non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which are scarce or unique digital assets whose ownership is tracked on a digital ledger, commonly known as a blockchain.
Otero said Azra's goal is to create games that are an incredible value to the users because they are so engaging, and then that interest in the game will create an engine of interest and demand for the collectibles.
"Their unique approach focuses on fun: it’s a gameplay-comes-first philosophy, which we believe will appeal deeply to traditional players and game developers, as well as crypto natives," stated Simpson on the blog. "We believe that the unique ownership and economic models web3 provides will revolutionize how people play online games."
Other investors in the follow-on round include San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital investor NFX, San Francisco-based crypto investor Coinbase Ventures, Singapore-based game investor Play Ventures and San Mateo-based Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN).
