a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) has been on a tear this week. They kicked off the week with the 2022 State of Crypto report. It reminds me of Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report, which has a great State of the Union-esque overview.
However, what I found to be more interesting was yesterday’s announcement of GAMES FUND ONE.
Geez all caps and hype video?! Feels like they’re turning into a Gen Z lifestyle brand in the form of a $600 million fund. Fun video to watch regardless.
While watching the video, several of the names caught my eye. Realizing that a16z seemed to take the PR strategy of winning tech news headlines for the week (attention is the new currency after all), I do wonder if something else is at play here.
First a crypto report a week, now a games fund? Are they somehow…related? Maybe not explicitly, but I’m going to see if there’s a crossover of some sort with each of the companies in the video. Maybe I’m just connecting dots out of thin air, but these guys are smart. There’s probably more than meets the eye.
The investment themes for the fund seem to allude some association between Crypto and Gaming.
‘Metaverse’, ‘player communities’, ‘interactive social networks’
Putting these companies based on if they’re working on blockchain gaming efforts, we get this:
Yes (18, 39%) - Dapper, Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity), Forte, Metatheory, Faraway, League of Kingdoms, RTFKT, Yield Guild Games, LootRush, MechaFightClub, Battlebound, Mythical Games, Core Loop, Zed Run, Azra Games, Createra, Improbable, Super Evil Megacorp
Sorta (4, 9%) - Roblox (they’re creating their own metaverse, so you can argue yes), Voldex (creates UGC games in Roblox/Minecraft metaverses), Carry1st (paying with crypto through shop app), Lowkey (acquired by Niantec, which you can argue is building its own metaverse as well)
No (24, 52%) - Singularity 6, Parsec, End Game Interactive, Elodie, Sleeper, Clockwork Labs, Bonfire Studios, Mountaintop Studios, Overwolf, Mainframe, Raid Base, Omni Creator Products, Z League, E-Pal, Reface, Carbonated, StartPlaying, Sandbox VR, Alta, One More Game, Gym Class, Roboto Games, Pahdo Labs, Supernatural VR
I hope you didn’t click all the links, that’d be exhausting :)
So, what does this all mean?
Blockchain Gaming is definitely a thing: Almost 40% of a16z’s gaming investments are actively building for blockchain/crypto.
But it’s not the only thing: A majority of the gaming investments are not actively building for blockchain gaming, or they are not publicly disclosing that they are yet. Just because it’s the new hot thing doesn’t mean it will be successful. a16z has the ability to take a lot of shots on goal and bet on breadth as well as depth of a particular theme.
What happens after the announcement: There’s plenty of advantages with announcing a thematic fund. There will be an influx of inbound opportunities which will provide more insight into the current or new themes. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of investments will be made by the fund moving forward and how the 40/10/50 split changes over time.
I’ll admit, I’m not much of a gamer. But the lines between gaming with blockchain, culture, and social experiences are blurring. I’m going to participate whether I like it or not, and it’s looking more and more fun. 🕹
