Quick take:
- Funds will be used to develop Lava Labs’ first game.
- Lava Labs will be selling virtual land as NFTs.
- The land can be used in a mini-game.
UK-based gaming studio Lava Labs announced today that it has closed a Series A funding of $10 million, and is now valued at $100 million, according to The Block.
The Series A raised was closed on Feb 1 and was led by Swiss venture capital firm, Dialectic. Participants in the round included Merit, Circle, Dragonfly, DeFiance Capital, Animoca, Razer Computer, Dapper Labs and others.
The gaming startup was previously backed by Makers Fund, a global interactive entertainment venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments.
Lava Labs, which calls itself the “Pixar of Web3”, was founded in 2019. Founder of video game company Electronic Arts, Trip Hawkins, serves as executive coach and advisor at Lava Labs.
The funds will be used to develop Lava Labs’ first game titled AFAR, a third-person game that pits 25 players against each other as they complete a series of obstacle courses and shooting challenges.
“Our vision is entirely around ‘fun’ and creating an enduring world,” said Kaya Tilev, CEO and creative director of Lava Labs, in a statement to The Block. “We have been inspired by Pixar and Disney throughout our lives and believe we are in a position to create the next generation of dazzling entertainment through our specialized process.”
Besides developing its first game, Lava Labs is also preparing a virtual land sale with 10,000 plots of land sold as NFTs to its community. Further details of the land sale have yet to be disclosed. However, buyers can use the land in a mini-game in Q2 this year while the company works on AFAR.
If successful, the land sale could attract more investors in future funding rounds for Lava Labs, like metaverse gaming developer Bright Star Studios did with its in-game land sale.
Investments have been poured into Web3 game studios over the last month. In February, Worldspark Studios raised a $3 million seed funding to develop NFT games, while Metaverse Game Studios completed a $10 million round on Mar 14.
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