Amitt Mahajan, one of Farmville’s creators, heads Proof of Play, a company that recently secured a substantial $33 million in funding for its Web3 game development endeavors. Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, is also on board as a member of the company’s board of directors.
This funding round was co-led by Chris Dixon from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Neil Mehta from Greenoaks. Notable investors such as Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, and the founders of Twitch also participated. Web3 firms Anchorage Digital, Mercury, Firebase, Zynga, and Alchemy joined in the funding as well.
Proof of Play had already released a closed beta of its inaugural game, Pirate Nation, in December 2022. The company claims to have devised innovative technological and product solutions that eliminate many of the barriers players typically encounter when trying to engage with Web3 games. Their focus is on delivering enjoyable gameplay experiences without requiring players to first familiarize themselves with blockchain technology.
Additionally, Proof of Play has expressed its commitment to decentralization. Pirate Nation is classified as a “Forever Game” that can operate without the need for external servers or intervention from creators. The company also has plans to open-source its technology framework in the future, further promoting decentralization.
The Proof of Play team comprises individuals with backgrounds at major gaming and web companies, including Epic Games, Zynga, EA, Activision, and Google.
In 2023, multi-million-dollar funding rounds have become increasingly common among Web3 companies. For example, CCP Games, the developer of EVE Online, raised $40 million in March for the development of a new EVE spinoff game. In June, Hyperplay secured $12 million to advance its distribution platform, positioning itself as a competitor to Steam.
