Neon Machine Raises $20 Million for Blockchain-Based Shooter Game Shrapnel

According to Decrypt, Neon Machine, the Seattle-based game studio behind the upcoming first-person shooter Shrapnel, has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Polychain Capital led the round, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Franklin Templeton, IOSG Ventures, and Tess Ventures. The funds will be used to further develop Shrapnel as the game team prepares to ship an early-access version in December ahead of a full launch in 2024.Shrapnel is a sci-fi extraction shooter game where a significant amount of in-game content, such as weapon parts, weapons, and cosmetics, will be offered as NFTs on Shrapnel's Avalanche subnet, a private crypto network built on Avalanche. In April, Shrapnel launched its own ERC-20 token, SHRAP, on its Avalanche network. The free-to-play multiplayer game has plans for both solo and team-based gameplay.The game is also focusing on user-generated content (UGC) potential, aiming to offer gamers the ability to create their own game items using Shrapnel's tech, which can then be minted as NFTs. Neon Machine, which started as part of HBO Interactive, has raised a total of $37.5 million from seed funding, Series A, and private token sale rounds.