London-based blockchain games developer Mystic Games has secured $1.3 million in funding from a seed round, which will go towards community growth, building a larger team, and the development of a mobile game titled Call of the VoYd.
The round, led by early-stage venture firm Shima Capital, also saw participation from 32-Bit Ventures, SevenX Ventures, MEXC, TA Ventures and Mainstreet DAO. Angel investor Joe Mahon also took part.
Integrating blockchain and mobile gaming
As a new studio, Mystic Games’ goal is to create mobile games featuring Web3 integration, such as allowing players to earn free-to-own NFTs via gameplay. The company has partnered with Web3 technology platform Nefta to achieve this and is soon to be player-owned through the DAO structure.
Aiming to “disrupt the status quo of Web3 games”, the Mystic team comprises six industry veterans from studios including Rovio, Miniclip, Voodoo and King. The upcoming Call of the VoYd is set to be a roguelike royale mobile game, with an early build available now for gameplay-testing purposes.
“The current Web3 space is filled with a huge array of projects, but nowhere near as many players. Our goal is to deliver experiences to native, new, and potential Web3 players that are both accessible and enjoyable,” said Mystic Games co-founder and CEO Matthew Buxton.
“We want to embrace Web3’s mission of truly democratising digital ownership and give our players assets that hold value in the real world. This investment gives us the opportunity to take huge steps towards achieving that.”
Shima Capital founder and managing general partner Yida Gao said: “We have no doubt that Matthew and the entire Mystic Games team is poised for great success. The gameplay in Call of the VoYd is what first caught our attention, and we were further hooked by their data-driven approach to launching the game. We’re thrilled to be working with such a seasoned gaming team to bring Web3 gaming into the mainstream.”
32-Bit Ventures general partner Jason Perkins added: “We’ve been extremely impressed with Mystic Games from day one. They have fantastic experience, understanding how to build games that people want to play, and where they want to play them.”
Gaming startup Matchday is working on FIFA-licenced titles and recently secured $21 million in its seed funding round.
