MetaKing Studios Gets Medieval, Raises $15M From Makers Fund, BITKRAFT and More for BLOCKLORDS, the First Web3 Strategy Game

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MetaKing Studios, leading a new era in games as the first MMO grand strategy game built on Web3, has raised $15M in seed stage funding from Makers Fund and BITKRAFT Ventures, as well as Delphi Digital, Animoca Brands, Shima Capital, WW Ventures, Spartan Group, Huobi Ventures and others. MetaKing Studios will use the financing to accelerate development on its flagship strategy MMO game BLOCKLORDS, launching in early access this year.

“MetaKing Studios is at the forefront of building an engaging, fun, immersive MMO real-time strategy game that uses blockchain technology to improve players’ experience with innovative game design,” said Andrew Willson, principal, Makers Fund. “David, Nicky and the team have invaluable experience developing multiplayer game platforms around Web3 economies and are thrilled to support them in building a deep medieval strategy experience that I cannot wait to play.”

“MMOs have a clear product-market fit within blockchain games as they allow for more diverse and dynamic in-game economies,” commented Jamie Wallace, associate, BITKRAFT. “When it comes to BLOCKLORDS, it not only has deeper gameplay than current blockchain-based games on the market but it’s also designed to attract a wide range of player types, ultimately creating a more inclusive game that caters to all stakeholders within the Web3 universe. I’m looking forward to seeing this incredibly talented team merge their experience building blockchain gaming infrastructure with their game design experience to create an innovative Web3 strategy game.”

Founded by David Johansson and Nicky Li, game industry executives with decades of expertise in developing, producing and scaling free-to-play and play-and-own games, the MetaKings Studio team includes more than 100 talented artists, designers and developers from studios including EA, Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive and Creative Assembly, who have worked with Lucasfilm, Universal, Disney, Netflix and Apple.

“At heart, we’re a team of gamers and tech enthusiasts who want to create fun, enjoyable experiences using the nascent technologies available to us,” said David Johansson, CEO and co-founder, MetaKing Studios. “In BLOCKLORDS, we have been working to build a massive, dynamic game world that is directly shaped by players’ choices, whether they choose to be humble Farmers or powerful Lords and Ladies. By giving players full ownership of their digital assets, not only are we incentivizing the way they play games, we’re empowering them to have fun in the process.”

BLOCKLORDS is the first-of-its-kind medieval strategy MMO that weaves world-building with real-time battles, with deep historical fantasy lore and a detailed lineage system, built upon a sophisticated player-driven narrative. MetaKing Studios has already built an enthusiastic player following for BLOCKLORDS, with more than 10,000 active community users that have been eagerly creating content and designs alongside the MetaKing Studios development team in anticipation of the game soon to be revealed.

BLOCKLORDS incorporates an expansive player-driven economy that will quickly scale as more players join the massive online world. As part of this experience, players will be able to own their Hero characters, and, through the game’s Dynasty system, continue their bloodline through heirs, populating the world and creating their own unique lineage and legacy.

To learn more about BLOCKLORDS, please visit blocklords.com and follow along at @blocklords for updates straight from the studio.

About MetaKing Studios

MetaKing Studios was founded by a team of gamers with a deep love for creating fun, immersive games above all else. The games team includes more than 100 talented people in eight different countries, and consists of skilled creators and technologists from world-class studios, dedicated to using technology to create enjoyable multiplayer experiences for people to play, share and collaborate together.

MetaKing Studios’ first game, BLOCKLORDS, is a strategy-based medieval universe game featuring PVP battles and a unique player-driven economy. Players choose their own path as they forge their legacy, allowing them the freedom to express themselves fully. Using Web3 technology developed by the Seascape Network, BLOCKLORDS empowers players to take full ownership of their in-game assets. Through strategic trade, conquest, and resource management, players control the economy and can create and maintain their own player-run governments. Website | Twitter | Telegram | Discord | LinkedIn

About Makers Fund

Makers Fund is a global interactive entertainment venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments. Makers is dedicated to furthering growth and innovation in the interactive entertainment industry. With more than 90 portfolio companies to date, Makers provides founders strategic value that is deeply catered to companies across the value chain in the industry. For more information, visit makersfund.com.

About BITKRAFT Ventures

BITKRAFT Ventures is a leading investment platform for gaming and Web3 globally, and has been the most active gaming venture capital firm and lead investor in 2020 and 2021, according to research from InvestGame and Drake Star Partners. Founded by industry pioneer Jens Hilgers, BITKRAFT serves a worldwide network that spans many of the industry’s forward-thinking startups and founders—including former executives from the likes of Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Epic Games, Google, and Apple who are working to build and operate the virtual worlds and economies of the future. BITKRAFT operates six venture funds with a total of over $730M in assets under management and has over 90 companies in its global portfolio as of April 2022. BITKRAFT’s experienced international team works closely with exceptional entrepreneurs to create significant value through early candid partnerships, unique domain experience, entrepreneurial history, and a global ecosystem of strategic partners.

Find out more about how BITKRAFT and its portfolio companies are pushing the boundaries of Synthetic Reality® by visiting https://www.bitkraft.vc/vision.

Contacts

Brian Rubin-Sowers

fortyseven communications for MetaKing Studios

blocklords@fortyseven.com