Crypto investment firm Haun Ventures has led a $10 million seed round for Web3 gaming studio Argus, with venture firms Robot Ventures, Anagram, Dispersion Capital, Web3 developer backend Alchemy, and individual investors including former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan participating. The round will be used to scale the team and build out Argus’ studio and tooling infrastructure.
Argus is also announcing the World Engine, a blockchain-gaming software developer kit (SDK) that will allow builders to create their own Web3 gaming ecosystems. Scott Sunarto, CEO of Argus, said that the company aims to not only build the blockchain infrastructure to support emerging Web3 games but also to support developers in expanding their visions. “Computer games in the 1980s and ‘90s were building their engine to build their own game… I think we’re at a very similar stage in crypto gaming right now,” Sunarto said.
Breck Stodghill, the Haun Ventures investor who led the round, said that he sees Sunarto as a “missionary” in his efforts to spearhead growth in the greater Web3 gaming space. “He believes first and foremost that the power of games to unite folks and the power of crypto is something that should be put together if we can figure out some of the infrastructure problems,” Stodghill said.
After a bear market that slowed investment across the entire Web3 industry, funding rounds for blockchain-based games have started to pick up again. In March, crypto investment firm a16z led a $40 million investment round for gaming studio CCP Games to expand into Web3. In February, the firm led a $25 million Series A for Web3 gamified-social protocol Here Not There.