Skyweaver blockchain-game developer raises $40 million

Canadian gaming NFT company Horizon Blockchain Games raised $40 million in a Series A round. It was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Morgan Creek Digital, reports Bloomberg.

Traditional video-game publishers Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Take-Two Interactive Software also participated in the round.

Horizon’s chief financial officer Debora Marfur declined to disclose the company’s valuation to the publication. The firm’s value rose compared with the funding round last year, she said. At that time investors valued Horizon at $89.5 million.

The funds will be used to further develop three core products:

• Skyweaver NFT-card-based games;
• Sequence developer platform;
• Niftyswap digital-asset marketplace.

Despite the bear market and the trend toward staff reductions in the industry, Horizon plans to expand its team from 60 to 80 people by the end of the year.

In Skyweaver, players own and battle traded fantasy cards as NFTs, explained co-founder and CEO Peter Keltyka. He acknowledged that the use of blockchain in gaming faces a mixed reception. The criticism is mainly related to environmental concerns, but Ethereum’s transition to the Proof-of-Stake algorithm should help mitigate it, Keltyka says.

In his view, broad NFT launches via sales, known as “drops”, have also fueled the sector’s negative sentiment. Such actions have given the impression that most participants come to the space to make a quick buck, Keltyka noted.

“There is definitely a gold rush, and not all market participants are truly building products with long-term intentions,” he stressed.

Earlier in May, Morgan Stanley analysts noted that the number of venture deals in the crypto industry remains high, despite the deep market correction. Investors prefer gaming and NFT projects.

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