Immutable and King River Capital, with support from Polygon Labs, have announced the creation of the ‘ecosystem-agnostic’ Inevitable Games Fund (IGF). The Fund aims to leverage the evolving field of Web3 gaming by leveraging the expertise and resources of its founders to identify promising investment opportunities.
Aim to shape the future of Web3 Gaming
King River Capital will lead the Fund’s investment strategy, leveraging the Web3 gaming insights and deal sourcing capabilities of Immutable and Polygon Labs. The partnership highlights a shared commitment to advancing innovation within the Web3 gaming arena.
IGF, which limits its funding to $100 million, targets professional and experienced investors. It has attracted significant initial commitments, including a notable investment from Alpha Wave Ventures, backed by Alpha Wave Global and Chimera Capital.
Other contributors include Merit Circle, a leading entity in Web3 gaming, and investments from several prominent figures within the technology and gaming industry, including Steve Kokinos, of Sonic Boom Ventures and former CEO of Algorand; James and Robbie Ferguson, co-founders of Immutable; and Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon Labs.
Investment strategy and early successes
The Fund has already earmarked a series of promising early-stage investments, highlighting a wide range of gaming projects. These include Pixelmon and Metalcore, an ambitious open-world game that offers large-scale PVP battles and AI challenges.
Guild of Guardians and My Pet Hooligan are also part of the portfolio, each bringing unique gameplay and anticipation from the gaming community. Guild of Guardians, a highly anticipated game on the Immutable platform, has already attracted more than 1 million pre-registrations ahead of its release in Q2 2024.
The combination of King River Capital’s investment acumen and the digital assets expertise of Immutable and Polygon Labs positions IGF to make impactful investments in the global video game industry. Furthermore, the Fund aims to support game studios, Web3 infrastructure and gaming experiences that have the potential to redefine digital entertainment, ‘regardless of platform’.
The growth of Web3 Gaming
Zeb Rice, co-founder and managing partner at King River Capital, said of the fund: “Spending on video games exceeds global revenues from movies, streaming TV and the music industry combined, and it is ripe for a massive technology shift.
He continued: “Just like mobile gaming went from virtually zero in 2008 to 79% of gamers play mobile these daysWe believe a similar shift is just beginning in Web3 technology. The Fund offers investors the opportunity to gain unique access to the best Web3 gaming projects worldwide and is designed to capitalize on this hundreds of billions of dollars’ shift into this disruptive new technology.”
A recent analysis by Messari highlights Immutable and Polygon’s significant market share in blockchain gaming development. Messari says, “They probably have ~70% market share, although it’s hard to measure exactly.”
Overall, this growth underlines the timely nature of the Inevitable Games Fund’s launch as it looks to capitalize and contribute to the growing web3 gaming landscape.