Today blockchain gaming platform Forte said it closed a $725 million Series B funding round, led by Sea Capital and Kora Management. Other investors include Animoca Brands, Warner Music, Tiger Global and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). It also secured backing from blockchain partners Cosmos, Polygon Studios and Solana Ventures. In May, Forte raised a $185 million Series A at a $1 billion valuation.
Forte’s platform provides blockchain tools for game developers such as token wallets, non-fungible token (NFT) minting and selling, and payments. It also provides anti-money laundering and compliance as part of its solution.
“Today it (gaming) is the largest form of entertainment globally—larger than film and music combined—with nearly $180 billion in annual revenue,” said Forte co-founder and CEO Josh Williams. “We believe we are at the forefront of a new technological wave, and blockchain gaming will be even bigger than all the shifts we’ve seen before. Forte’s mission is to prepare all game developers, big and small.”
The company burst onto the scene in March 2019 after a seed round that included Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures and others. Shortly afterward, it partnered with Ripple’s Xpring to manage a $100 million fund to encourage the use of the XRP token for in-game economies.
In early 2020 the company announced a raft of partnerships, including with Hi-Rez Studios, Netmarble, Magmic, nWay, and DECA Games. Netmarble is a major Korean games publisher.
Now the company says it has more than 40 game developer partners accounting for over 15 million players. However, the solution is still in private testing.
The blockchain games sector is attracting a ton of funding. Animoca Brands has raised more than $200 million since July. Some of its properties have raised additional funding, such as The Sandbox that attracted $93 million last week. And Play-to-earn platform Mythical Games raised $150 million also last week.
