The new fund raised over 750 million US dollars to sort out the encryption layout of the world's largest game venture capital

Recently, the venture capital institution Griffin Gaming Partners announced that its second fund (Fund II) has received an oversubscription of US$750 million. Funders include sovereign wealth funds, university endowment funds, and family offices And strategic partners in the game industry, etc. Next, the fund will invest in game content, software infrastructure and social platforms, as well as game-related Web3 companies, participating in investment from seed rounds to growth rounds.

With the launch of "Fund II", Griffin Gaming Partners has become the largest gaming fund at present. Games One data shows that Griffin’s AUM (assets under management) has reached $1.03 billion.

Not only in the field of traditional games, but also in the field of blockchain games and encryption, Griffin Gaming Partners has long been involved. On December 15 last year, Griffin, together with Solana Ventures and blockchain game platform Forte, launched a US$150 million chain game fund to support blockchain game startups.

Griffin co-founders Philip Sanderson and Nick Tuosto even said that so far the agency has made more than a dozen investments related to Web3, accounting for the deployed capital more than half of. So what layout and background has Griffin Gaming Partners made in the field of blockchain games and encryption? Next, Rhythm BlockBeats will introduce this game venture capital institution.

Currently the largest gaming fund

Griffin Gaming Partners, headquartered in Santa Monica, California, USA, is a venture capital institution focusing on the game field, investing in game content, software Infrastructure and social platforms, etc., after entering the encryption field, also include game-related Web3 companies.

The agency is composed of Peter Levin, Philip Sanderson and Nick Tuosto, who have decades of collective investment, consulting and operation experience in the game industry, and have a strong understanding of the game Founded by founders of interest.

Philip Sanderson, Peter Levin, and Nick Tuosto

Previously, Peter Levin, one of the co-founders, had been investing in the film and television industry and the game field. He was the CEO of Nerdist Industries, a subsidiary of Legendary Pictures, and Served as President of Interactive Enterprises, Gaming and Digital Strategy for Lionsgate (7th highest-grossing studio in North America) and Chairman of esports organization Immortals Gaming Club, which currently owns Clash Royale and Heroes Alliance" two teams.

Philip Sanderson has been engaged in the investment business of the game production company Telltale Games and Discord for more than ten years, which also led Griffin Gaming Partners to invest in Discord. Nick Tuosto, a former director of LionTree, a New York investment bank, served as an advisor in Tencent's acquisition of "Clash of Clans" maker Supercell and FoxNext, and later brought years of investment experience in the Internet and digital media to Griffin's team.

From its inception, Griffin Gaming Partners launched a $235 million fund to invest in gaming companies of all stages around the world, including start-up game studios , emerging game platforms and infrastructure companies, etc. This was a large-scale game-specific fund that was rarely seen in the market at that time.

Evan Van Zelfden, managing director of Games One, also said in an interview that game funds like Griffin were basically established in the past ten years Yes, they are making up for the lack of gaming-specific VC funds serving gaming startups in the past.

Griffin Gaming Partners has grown rapidly to become the largest gaming fund to date after its second fund was oversubscribed by $750 million. Not long ago, according to the 2021 game investment data released by Invest Game, Griffin only ranked sixth among the top 15 VC Funds in the game field.

Entering the encryption field and expanding the gaming audience

Currently, there are more than 3 billion gamers in the world, and the scale of the game market exceeds the sum of movies, music and books, and it is the fastest growing in the world consumer trends. With the global epidemic of the new crown epidemic, the game industry has also ushered in further development. NewZoo data shows that in 2021, the overall revenue of the game market is expected to reach 180.3 billion US dollars.

The advances in consumer behavior and technology are creating unprecedented opportunities for the game industry. Phil Sanderson, co-founder of Griffin Gaming Partners, said that in the past few years, we have seen such extraordinary innovations in the gaming field. The explosive growth of blockchain games like Axie Infinity is attracting new players, so Griffin It will also continue to expand and diversify the game audience.

“This is a very incredible speed, which can only be achieved by Web3 and the decentralized trend paradigm”, Sanderson sighed again.

At the same time, the explosion of the game industry has attracted countless independent studios and game developers, and a lot of money is pouring into the intersection of encryption and games. These companies establish a direct connection with players on Twitter, Discord or their own communities, skipping middlemen such as app stores and speeding up the cycle of game operation.

However, Sanderson also said that although hundreds of companies are trying to make blockchain games, many of them are not "encrypted native" game companies. There is not much experience in making blockchain games or knowledge related to cryptocurrencies. In addition, the current blockchain games are also the most criticized by players in terms of playability. Axie Infinity has been criticized by many players.

Therefore, game developers not only need to gain a foothold in the community, but also figure out the real long-term effective game economic design in the Web3 field, and balance the need to have fun through games part. And Griffin Gaming Partners will provide assistance to these developers, game platforms and players.

Crypto Portfolio

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Forte 

Forte is a gaming blockchain platform that aims to build a set of technologies, tools and services for developers, players and fans to remove any barriers for them to enter the blockchain field. The team has founded Kabam, GarageGames, Unity, etc. Have a deep understanding of the encryption economy and blockchain technology.

In May 2021, Forte announced that it has received US$185 million in Series A financing, led by Griffin Gaming Partners Leading the round, a16z, Union Grove Venture Partners, Battery Ventures and others participated.

IndiGG

IndiGG is a sub-DAO of Yield Guild Games (YGG), which was jointly established with Polygon to Create a Play to Earn gaming guild in India.

On January 19, IndiGG announced that it has secured $6 million in funding from Sequoia India, Lightspeed, Griffin Gaming Partners, Variant Fund, Animoca Brands and many more .