Studio 369 nets $15M in private token and NFT sale for MetalCore

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MetalCore Foundation said it completed a $15 million private token and nonfungible token (NFT) sale for MetalCore, a mechanized combat game.

The title is a massively multiplayer online combat game in a future with mech robots. Studio 369 is making the game and it says it is focusing on triple-A quality.

Leading purchasers Bitkraft Ventures and Delphi Digital were joined by Immutable, Sanctor Capital, Animoca, Youbi Capital, Bitscale, and Umbrella as well as a number of leading gaming guilds highlighted by Yield Guild Games (YGG), YGG SEA, Merit Circle, Perion, Avocado and BreederDAO.

MetalCore has in-game assets which will be player-owned NFTs including vehicles, pilots, land and more. The game will also feature in-game tokens which can be used for a variety of purposes within the game, said Matt Candler, president of Studio 369, in an email to GamesBeat.

The landscape of MetalCore.

“Our team has extensive game development experience across premium and free-to-play games,” said Candler. “We are gamers ourselves and will deliver fun and rewarding gameplay in this new business model that integrates NFT’s with proven game mechanics.”

Studio 369 wants to combine the engagement of high-quality traditional gaming with true asset ownership and other NFT mechanics that are designed into gameplay. Unlike free-to-play games where players buy digital items with no inherent value, MetalCore’s in-game economy will allow players to buy, sell, and trade NFTs, the company said.

“From our experience in identifying trends and opportunities in the gaming industry, we have seen first-hand how carefully integrated NFT mechanics can create compelling new experiences. Studio 369 can leverage their strong game design track record and highly iterative development philosophy to deliver on their ambitious goal of creating an open-world MMO, catering to different player archetypes across game modes,” said Piers Kicks of Bitkraft, in a statement. “Alongside our partners at Delphi, we are delighted to support MetalCore’s vision for engaging user-centric gameplay, unlocked by a high caliber team eager to push the boundaries of this nascent gaming sector.”

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MetalCore will let players craft their own mechs.

MetalCore’s development team has experience at Activision, Disney, Lucas Films, and Midway and on projects such as the MechWarrior 2 franchise, Mortal Kombat, and Gears of War. The team also includes Hugo Award-winning concept artist Stephan Martiniere, who worked on Magic the Gathering, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, God of War, and Sky.

The company plans to enable crafting and merging of vehicles over time to create more powerful mechs. Built with Unreal Engine 4, the game will let players can engage in PvP mega-battles, cooperative PvE fights, and faction-based, open-world clashes.

The company was founded in 2021 and it has about 45 people. Candler said the team has experience with the Unreal Engine and expertise in action/RPG, survival, building, and shooter games.

“We have a lot of experience in online, open-world game development. Our studio wanted to make a huge Mech game with great community features and now with NFT and blockchain tech we realized that it allowed us to deliver the game we’ve been dreaming about with the players owning their loot,” Candler said.

The founders include Candler, Dan Nikolaides and Vic Lopez.

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A landscape in MetalCore

I noted that hardcore players have been objecting to NFTs in games and I asked Candler to comment on that.

“Currently, NFTs are either being retrofitted by gaming studios into existing titles, or NFT-based games are being designed by blockchain developers — and not gaming studios — that are putting NFTs first instead of the gaming experience,” Candler said. “This has led to many players objecting to NFTs because they are not adding any real value to the game. MetalCore is committed to building a viable free to play (F2P) game that allows players to craft NFTs, without requiring any purchase, and to actually progress in the game successfully for free.”

He added, “MetalCore’s top priority is to make a quality game that is fun and engaging to play. The NFTs are built intrinsically into the game from the ground up and are an integral part of the gameplay. Players will be able to own all of the in-game assets such as vehicles, land, pilots and more. We believe this will help to shift the narrative for hardcore gamers who may have had negative experiences with NFTs in other games.”

I also noted that token sales have been connected to a lot of pump-and-dump scams in the crypto space.

“Scams make it harder for those of us actually building cool things,” Candler said. “But actions speak louder than words, especially from a veteran team of gaming executives with an extensive track record of releasing successful titles, so we invite people to check out MetalCore for themselves and become part of this amazing game’s community.”


Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz

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