The creator of football-themed Web3 game NFL Rivals raised a portion of a new funding round that will be used to build crypto-related infrastructure. The current phase of the round pulled in $37 million, and the company expects to raise an additional $20 million to $30 million later this year.
The company, Mythical Games, said in a Tuesday statement that the money will “primarily be used to deliver on Mythical’s promise of providing innovation to video games through Web3 infrastructure.”
Mythical Games raised $150 million and then $75 million from Andreessen Horowitz in 2021. The company was valued at $1.25 billion after raising the $150 million and it is still worth more than $1 billion with the new funding round, according to the statement.
Digital asset manager Scytale Digital led this round, with participation from ARK Invest, Axie Infinity backer Animoca Brands, PROOF VC, Stanford Athletics, and MoonPay, as well as existing investors such as Andreessen Horowitz.
Mythical Games’ newest game, NFL Rivals, was released in April in collaboration with the NFL and National Football League Players Association. The game incorporates NFTs as player packs that users can buy and trade. The mobile game launched on both the Apple Store and Google Play stores despite the often-restrictive hold both companies have over their respective marketplaces. Last week, the game reportedly reached 1 million downloads, with plans to significantly grow the number of player accounts across its games by the end of the year.
“By the end of 2023, we anticipate over 10 million player accounts across our entire game portfolio, driven largely by NFL Rivals and the upcoming release of Nitro Nation World Tour,” John Linden, CEO of Mythical Games, said in the statement.