London, United Kingdom, April 13, 2022 — First Light Games announced today that its blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) mobile title, Blast Royale, has successfully closed a $5-million private token sale. The round was co-led by Animoca Brands and Mechanism Capital, with participation from several other top investors and partners, including Dragonfly Capital, DeFiance Capital, Play Ventures Future Fund, Double Peak Group, Polygon, C2 Ventures, Morningstar Ventures, DWeb3 Capital, Merit Circle, Ancient8 and Avocado DAO, also backed by notable angel investors such as Santiago R Santos and Nick Chong. 

“We are thrilled to have such strong backing from some of the most influential investors in blockchain gaming. All of our partners share our vision for making Blast Royale one of the best gaming titles, providing compelling, fun gameplay and creating a battle royale game suitable for the Web3 generation,” said Neil McFarland, CEO of First Light Games.

Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, said, “We are very impressed with the high quality of gameplay in Blast Royale. Given the progress so far and the First Light Games team’s strong pedigree of several iconic hit games, we believe that Blast Royale will be an appealing and compelling metaverse entry for a new generation of gamers.” 

“When a space such as crypto gaming is in its infancy, it’s incredibly important to back strong thinkers who shape how the space evolves. The team at First Light is first-class. Not only is this team behind some great gaming hits such as Monument Valley, Street Fighter and Merge Dragons, but they were also on the cusp of the free-to-play paradigm shift. We’re very excited to work with the team to tackle what a P2E world might look like,” said Eva Wu, principal of Mechanism Capital.

The funds raised will be used to continue to develop the game, attract top talent and grow the game community. Blast Royale is built on the Polygon layer-2 chain and is due for its testnet release at the end of the second quarter of this year. Players equip nonfungible token (NFT) items onto their characters and take part in Battle Royales, where they earn Craft Spice to upgrade and improve their equipment. A further competitive metagame layer has also been added to equipment, giving players strategic agency on the optimal loadout to bring into battle. Furthermore, tournaments and high-stakes Blast Royales are also planned later in the year as First Light Games plans a push into esports.

With its high-quality graphics, competitive metagame mechanics, exciting gameplay and unique monetization features, Blast Royale promises to revolutionize GameFi. 

About Blast Royale

The game is being developed by the London-based First Light Games, a star-studded team that has worked on world-class titles such as Monument Valley, Fable, Street Fighter and Tomb Raider. There are two ways to play Blast Royale: free-to-play or by purchasing and equipping three NFTs that allow players to earn Craft Spice while playing matches. The game uses two tokens, the primary token Blast (BLST) and Craft Spice (CS), the in-game P2E token of the Blast Royale Metaverse. BLST is used for trading NFTs on the Blast Royale marketplace and crafting new NFTs, whereas CS has numerous utility uses, including crafting and repairing equipment. Players earn CS by taking part in Blast Royale matches.

Blast Royale promises to challenge the conception of what blockchain gaming can be and is due for a global launch in the third quarter of 2022.

About Mechanism Capital

Launched in August 2020, Mechanism Capital is an investment firm that invests in crypto assets during all stages of the primary and secondary markets. The firm’s members were some of the earliest active investors in the decentralized finance ecosystem and have supported its portfolio projects via mechanism-design expertise. Since its launch, the firm has built one of the top P2E portfolios in the industry, with more than 20 investments in blockchain-gaming companies to date. 

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands is a global leader in gamification and blockchain, with a large portfolio of more than 150 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralized projects that are contributing to building the open metaverse.

  • Media contact: press@firstlight.games