The Inevitable Games Fund (IGF) is the first-of-its-kind ecosystem-agnostic fund, with a view to identify high growth opportunities for investors.
Immutable and King River Capital, assisted by software platform Polygon Labs, launched the US$100 million (AU$153 million) (IGF) to pioneer investment into Web3 gaming.
So far, early stage investments have been made into Pixelmon, the world’s first truly decentralised Web3 gaming IP; Guild of Guardians, Immutable’s own game, which has attracted more than 1 million pre-registrations ahead of its Q2 2024 release; My Pet Hooligan, a Hollywood-style animation-meets-team-deathmatch gameplay; and Metalcore, an open-world arms game where players can engage in player-versus-player (PVP) encounters and face AI-enhanced enemies.
The Fund is only open for investment by certain types of professional investors, and is capped at US$100 million. It has so far secured commitments of over US$30 million from leaders in the Web3 space, like Merit Circle, Immutable co-founders James and Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Polygon, Sandeep Nailwal, and Alpha Wave Ventures.
“Spending on video games exceeds the global revenue from movies, streaming TV and the music industry, combined, and it is ripe for a huge technology shift,” Zeb Rice, co-founder and managing partner at King River Capital, said.
“Just as mobile gaming went from virtually zero in 2008 to 79% of gamers playing mobile today, we believe a similar shift has only just begun to web3 technology. The Fund provides investors with an opportunity to gain unique access to the best web3 gaming projects globally and is designed to benefit from this multi-hundred billion dollar shift in spending to this disruptive new technology.”
The launch comes as attention once again turns to the crypto industry, with Bitcoin priced at $97,916 – near its recent all-time-high. But the crypto-gaming sector has continued to pick up steam, with Game7’s State of Web3 Gaming report showing the industry has attracted approximately US$19 billion in investments since 2018.
Separately, a 2023 PwC report estimated global gaming revenue would reach US$312 billion by 2027 (from US$227 billion in 2023), representing a CAGR of 7.9%.
“We are excited to be launching this pioneering fund in partnership with King River Capital and assisted by Polygon Labs,” Immutable’s Robbie Ferguson sys.
“Our combined expertise, global relationships, and industry reach ideally position the Fund to identify and invest in the best web3 gaming and gaming infrastructure opportunities globally.”
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