Overworld raises $10M to create anime-inspired free-to-play ARPG

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Overworld, the developer partnered with blockchain games publisher Xterio, announced today that it has raised $10 million in a seed funding round. The studio is working on its first game, also temporarily named Overworld, a web3 free-to-play action-RPG with anime-inspired artwork that runs on the Xterio token.

Jeremy Horn, Xterio’s COO, spoke to GamesBeat in an interview about what kind of game Overworld will be, and what games inspired its gameplay. “There’s this focus on short gameplay loops that are highly replayable. We want the players to build characters, defeat enemies, collect resources, come back to a hub and craft, etc. We’re taking a lot of inspiration from what’s been successful today. There’s a huge opportunity in an anime-inspired space, which is largely untapped in the West.”

Hashed, The Spartan Group, Sanctor Capital and Galaxy Interactive led the round, with Hashkey, Big Brain Holdings and Foresight Ventures participating. Horn told GamesBeat that the funding is going directly to the game’s creation and added that Overworld is currently hiring for multiple roles in the studio.

Building the next-generation RPG

As one might expect from a Web3 game, Overworld will feature NFTs and digital ownership. Horn told GamesBeat that one of the plans for the upcoming title is to keep those features optional. “At the end of the day, the game needs to be good. Making a good is extremely challenging. People ask, ‘Who’s your competitor in Web3 games?’ I say, ‘My competitors are Web2 games.’ I need to be as good as the top-played game on Steam. You still need to have a fantastic game. Digital ownership, in and of itself, is not going to get you there.”

Overworld (the studio) has worked on the game for a year and plans to use digital ownership as a way of growing the community. It recently sold the Overworld Incarna, a collection of 6,000 assets. According to Horn, digital ownership improves a game, but shouldn’t be the basis of a game’s creation. “The problem in the past — and this is normal in any nascent technology — was trying to leverage a technology as the solution for a content problem. You need the great content, and then the technology lets you improve the user experience.”

Ryan Kim, a founding partner at Hashed, echoed this sentiment in a statement, “Overworld, the flagship social RPG from the established Xterio platform, is poised to redefine online multiplayer RPGs in the crypto space by targeting the masses. Led by a strong leader who understands the dynamics of Web3 and backed by an experienced team with a strong track record, Overworld is poised for success in the Web3 gaming space.”