Neon Machine Raises $20M Series A for Blockchain-Based Call of Duty Competitor ‘Shrapnel’

Web3 game developer Neon Machine has raised $20 million in Series A funding for its highly anticipated extraction shooter Shrapnel.

This round follows a $10.5 million seed round that closed in June 2021. It was led by Polychain Capital and included funding from Griffin Gaming Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Franklin Templeton, IOSG Ventures and Tess Ventures.

Shrapnel is a large game project by Neon Machine rated as a AAA game – a description of video games with high production value, budget and marketing.

According to gameplay footage on Neon Machine's YouTube page and documentation on the game's website, Shrapnel is a first-person shooter that features multiplayer elements. Competition in the game – which is currently not in pre-alpha testing – comes in the form of “extraction” mechanics that require the player to escape with any loot they find in-game in order to keep those items.

Early gameplay videos show what appears to be a gameplay loop consistent with Call of Duty: Warzone, the popular free-to-play shooter developed by Microsoft's Activision Blizzard studio.

What sets Shrapnel apart from similar AAA competition is its reliance on Web3 and Blockchain. While other games like The Division 2 have mechanics where players can “spend” valuable items to apply to their character and profile, the assets in Shrapnel are connected to the blockchain.

According to the studio, this gives the players full ownership of the assets.

Related: Shrapnel Web3 shooter won't let US users withdraw money thanks to Gensler

Shrapnel, in theory, provides a set of customization tools that allow players or developers to insert other blockchain assets into the game world. This could hypothetically create an interesting scenario for both regular season and tournament play.

According to a press release from Neon Machine, the game is scheduled for early access testing for paid subscribers in December. After the initial evaluation period ends, the company plans to launch the game as a free-to-play title “sometime” in 2024.

Beyond Shrapnel's development and launch, Neon said it plans to license its Web3 developer API platform GameBridge after Machine launches.