Faraway nets $21 million funding to build browser-based blockchain games on Solana
Blockchain gaming studio Faraway has raised a total of $30 million in early-stage backing to develop browser-based games on the Solana network.
The Miami-based firm announced Thursday that it has secured $21 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and crypto exchange platform FTX.
Other backers in the Series A round include serial blockchain venture capital investors Pantera Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Valley VC giant a16z.
This $21 million Series A is in addition to the firm’s seed funding round also led by Lightspeed that secured over $8 million in capital for Faraway.
With early-stage funding secured, Faraway will be looking to launch its flagship browser-based game titled "Mini Royale: Nations," a first-person shooter game. Faraway says it will be Solana’s first live multiplayer game.
By producing browser-based games and eliminating the need for strict hardware prerequisites for gaming, the company says it is hoping that the low entry barriers will encourage mass adoption among online gamers.
“We believe that the browser is the optimal platform for any blockchain game, especially in the short to medium term,” Faraway CEO Alex Paley stated, adding, “Our players do not have to worry about platform owners all of a sudden banning our game on their platform, as we've already started to see among big platform owners."
Faraway’s $30 million fundraise is also the latest in a series of VC-led funding for blockchain gaming startups amid the growing popularity of the metaverse concept.
Gaming startup Mythical Games recently closed a $150 million Series C round led by a16z. NFT gaming outfit The Sandbox also secured $93 million from investors like SoftBank.