Titled GAMES FUND ONE, it is the inaugural gaming fund from a16z.

Andreessen Horowitz, also known as “a16z”, has launched a $600 million venture fund focused on the games industry and the next generation of games builders. “Long term, we believe games infrastructure and technologies will be key building blocks of the Metaverse, an opportunity that dwarfs the current $300 billion game industry itself,” the firm said. (a16z.com)

Why a gaming fund

The storied VC outlined its rationale for the new fund. It said the games industry had clearly entered a new era, morphing from simply being packaged entertainment to becoming “online services that more closely resemble social networks and scale like consumer technology companies.”

It observed that major games including Fortnite, League of Legends, and Minecraft were more akin to communities, received participation from loyal and long-term users, and raked in billions of dollars in gaming revenue.

The new fund is backed by several executives in the games world, including co-founders at such companies as King, Sky Mavis, Discord, Roblox, Zynga, Twitch, Blizzard and Riot Games.

Massive, long-term commitment

General partner Jonathan Lai said in an email to VentureBeat:

“A16z has believed in and invested in the games industry for over a decade, and we feel like the best is yet to come. There is more innovation and building happening in games than ever before – with new areas like web3 and the metaverse, as well as a resurgence in areas like VR/AR. Our dedicated games fund will enable us to fully invest in all the opportunities we see as well as plant a flag around our long-term commitment to the space.”

“We’re not fair-weather fans, with this fund we are committing to supporting games founders for 10+ years, through bull and bear markets, platform shifts, new technologies, and come what will.”

Related Story: Andreessen Horowitz’s Thesis – “Multiplayer Game Experiences are the Next Social Networks”