Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

Blockade Games is a blockchain video game development studio and the parent company of Neon District, Plasma Bears, and Pineapple Arcade. Founded in 2018 by Marguerite deCourcelle, Diego Rodriguez, and Ben Heidorn, the studio builds blockchain layer-two infrastructure and gaming applications, with Neon District as its flagship free-to-play, play-to-earn cyberpunk RPG featuring collectible NFTs on Polygon and Ethereum. The company says it will use new financing to expand through hiring, game development, partnerships, and marketing focused on community engagement and user growth. Reported operating metrics include a user base of 100,000, 11K+ new users in the past month, 177K+ unique asset owners, and over 2.1M Season 1 NFTs minted. Leadership emphasizes exploring tokenomics and NFT-driven player experiences to increase immersion and expression. Blockade positions itself among early metaverse entrants and aims to scale its platform and audience. Blockade Games Inc. is developing Neon District, a cypherpunk roleplaying game that integrates blockchain-based assets and NFTs. The team is led by Marguerite deCourcelle, a bitcoin artist known for puzzles revealing keys to bitcoin stashes worth over $1 million, and includes artists and designers who worked on Spider-Man (PS4) and the World of Warcraft trading card game. The game’s blockchain assets can accrue scars, skills, weaponry and other unique distinctions, and the design may include puzzles that reveal NFT rewards or bitcoin rewards donated by the Pineapple Fund. Neon District is planned to launch publicly in May 2019, and the company is testing player key-management and smart-contract interactions via a holiday-themed mobile game called Buidl Bear this winter. Ethereum-based asset use will be optional so players unfamiliar with cryptocurrency can still play and optionally claim ownership of items outside the game. Blockade Games has about 8,000 people signed up to its mailing list.