Animoca Brands Acquires Need For Speed Developer Eden Games

Animoca Brands, the company at the center of advancing digital property rights for the metaverse and gaming, has announced that it has acquired Eden Games from Engine Gaming and Media. Eden Games is one of the most respected names in the gaming space and is behind some of the most well-known gaming titles. 

A Background On Eden Games 

Founded in 1998, Eden Games has significant experience in the gaming industry and has developed some of the most well-known and award-winning games across all platforms (mobile, console, and PC). Some of Eden Games’ most prominent titles are Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, F1® Mobile Racing, and the franchises Gear.Club, Test Drive, and V-Rally. The company has already sold over 13 million game boxes and has over 60 million app downloads globally. 

Eden Games also has a host of tie-ups with more than 30 established brands in the automobile industry, with the likes of Bugatti, Lotus, BMW, Pagani, and more. Eden Games, after the acquisition by Animoca Brands joins other studios such as Ubisoft, which are actively exploring the use and integration of blockchain technology. 

Eden’s Next Big Release 

Back in March, Apple announced the latest offering from Eden Games, the latest expansion of the Gear Club franchise, Gear Club Stradale. The expansion will be launched exclusively on Apple Arcade. Gear Club is a hyper-realistic racing simulator that has also served as the primary racing game for the qualifiers for the World’s Fastest Gamer. The World’s Fastest Gamer is a first-of-its-kind competition that transforms gamers into real-world champions. 

The simulator currently has over 400 million TV and video-on-demand viewers and more than 100 broadcasters in over 50 countries. It also has distribution on EUROSport, ESPN, and Amazon. 

How Animoca Brands Plans To Leverage Eden Games 

After acquiring Eden Games, Animoca Brands will hope to leverage the former’s capabilities and expertise and work on new and existing titles in the REVV Motorsport ecosystem. It also plans to launch a series of blockchain-based racing games in the market, which will also provide additional utility to the NFT Race Passes, and other assets that were obtained by swapping assets from Animoca’s F1 Delta Time. 

Speaking about the acquisition, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Sui, stated, 

“With its quarter of a century of expertise in building high-quality motorsport video games, Eden Games will enhance and accelerate the development of the REVV Motorsport ecosystem and add powerful value to the REVV community and the racing metaverse.”

Co-founder and head of studio of Eden Games, David Nadal, added, 

“We are excited to start the next chapter of Eden Games by joining Animoca Brands. We look forward to producing new experiences that challenge the status quo within the motorsport genre and venture into new frontiers such as Web3 alongside a leader in the space.”

Animoca’s Valuation Surges Past $5 Billion

Back in January, Animoca Brands announced that it had successfully closed its latest funding round and raised nearly $359 million, which pushed its valuation past the $5 billion mark. Animoca Brands had conducted two successful funding rounds in May and July 2021, raising a total of $139 million. It then concluded another funding round in October, raising $65 million. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.