Mechanism Capital Launches $100M ‘Play-to-Earn’ Gaming Fund

Crypto investment firm Mechanism Capital has launched “Mechanism Play,” a $100 million fund dedicated to play-to-earn gaming.

Originally founded with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) in August 2020, the firm pivoted to blockchain-based gaming after a slew of home run investments in the sector, including metaverse platform Star Atlas, play-to-earn Ember Sword and guild giant Yield Guild Games, according to a press release Monday.

“Right now it's called play-to-earn, but I think there’s a big push among industry participants to try to rebrand to play-and-earn,” Marc Weinstein, head of platforms at Mechanism Capital, told CoinDesk in an interview. “We want to back games that people want to play regardless of the crypto incentives.”

The firm is eyeing mobile gaming as the industry’s next big area of growth, hiring Steve Cho as its latest partner. Cho joins Mechanism Capital from Apple, where he led business efforts “to better understand NFTs and blockchain gaming” for the App Store.

The firm says it's also working to form direct partnerships with studios to develop games in addition to providing capital.

The play-to-earn arena has been no stranger to the launch of mammoth gaming funds in recent months. Other notable investments include a $100 million fund led by Gala Games and C2 Ventures, a $150 million fund from Solana Ventures and a $200 million fund from Hashed.

Read more: Thetan Arena Battles Axie Infinity in ‘Play-to-Earn’