Sacramento, California-based gaming studio Azra Games has landed another round of funding to develop mobile role-playing games (RPGs).

According to an Oct. 15 announcement, the company raised $42.7 million in a Series A round led by Pantera Capital, with participation from a16z Crypto, a16z Games and NFX. Across pre-seed, seed and the latest funding, the company has raised $68.3 million to date. 

Behind the company is game designer Mark Otero, a former co-founder of mobile game developer KlickNation, the creator of RPG titles such as Superhero City and Age of Champions. 

KlickNation was purchased by Electronic Arts in 2011 for $35 million. At the new studio, Otero developed Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, which generated over $32.5 million in revenue as of May 2024, according to data from Statista. 

“I thought I was a retired game designer,” Otero wrote in a blog post about his career, adding that Web3 drew him back to gaming development to work on blockchain-based RPG titles. 

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Azra is building a free-to-play RPG game for mobile, promising to deliver the fourth generation of RPGs for Western audiences. 

The funds will support gaming development and a research team at Azra Labs.

Led by Travis Boudreaux, the startup co-founder and chief technology officer, Azra Labs is exploring artificial intelligence applications to speed up the development of AAA mobile content. 

Gaming development can be a lengthy process, and the last crypto winter put a strain on many studios seeking revenue streams from blockchain-based business models, such as play-to-earn. Yet the gaming sector appears to be attracting venture capitalists again. 

VC firm a16z, for instance, recently announced $30 million in capital for gaming startups, including AI, VR/AR and Web3 games.