Dan Houser, founder of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North, has invested in and joined the advisory board for Revolving Games, reports VentureBeat. Revolving Games is a firm that specializes in blockchain games and recently received a $13.2 million funding round, which it will use to make triple-A blockchain titles.
Houser worked at Rockstar for over 20 years as a writer and executive producer for most of its games, including Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption II. He left the studio in 2020, and registered the limited company Absurd Ventures LLC the following year.
Revolving Games was founded in 2019 by brothers Ammar, Saad, and Shayan Zaeem. Speaking to VentureBeat, Saad was candid in saying his aim was to “build triple-A quality games that turn heads amongst the best launches at the top gaming forums like Gamescom and E3.”
The studio’s debut game will be a Battlestar Galactica strategy MMO made in a partnership with NBCUniversal and Gala Games, which also specializes in blockchain games.
Along with the Battlestar Galactica game, Revolving is developing and self-publishing Skyborne Legacy, which Ammar described as “the adventuring of [Nintendo’s Legend of] Zelda, and then the self-expression of Animal Crossing, but also with this MMORPG social system.”
Saad’s frankness at being a blockchain game is surprising, given the stigma around the technology in recent months. At Gamescom back in August, developer Build a Rocket Boy was pretty cagey on whether its game, Everywhere, was a blockchain title.
Conversely, you have Square Enix, which has been upfront in wanting to use the technology for its games. Earlier today, it announced a partnership with blockchain developer Oasys. Like Revolving Games, Square Enix and Oasys hope to bring the technology into the mainstream.