Bazooka Tango Secures $5 Mln To Develop NFT Game

Bazooka Tango, a studio formed by former developers of the fantasy MOBA game Vainglory, announced that it had secured $5 million in a new funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures.

RW3 Ventures, Sfermion, and 1Up Ventures also participated in the round. The fresh funding will be used by Bazooka Tango to expand its team and further develop its upcoming title, Shardbound. The game is committed to launching on the upcoming Immutable zkEVM network.

Bazooka Tango CEO Bo Daly said in a statement, “Amid an incredibly challenging year for VC funding, it speaks volumes to the quality of our games.” He added, “We are focused on expanding our team in critical disciplines essential for launching and growing the Shardbound universe.”

Shardbound is a unique combination of an NFT trading card game and a turn-based player-versus-player RPG. Players must strategically place characters onto a tiled board to win. However, the game was incomplete when Bazooka Tango took over from its indie developers at Spiritwalk Games.

The original version of Shardbound only reached “early access,” and the previous developers only raised about $150,000 from Kickstarter participants back in 2017. They left many art assets unfinished, which caused issues for Bazooka Tango when they took over.

Shardbound’s revival under Bazooka Tango was announced in March, and in September, Decrypt playtested the game in early access. They found that while the game’s core had been established, some cards still had placeholders or no art.

Shardbound has received millions of dollars in funding, ensuring that its development will be completed. Bazooka Tango has hired executives from renowned gaming companies such as Apple, Disney, and Electronic Arts, as well as developers from studios such as 2K, Sledgehammer Games, and Pocket Gems.