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CCP Raises $40M from a16z for Blockchain EVE Project
Image: CCP Games · © CCP Games (fan-content policy)
CCP raised $40M led by Andreessen Horowitz to build a new blockchain-based AAA game in the EVE universe (later branded "Project Awakening"). Tranquility itself is unaffected.
CCP Raises $40M from a16z for Blockchain EVE Project
On 21 March 2023, CCP Games announced it had raised $40M USD in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with Makers Fund, BITKRAFT, Kingsway Capital, HASHED, Nexon, and others participating. The funds were earmarked for a new AAA game in the EVE universe built around smart-contract blockchain technology - eventually branded Project Awakening.
CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson explicitly stated that EVE Online itself (Tranquility) would not gain blockchain or NFT mechanics - the new project is a separate game using EVE-universe IP. The announcement was nonetheless contentious within the EVE community: many players associate "Web3" with crypto rug-pulls and resented the brand association.
Project Awakening has since slipped multiple times and its eventual scope is unclear, but the funding round is the public marker for CCP's blockchain pivot and a reason CCP's strategic direction in 2023-2026 looks the way it does.
EVE Online (Tranquility) does not have NFTs or blockchain mechanics. The blockchain product is a separate spin-off using the EVE universe IP, not your character or your assets.