A London-based games company is aiming to become the ‘Pixar of Web3’.
Cauldron is building three virtual worlds – two with a fantasy focus and one science fiction – after raising a $6.6 million seed funding round.
Mark Warrick, the company’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that the first of these – Project Nightshade (pictured) – will launch this autumn.
“A big bit missing from Web3 gaming is storytelling … people aren’t really coming back because there isn’t a reason to come back,” he said. “If you close your eyes and are listening to a Pixar film, you can’t see the art or technology but the story is still gripping you. Storytelling is what matters.
“Characters in normal entertainment are developed and observed by viewers, but imagine an empty world where we land those characters in there and you get to define those origin stories, villains, heroes and create your own version of Star Wars, Game of Thrones and watch it evolve.
“This is a new form of entertainment.”
He continued: “We focus on Pixar not because of aesthetics, but because they created a recipe with Toy Story, and 23 years later, they never had a mishit… we want to create a recipe with Project Nightshade and want to repeat that and make many worlds.
“In five years’ time, I’d love to have three worlds out there loved by millions, and in 10 years’ time, multiply that by four.”
Designing these worlds to allow people to own parts of them is fundamental to the vision.
“You have to look at what Web3 is: It’s about ownership of assets,” Warrick explained. “If you’re not designing around owning a part of a universe, then existing entertainment can’t translate to that.
“People really feel the sense of wanting to own things on the internet and owning a bit of a world, like owning a bit of Lord of the Rings or owning a bit of Star Wars.
“We wish we had that chance, and now’s a chance for people to do that – but with new IP.”
The round was led by Cherry Ventures with participation from Cassius, Seedcamp and Playfair.