Autoverse Studios, the developer of upcoming web3 drag racing game Auto Legends, has successfully secured a $1 million strategic investment from Coinbase Ventures to further help them deliver a high-quality blockchain gaming experience.

The funding in particular comes from the firm’s Base Ecosystem Fund, so you know which chain this game is probably coming to sooner or later. This new investment adds on to an existing $8 million round that was led by White Star Capital and included investors such as Draper Dragon, Sfermion, LiquidX, Operating Group, Miller Motorcars, Horacio Pagani, and more.

Shan Aggarwal, the VP of Corporate and Business Development Ventures at Coinbase, said the following in a statement:

“We are proud to be supporting a team which has consistently delivered world class racing games to capture the imagination of web3 gaming, and excited for Auto Legends to accelerate its reach on Base.”

Earlier this year, the gaming studio hired Scott Probin as Game Director to help out in onboarding web2 gamers while improving gameplay and the game’s player-owned economy. Scott Probin has more than 35 years of experience in AAA game development, working in design and production roles for a variety of games, including NHL games, (94, 95, 96, 97), Need for Speed: Underground, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, For Honor, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and more. Probin also spent around 4 years at Gunzilla Games, working on Off The Grid as Game Director for around 2 years, and then almost 2 years as Studio Director.

The CEO of Autoverse Studios, Peter Pham, said the following regarding Scott Probin:

“Scott’s decades of experience in AAA game development, combined with his lifelong passion for cars and racing games, will help us create an authentic experience that truly resonates with racing fans and car enthusiasts. We’re building a unique game that’s accessible, competitive, and rewarding for all players– both Web2 and Web3.”

Last year, Off The Grid developer Gunzilla Games also scored big with a Coinbase Ventures investment.

What Is Auto Legends?

Auto Legends is an upcoming social drag racing game in which players will get to play to earn and own various blockchain-backed rewards. Thanks to partnerships with renowned car brands such as McLaren, Mitsubishi, Honda, Mazda, and more, players will get to enjoy authentic vehicles, tuning options, and performance parts in the game itself, forming an immersive racing experience through which passionate car fans can truly enjoy authentic car culture, backed by web3 technology.

Players will start off with a starter car and compete against each other in intense drag races for rewards and top ranking glory while customizing their initial vehicle to their liking with a variety of real performance parts, custom designs, and precision tuning. You can look forward to licensed parts and accessories with “high levels of realistic tuning and personalization,” according to the game’s official website, where you can sign up for the closed beta version by submitting your email address. That will give you an opportunity to potentially gain a code to download the game on the Epic Games Store. Both Windows and Mac seem to be supported. Next to PC, the game is also planned to launch on mobile devices, with a more open public release set to possibly take place later this year.

The game’s first NFT mint is planned to happen soon on Magic Eden, giving players an opportunity to gain exclusive in-game rewards by owning the asset. Join the game’s official Discord server to stay up to date on the NFT launch and progress on the game’s development.