‘Blacktop Hoops’ Studio Declares $5.1M Funding Spherical, Open Beta Now Dwell – Street to VR

Vinci Video games, the studio behind standard VR basketball sport Blacktop Hoops, has raised $5.1 million in a seed funding spherical.

The spherical was led by Makers Fund, with participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Pioneer Fund, Anorak Ventures, BonAngels, and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin. Vinci Video games was beforehand supported by Y Combinator, and likewise efficiently accomplished a Kickstarter marketing campaign in September 2022 to the tune of $60,000.

The studio says the brand new funds might be used to develop Blacktop Hoops, which is at the moment accessible by way of Quest’s App Lab distribution channel for Quest 2, and on Steam for PC VR headsets.

First launched in April 2022 in alpha, Blacktop Hoops now contains various on-line multiplayer modes, together with 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 matches.

The streetball-inspired sport, which has kicked off its open beta as we speak, at the moment has a [4.9/5] star ranking from round 9,000 customers on App Lab, and a ‘Very Constructive’ general person ranking from round 500 on Steam.

The open beta introduces to the sport its first set of DLC, referred to as the ‘Rising Legends Pack’, bringing 5 new AI bosses impressed by real-world streetball legends.

Based by Oculus veteran Nathaniel Ventura and Maciej Szcześnik, former lead sport designer of The Witcher sequence at CD Projekt Purple, Blacktop Hoops is alleged to function intuitive dribbling, dunking, and capturing basketball mechanics designed for VR.

“We’re excited to construct the subsequent era of aggressive sports activities in digital actuality,” mentioned Ventura, Vinci Video games CEO. “This spherical of funding helps us develop our workforce and construct new groundbreaking options and content material pushing the boundaries of VR. Blacktop Hoops has been designed from the bottom as much as be simply accessible for informal gamers with a excessive ability cap for aggressive gamers; it’s extraordinarily straightforward to select up however troublesome to grasp.”

Throughout its time in Y Combinator, Vinci Video games says it hope to construct “Digital Arts for VR sports activities video games,” and that beginning with Blacktop Hoops, it’s specializing in the “next-generation of arcade sports activities video games for all platforms.”