Gabriel Leydon Returns with $200 Million in Funding for His New Blockchain-Based Game Company Limit Break
The former CEO and co-founder of Machine Zone is developing a "free-to-own" game based on the blockchain.
Limit Break Inc., founded by Gabriel Leydon and Halbert Nakagawa, has announced a $200 million investment round led by Buckley Ventures, Standard Crypto, and Paradigm Ventures.
Limit Break, best known for its DigiDaigaku NFT collection, has also received funding from FTX, Coinbase Ventures, Anthos Capital, SV Angel, and Shervin Pishevar. "We have the ideal partners, investors, and team in place to usher in a new era in the gaming industry," Leydon stated.
Leydon left Machine Zone in 2018 to pursue cryptocurrencies, and sold the company to AppLovin for $600 million in 2020. He collaborated with Machine Zone co-founder Halbert Nakagawa last August to develop a new blockchain game that will be "free-to-mint" and “free-to-own.”
"Our focus is on what I believe will replace 'free to play' with something I call 'free to own' games," Leydon told GamesBeat. Despite the popularity of play-to-earn games, Limit Break is rejecting that model by providing players with free NFTs from the start.
According to Leydon, the free-to-own model has the potential to reduce scam-like behavior in the blockchain gaming space, where game studios sell NFTs but fail to deliver games.
Not only does Leydon want to convert fans into ambassadors for the game that Limit Break is developing with free NFTs, but he also believes that the free-to-mint model has the potential to "eradicate" free-to-play and play-to-earn games.
According to GamesBeat, eliminating free-to-play could be difficult because the business model generates $120 billion in annual revenue—more than half of all game revenues. Leydon, on the other hand, is optimistic.
More about the Limit Break Company
Limited information is available about Limit Break's upcoming game, but the developer is giving early adopters free NFTs so they can trade them in for digital goods on NFT marketplaces. Moreover, Limit Break will retain an unspecified portion of the NFTs for itself. In order to earn profits, Limit Break may decide to sell the NFTs at market rates in addition to the ones that the fans are already selling.
Limit Break released its first NFT collection earlier this month under the name DigiDaigaku Genesis. There are 2022 adorable female anime characters in the collection, all of whom "live in a mysterious world unknown to outsiders." The collection currently has a floor price of 13 ETH on OpenSea.
