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John Smedley Raises $30.5M For New Recreation On Etherlink

John Smedley, a gaming business veteran and former CEO of Dawn Recreation Firm (previously Sony On-line Leisure), is making his first foray into Web3 gaming with a brand new AAA shooter that includes Tezos layer-2 (L2) blockchain Etherlink.

The Smedley-led Distinct Risk Studios (DPS) has raised $30.5 million in a funding spherical led by the gaming-focused enterprise capital agency Bitkraft and the European hedge fund administration firm Brevan Howard, in accordance with an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Thursday.

The funds might be used to develop its new open-world massively multiplayer on-line first-person shooter (MMOFPS), Reaper Precise, which it says will combine Etherlink to allow tradeable Web3 parts like characters, bases, skins and extra.

“The Tezos Basis and the event group behind Etherlink share our imaginative and prescient in regards to the recreation being a very powerful factor,” Smedley informed Cointelegraph. “The builders have prioritized constructing a sequence that displays this; it’s proper there of their tagline: Play, Personal, Commerce.”

Large Smedley’s video games: EverQuest and Planetside 2

Smedley is most well-known within the gaming business for co-creating EverQuest, a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer on-line role-playing recreation (MMORPG) launched by Sony On-line Leisure in March 1999.

He additionally co-developed a free-to-play MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2, which options large-scale battles supporting as much as 2,000 concurrent gamers throughout huge areas of continents.

The newest funding spherical helps the accelerated improvement of Reaper Precise, a brand new AAA shooter that might be accessible on Steam, the Epic Video games Retailer and by way of reaperactual.com upon launch.

Smedley teased the brand new recreation in an X put up in March, displaying a photograph subsequent to Planetside 2 artistic director Matt Higby and Fallout artist Tramell Ray Isaac.

John Smedley (left) subsequent to Matt Higby and Tramell Isaac teasing a brand new DPS recreation in March 2025. Supply: John Smedley

The DPS group might be saying its “Basis” Alpha launch within the coming weeks, which is able to embrace entry to the sport and onchain tradeable belongings.

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