CCP Games, the developer of the popular online role-playing game EVE Online, has raised $40m in financing to develop a new blockchain-based game set within the EVE universe.

The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and featured several other investors, including Nexon and BITKRAFT. CCP Games plans to utilise blockchain technology to create on-chain systems, with an emphasis on player agency, persistence and open third-party development, creating new ways for players to engage within the virtual world.

EVE Online has a dedicated audience of players celebrating the game's 20th anniversary this year, with regular conventions held in Iceland dedicated to its sci-fi world. While this marks CCP Games' first foray into blockchain gaming, CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson has been interested in the potential of blockchain technology to revolutionise concepts such as user ownership for some time.