IRL Studios introduced that Gymnasium Class, its widespread VR basketball recreation on Meta Quest App Lab, has raised $8 million in a seed spherical led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with participation from Y Combinator.
Different contributors embrace Founders Inc., Todd and Rahul’s Angel Fund, Balaji Srinivasan, Zaza Pachulia, and quite a lot of different angel traders.
Named in Street to VR’s prime 20 free video games on Quest, Gymnasium Class enables you to shoot hoops and dunk on pals such as you most likely can’t on a bodily court docket.
The free early entry model is extremely rated on App Lab for good cause, partially because of it’s physics-based gameplay and full-body kinematics, however principally as a result of it provides probably the most practical basketball enjoying experiences that allows you to go toe-to-toe with as much as eight different on-line gamers. Gymnasium Class has additionally claimed the quantity two spot on Meta Quest App Lab, garnering a [4.9/5] person ranking from greater than 14,000 evaluations.
The studio hasn’t specified exactly what it plans to do with the funding, though the workforce’s mission consists of constructing a digital sports activities ecosystem “indistinguishable from what you see IRL. One which delivers on deep wants for friendship, id, leisure, creation, health, style, and even competing to change into a celebrity,” its Y Combinator profile reads.
“Gymnasium Class is greater than a recreation, it’s a digital sport.” mentioned Paul Katsen, studio co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Gymnasium Class. “It enables you to dunk like a professional, change into a basketball star, watch, compete, cheer, and get entangled in the entire expertise of the game. Similar to with actual sports activities, we consider digital sports activities will see thriving world communities, leagues, leisure and occasions, style, commerce, health, and extra.”
“We’re satisfied that video games, digital worlds and digital sports activities would be the new social networks,” mentioned Andrew Chen, associate at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). “Gymnasium Class alerts the daybreak of digital sports activities. It has the traction, and has the fitting workforce behind it to appreciate the true potential of social VR. We’re robust believers within the imaginative and prescient and the workforce who’ve already confirmed Gymnasium Class has an enormous viewers and alternative.”
Gymnasium Class is slated to of the official Quest Retailer someday in fall 2022.