Maze Theory and Pluto Digital Joint Venture Create New Blockchain Studio ‘EMERGENT GAMES’ with £4m Investment

Today, brand-new gaming blockchain and metaverse studio Emergent Games announces its formation as part of a joint venture between the London-based digital entertainment studio Maze Theory and crypto technology and operations business Pluto Digital.

The joint venture combines two dynamic forces from blockchain technology and immersive gaming to form a business at the forefront of the new decentralized gaming sector.

Maze Theory comprises industry veterans from leading global games and entertainment companies and has released critically acclaimed games across virtual reality, PC, mobile and console, including: Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins (mobile and console) and Doctor Who: The Edge of Time (VR) with Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom (VR) launching soon.

Pluto Digital is a crypto technology company with market-leading expertise across blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), metaverse technologies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Pluto has three primary business units: Pluto DeFi which creates leading DeFi applications and tokens, Pluto Metaverse which creates metaverse technologies and tokens, and Pluto V which invests globally in leading web3 and NFT projects. The company has a team of 16 tech engineers.

Pluto will provide an investment pipeline for the new joint venture and has invested £4m as part of the deal to enable the studio’s growth and consolidate its expertise in VR.

With a ‘game first’ philosophy, Emergent Games will offer players high quality, high production value games, jargon-free and easy to pick up and play. It’s ambition is to bring free-to-play mechanics to the blockchain gaming space, offering players the option to just play for fun, or engage with the crypto NFT element and earn real money.

Emergent Games’ first project, Resurgence, will take players on a journey from present day disaster to a post-apocalyptic future. The game gives complete control to the player to craft their own destiny by utilizing resources in a unique community-based survival concept.

Ian Hambleton, CEO of Emergent Games, says:

“Emergent Games has a strong ‘game first’ philosophy which means creating absolutely awesome games for all gamers, with an optional crypto element, enhancing the experience for those interested. We believe this approach is not only the right thing to do, but removes barriers for players moving into blockchain games.”

He adds:

“Story-living is a term we coined for the concept and technology driving our games. It’s where players are inside a virtual world making meaningful choices that drive the narrative. Bringing this into a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) will offer new and incredible experiences for players and form a significant role in the future of gaming.”

Brian Kinane, director of Pluto Digital Plc, says:

“We are tremendously excited to become the largest investor in Maze Theory and partners in the new studio, Emergent Games. We believe the combination of our high end blockchain engineering and token capabilities together with the gaming creativity of the Maze Theory team will create a leading next generation web3 metaverse gaming studio”.

Follow Emergent Games’ latest updates: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit.

About Maze Theory

Maze Theory is an immersive gaming studio led by experienced industry veterans from the world’s top entertainment companies. Recent expansion has seen the business grow to over 40 people with the team comprising multiple award-winning developers and creatives. The studio believes in delivering unforgettable stories through innovative,   multi-tech, and multi-platform narrative experiences that go beyond mere gaming and re-define the future of entertainment.

The game portfolio includes the first-ever Doctor Who VR game Doctor Who: The Edge of Time and award-winning found-phone horror game Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins, which launched in 2021 to massive critical acclaim, heralded as ‘the best Doctor Who game ever’.

Maze Theory is also working on the first-ever VR game for Peaky Blinders, The King’s Ransom, as well as developing their new VR game ENGRAM.  More soon-to-be announced projects are in the pipeline.

About Pluto Digital

Pluto Digital is a Web3 decentralized technology company with market-leading expertise across blockchain, Decentralised Finance (DeFi), metaverse technologies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Pluto has three primary business units: Pluto DeFi which is creating leading DeFi applications and tokens; Pluto Metaverse which is creating metaverse technologies, games and tokens; and Pluto V which is investing globally in leading web3 and NFT projects.  Pluto’s mission is to launch a market-leading suite of DeFi applications and blockchain-based games that connect the crypto world with global finance and gaming communities.