This week, 9 Lives Interactive, a Singapore-based game studio, disclosed its early access plans for Nyan Heroes, a “hero shooter” game built on the Solana blockchain, alongside news of a recent funding round.
On Thursday, the studio announced securing $3 million in funding to support the global launch of Nyan Heroes. Mechanism Capital led the investment round, with participation from Sfermion, Momentum 6, 3Commas Capital, Devmons GG, Kosmos Ventures, and CSP DAO. This latest funding round adds to the $7.5 million previously raised by 9 Lives Interactive in 2022.
Nyan Heroes is set to enter a limited early access testing phase from March 26 to April 9, accessible via the Epic Games Store. During this period, players will have the opportunity to experience the team-based shooter game firsthand.
In addition to the early access rollout, 9 Lives Interactive is running a play-to-airdrop campaign tied to Nyan Heroes. Participants in the early access period can earn rewards in the form of the upcoming NYAN token drop. The campaign commenced earlier this week, enabling interested players to sign up and start earning “MEOW” points by completing missions on the game’s website. Notably, the campaign has already attracted over 200,000 participants, spanning more than 120,000 unique Solana wallets.
Nyan Heroes stands out as a team-based, objective-driven “hero shooter” reminiscent of Blizzard’s popular series Overwatch. However, in this game, players control colorful cats piloting powerful mechs in competitive battles. With eight guardian classes to choose from, players utilize unique abilities and nimble, cat-inspired movements to secure objectives and defeat opponents.
Andrew Kang, co-founder and partner at Mechanism, expressed excitement about leading the investment round for Nyan Heroes, emphasizing the project’s potential to redefine standards for Web3 shooters. He praised the creativity of the IP and its unique gameplay mechanics as distinguishing factors.