Reality Gaming Group secures $3.5m via ICO

A mobile developer has raised $3.5m for its next project through an Initial Coin Offering, a form of fundraising that centres around cryptocurrency.

Reality Gaming Group set itself a target of $1.5m when it launched on August 29th, but has already more than doubled that with ten days left to go. The fundraising is to drive development for Reality Clash, a mobile FPS that uses augmented reality to allow gamers to shoot it out in real-world locations.

ICOs are a new form of financing that don't follow the same regulations as traditional forms of investment. They are open to the public so are essentially a form of crowdfunding, and while it sounds similar to an Initial Public Offering, there are some distinct differences.

For one, IPOs offer investors ownership rights with the shares they receive, but in ICOs they receive tokens or cryptocurrency. In the case of Reality Clash, which is using the Ethereum blockchain technology, it gives players the chance to receive RCC Gold tokens that can be used in the finished game for a third of the usual price, as well as exclusive weapons and access to tournaments and other extras.

There weapons can also be traded and sold through the Reality Clash platform or through secondary markets for real-world money, according to an earlier release announcing the ICO.

Reality Gaming Group co-founder Tony Pearce says ICOs represent "a great new way for games developers and publishers to fund their projects."

Reality Clash will be free-to-play and is due for release on iOS and Android in Q3 2018. To celebrate the $3.5m milestone, Reality Gaming Group is now running a competition to win a personalised machine gun in the final game.