A16Z GAMES

Over the past decade, games have radically transformed from packaged entertainment to social network-like online services that scale like consumer technology companies. Today’s games also drive innovation across the entire consumer ecosystem through new methods of engagement, retention, and monetization. We believe that games will play a pivotal role in defining how we socialize, play, and work over the next century. Investing Themes: Game Studios: Today’s best games are continually updated online services whose players form an integral part of the game through multiplayer and user-generated content. These “games-as-a-service” have become rich, interactive social networks whose in-game player friendships rival those made in person. Games x Consumer: The rapidly growing number of gamers worldwide has created a thriving ecosystem of consumer apps to support them. As gaming becomes the top way people spend time, we believe some of the most innovative consumer companies will be built around player communities. Infrastructure: As games evolve into virtual worlds and online services, the demand for the tools and services needed to build great games will only continue to skyrocket. We also believe the coming metaverse will be built by games companies, using games technologies.