‘Blacktop Hoops’ Studio Announces $5.1M Funding Round, Open Beta Now Live

Vinci Games, the studio behind popular VR basketball game Blacktop Hoops, has raised $5.1 million in a seed funding round.

The round was led by Makers Fund, with participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Pioneer Fund, Anorak Ventures, BonAngels, and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin. Vinci Games was previously supported by Y Combinator, and also successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign in September 2022 to the tune of $60,000.

The studio says the new funds will be used to develop Blacktop Hoops, which is currently available through Quest’s App Lab distribution channel for Quest 2, and on Steam for PC VR headsets.

First released in April 2022 in alpha, Blacktop Hoops now includes a number of online multiplayer modes, including 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 matches.

The streetball-inspired game, which has kicked off its open beta today, currently has a [4.9/5] star rating from around 9,000 users on App Lab, and a ‘Very Positive’ overall user rating from around 500 on Steam.

The open beta introduces to the game its first set of DLC, called the ‘Rising Legends Pack’, bringing five new AI bosses inspired by real-world streetball legends.

Founded by Oculus veteran Nathaniel Ventura and Maciej Szcześnik, former lead game designer of The Witcher series at CD Projekt Red, Blacktop Hoops is said to feature intuitive dribbling, dunking, and shooting basketball mechanics designed for VR.

“We’re excited to build the next generation of competitive sports in virtual reality,” said Ventura, Vinci Games CEO. “This round of funding helps us grow our team and build new groundbreaking features and content pushing the boundaries of VR. Blacktop Hoops has been designed from the ground up to be easily accessible for casual players with a high skill cap for competitive players; it’s extremely easy to pick up but difficult to master.”

During its time in Y Combinator, Vinci Games says it hope to build “Electronic Arts for VR sports games,” and that starting with Blacktop Hoops, it’s focusing on the “next-generation of arcade sports games for all platforms.”