Wishlisting on the Epic Game Store. Live gameplay demos. A successful Series A fundraising round. Introduction of our tech stack. Listing of SHRAP. Our first in-game skins. Tremendous community growth.

And now, early access gameplay is on the horizon.

2023 has been a momentous growth year for SHRAPNEL.

So before it ends, let’s take a moment to celebrate and look at what’s in store for SHRAPNEL in 2024!

Game Development

This March we shared an early video game prototype called MPX.01 at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco to a closed group of reporters and key opinion leaders. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and led to coverage that positioned SHRAPNEL as the AAA game to watch.

After GDC, the team took an enhanced version of the MPX.1 prototype to the popular Web3 convention Consensus for our first public demo. There the SHRAPNEL booth quickly became one of the most popular stops at the show!

Bringing the MPX.1 build to GDC and Consensus also allowed our team to gain invaluable feedback first-hand, particularly on initial features such as the pistol, AR, aiming, and stamina. These learnings were then applied beyond the MPX.1 prototype to a more robust build called SHRAPNEL Training Exercise One or STX.01.

Boasting a larger map than MPX.1 with added systems and features, such as player progression and Sigma Wave (our initial Sigma Ability), STX.01 also will be the first opportunity for early access gameplay via the Epic Game Store (EGS). Interested players can get exclusive gear, playable Operators, and early access to the STX.01 game build before SHRAPNEL is made public, via our Extraction Packs which are available for purchase now on the SHRAPNEL website.

We’re excited to gather feedback from passionate players during these early access play sessions that will help to make SHRAPNEL even more fun in later versions!

Maps

Earlier this spring, SHRAPNEL’s Art Director, Jay Prochaska and Lead Environment Artist, Sherif Habashi traveled to Japan to research and seek inspiration for the STX.01 in-game map.

The resulting unique architecture, vast landscapes, and tight-knit streets set up an immersive post-apocalyptic environment perfect for players’ first SHRAPNEL gameplay experience.

Skins

This year has also seen the beginning of customized weapon skins, the first of which was an exclusive set created in collaboration with Alchemy: Battle for Ankhos for their holders and SHRAPNEL Operators Collection holders.

The first weapon skin to be seen in the STX.01 build was shared as a surprise for the community during a livestream of a studio playtest! This skin was also a collaboration with Bodoggos and has quickly become a community favorite.

Moreover, we will start to see SHRAPNEL Official skins launching in the Marketplace in early 2024. Keep your eyes on our socials for news on additional exciting game skin developments coming soon.

Tech

This September we announced the launch of our advanced Web3 developer platform.

This tech stack enables any developer to bring Web3 features to their product while accelerating development by up to 75% and reducing costs by up to 90% compared to building comparable capabilities from scratch. Additionally, our platform partners, Fireblocks, Layer Zero, Subsum, and MoonPay enable both high-security and a low-friction user experience.

We are happy to share that we’ve already welcomed several game development partners that we’ll be announcing soon!

Cross-Media Development

We’ve always been invested in expanding the SHRAPNEL franchise across different storytelling mediums which is why we released our award-winning live-action short film last year along with our comic book series ‘SHRAPNEL: Operators Series Vol 1’ co-created with comic book veterans and artists with histories at Marvel, DC, HBO, Image, Boom and more. As comics provide another avenue for our community to explore SHRAPNEL’s narrative, we were thrilled to release an ashcan preview of Volume 2 at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con and look forward to sharing the full second batch of comics in the new year.

We are also very excited about the new SHRAPNEL live-action project slated for release in 2024!

Awards List

This year, SHRAPNEL was awarded Best Graphics and Most Anticipated Game (for the second year in a row!) at the 2023 Gam3 Awards. The SHRAPNEL CGI Game Trailer also won a Gold Telly for Animation for Cinematic Trailer at the 2023 Telly Awards and Best Trailer at the Gam3rs Choice Awards.

Solitarius Lupus, SHRAPNEL’s first live action short, took home the Gold Addy for both Elements of Advertising Film & Video and Elements of Advertising Visual, as well as a Silver Addy for Film, Video, & Sound Branded Content and Entertainment. This live-action short was named an Official Selection at Fantasy/Sci-Fi Film & Screenplay Festival, Renegade Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Sci-Fi London Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Oregon Short Film Festival, and was short-listed for One Show.

Funding

In October, we announced the successful closure of our $20 million Series A funding round. A key achievement at a critical time for SHRAPNEL, as we begin incremental playable video game releases over the upcoming months. This funding is pivotal in supporting us as we build towards game launch but it also cements the significant interest and belief in our project across the gaming, blockchain, and technology sectors. Learn more via our recent coverage in Forbes and Fortune!

Community

Our thriving pre-launch community continues to grow, with nearly 90,000 Discord members and a quickly growing 329,000+ X followers. The feedback, SHRAPNEL Insignia Beta creations, and community passion for our work has been a studio-wide highlight daily. In appreciation for all the support, we completed two SHRAP airdrops for the community and have started the Creator Pool rewards system.

Keep an eye out on our socials for more community contests and rewards on the way! ????

Team

Since our beginning as a small team of founders from HBO and Xbox over two years ago, we have been lucky enough to welcome more incredibly talented people to the SHRAPNEL team in 2023, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience gained from big names such as Call of Duty, Codemasters, Forza Racing, Avalanche Studios, Unity, Illfonic, Pipeworks, Zoic, Google, and many more.

In The Press

Amongst all of SHRAPNEL’s exciting 2023 developments, we’ve had the opportunity to chat with a wide range of top publications in Web3, tech, and gaming. Here are some highlights:

• Forbes — Blockchain Game Maker Led By HBO Digital Alum Snags $20 Million Series A Funding
• Fortune — Polychain Capital among group betting $20 million that first-person shooter ‘Shrapnel’ can succeed where other Web3 games have failed
• Tech Radar Gaming — Even the blockchain isn’t enough to put me off Sci-fi Extraction FPS Shrapnel
• Decrypt — Shrapnel Web3 Shooter Looks and Plays Like a AAA Game
• Cointelegraph — Web3 Gamer: Shrapnel wows at GDC, Undead Blocks hot take, Second Trip

Happy Holidays from the SHRAPNEL team, we can’t wait to bring early access of STX.01 to you in the New Year!

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