A16z Games Acts Clever with a Fake Runner’s High

The Great Brochure-readers at A16z Games

Well, well, well, to nobody’s surprise, A16z Games has decided to play God and announced their wildly ambitious “Speedrun” accelerator. They’re going to “invest” $75 million of their Monopoly money into pre-seed startups at the junction of games and tech. A junction. Groundbreaking. Just where did they come up with such an unheard-of concept?

Predictably Boring Possible Implications

As for what this implies, it’s painfully predictable. With this $75 million move, A16z Games will shower these baby startups with what they like to call “help”. Notably, this will unfold in the scenery of games and tech—addressing areas that have been left untreated for so long. Oh wait. These guys will choose the “lucky” ones they deem worthy and guide them to a make-believe yellow brick road of success. Such Gods these folks.

Unvarnished, Half-hearted Hot Take

My hot take? They aren’t the first to have this ‘revolutionary’ idea and they most certainly won’t be the last. At the end of the day, all accelerators are basically the same – a cradle for pampered startups who can’t bear the weight of the real business world just yet. So pack your smartly written proposals and big dreams because A16z Games is ready to sell you that startup fairy-tale. Brace yourselves for an overflow of nauseatingly optimistic press releases, social media posts of crying founders, and yet another tech giant gloating about its great benevolence. Revolutionizing the gaming- tech world, they say. I’d rather watch paint dry. Good luck not becoming another tech zombie, startups.

Original article:https://venturebeat.com/ai/a16z-games-commits-75m-to-speedrun-game-startup-accelerator/