Yoda Labs Monthly Recap

February was a huge month for blockchain gaming dominated by investments, partnerships, and industry leaders joining Web3 to bring over their expertise into the space. Who do you think will make the biggest impact?

Also in our monthly digest:

• Has ImmutableX cracked mass frictionless player onboarding through its passports?

• Magic Eden invest in 11 Web3 gaming studios to boost its ecosystem

• SquareEnix partners with Polygon for NFTs

• Is Mastercard enabling in-game currency payments?

• Esports organization VSPO received a $265M investment from the Saudi

• Amazon backs Superplastic with $20M and gets rights to any TV shows and films that comes out of the studio

Reporting on Polygon gaming industry trends, investments, growth, and more… 👽

Co-authored by BGA & DappRadar

Web3 Gaming News 🎮

• Alien World was DAO compromised by bad actors who embezzled 4M TLM tokens worth over $100k stolen.

• Winning Key of Dookey Dash, Yuga Labs' endless runner game, was sold to a Billionaire for 1,000 ETH or $1.63 Million by 18-year-old Fortnite streamer Kyle "Mongraal" Jackson.

• Industry legend Trip Hawkins, the founder of video game giant EA, joins Web3 gaming startup Games for a Living as the co-founder and chief strategy officer.

• Champions Ascension announces players will no longer need a web3 wallet to play the game.

• Magic Eden Ventures, reveals it has invested in 11 Web3 gaming studios, highlighting Magic Eden's commitment to pushing the web3 gaming industry ahead.

• Mini-Royale, an FPS Web3 game, and Audius, a decentralized music streaming platform, partner to offer in-game music to Mini-Royale players.

• Ryan Wyatt the gaming and esports icon who now leads Polygon labs, believes the next Bezos will be from Web3.

• Genopets, the free-to-play, move-to-earn game built on the Solana, adds two more mini-games, 'Feed' & 'Fetch'.

• Gods Unchained launches a pre-alpha version with limited functionality on Android from Feb till March 22, with an iOS release on the horizon.

• Square Enix, creator of Final Fantasy, partners with Polygon for NFTs to offer a unique experience tied to a storyline players will unfold in a virtual (turn-based) adventure.

• Passport System from ImmutableX lets Web3 gamers sign in with email and password, lowering user acquisition expenses and improving gaming by removing friction.

• ArchLoot, a Web3 game with interactive NFT gameplay that fully enables on-chain implementation of upgradeable NFTs, will begin beta testing with a grand launch party in Vietnam on February 28th.

• Axie Infinity and MetaLend now offer in-game asset loans and MetaLend lists 1,587 Ronin-based NFTs as collateral on its website.

• Project Q is one of three Ubisoft games canceled, originally announced as a blockchain-based multiplayer warfare arena game is another setback for Ubisoft's entry to Web3

• Limit Break paid $6M for an ad during Super Bowl with a QR code directing to CEO’s Twitter. Despite complaints, the 10k NFTs were distributed and then traded on secondary markets

• Merit Circle DAO started a grant program focused on Web3 gaming, offering $10k for researchers and $25k for developers that participate.

• Melee on the Meteor, the first public showing of Wildcard, took place on February 23. 5 years in the making, this long-awaited game, is finally here.

• Parallel, a sci-fi-themed TCG, opend early access for the planned alpha launch date on February 28th.

• Axie started Axie Homeland Alpha Season 1 on February 22nd, for players who own an Axie land plot.

• Planet IX, a leading P2E Polygon game, sees impressive growth after its expansion to BitKeep NFT Market.

Web3 Gaming Trends 🚀

• Gamers can now own in-game assets and earn real-world value from their gaming activities through player-owned economies, with shooter games benefiting the most.

• A new report from PitchBook reveals gaming opportunities for investors in 2023 could be in Generative AI, low-code development tools, Metaverse, Indirect revenue, and F2P games.

• Bet-to-Play (B2P) gambling at the gameplay level rather than at the in-game asset level is the new approach adopting a ‘Per-Game Fee Model’ states Messari.

• The ‘play-to-earn’ term could be the reason why Web3 gaming is being held back and a trend that we should be moving away from argues CoinWire

• Redefining the power of token incentives whilst creating balanced and resilient in-game economies could be the way to a more stable economy that can grow over time.

• Gaming Content Creator of the Year Brycent believes product market fit is more important than high NFT floor pricing, and builders who can monetize digital assets like open editions can develop a sustainable business long-term.

• Game Space releases the Galaxy Plan, Casual GameFi could soon dominate the Web3 Gaming market.

• My Neighbour Alice shifts to immersive storytelling and moves away from P2E competition to collaboration, encouraging in-game interaction and teamwork.

• Generative AI could drive the future of Web3 game development, a tech that has seen tremendous hype, allowing creatives to bring new ideas to life at incredible speed.

• More web2 gaming studios adopt web3 technology and intrude on conventional gaming, and this could result in a permanent shift in the gaming industry.

• Mastercard and Xsolla partner up to deliver enhanced checkout experiences and easy-to-pay solutions thanks to the direct integration of Credit Card loyalty points and in-game currency gifting.  

• Esports organizations have begun using blockchain to host tournaments and distribute prize pools, according to Dave Harris, managing director of esports investment firm Guinevere Capital.

• Scalability solutions are in high demand for single-chain systems like Ethereum, moreso in Web3gaming. However Gaming ventures still want base layer liquidity and security.

Exploring the Metaverse 🛸

• Maxar unveils SYNTH3D, a 3D digital twin solution that allows creators to build virtual environments that mirror real-world places for Metaverse and VR in partnership with AI startup Blckshark.ai.

• Japanese titans, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi, will build an interoperable Metaverse dubbed Ryugukoku for domestic enterprises' information dissemination, marketing, and work style reform.

• The Lost Wallet, an interactive metaverse game where clues are dropped from a Twitter account will start March 1, 2023, offering CryptoPunk #2672 as the highest prize.

• Colombia became one of the first countries to host a court hearing in Meta's Metaverse after lawmakers held a two-hour hearing using Horizon Workrooms in virtual avatars.

• Meta launched a Large Language AI Model, LLaMa-trained on publicly available text from various sources, for Researchers as the company’s Metaverse bet gets pricier & revenues dwindle.

• Huawei Cloud has launched a metaverse and Web3 Alliance featuring BlockChain Solutions, Deepbrain Chain, Morpheus Labs, and Polygon following its competitor, Tencent’s move to web3.

• Microsoft Significantly Cuts Back on the Metaverse Initiative and concentrates on AI after Meta takes a monthly billion-dollar haircut on its metaverse strategy.

• Harness the power of Metaverse and NFTs Like leading retailers Walmart, Crate & Barrel, Pacsun, H&M, Taco Bell and Lowe's.

• Tencent, one of the biggest Chinese tech companies, will offer “metaverse-in-a-box” services to its customers in Asian Markets through its cloud division.

• Woodstock, the most iconic 1960s rock festival, announced its transformation into a digital world alongside metaverse creators Sequin AR.

• The International Boxing Association is preparing a global boxing metaverse platform that could reach over 540 million fans.

• Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade metaverse experience to feature five NFT galleries.

• Microsoft will slow HoloLens and its metaverse goals as it restructures due to 10,000 layoffs.

• Designer Vivienne Tam partnered with Animoca Brands and Hepha to create a metaverse environment at her New York Fashion Week show demonstrating the potential of Web3 in art and entertainment.

• Tencent denies lay-off rumors and announces 'Personnel Reshuffle' at its Metaverse unit. The company also pulls the plug on Metaverse hardware following Microsoft’s cuts in its VR unit

• The Undeads metaverse introduces a player-driven economy and a seamless onboarding process that doesn’t require players to immediately acquire an NFT to play

• Neal Mohan the new YouTube CEO is bullish about Web3 technologies like NFTs and the Metaverse betting on creators building deeper relationships with their fans.

• Metacoms partnered with Polygon. The users can navigate through Metaverse to create and sell their own apps with the help of AI.

Funding News 💸

• Worldwide Webb, a Super Nintendo-style metaverse game, raised $10 million entirely from VC firm Pantera Capital to expand its development team.

• Here Not There Labs, co-founded by former CEO of Houseparty (part of Epic Games), raises $25M on a funding round led by a16z crypto, Benchmark, and Framework Ventures.

• Fight Out, a move-to-earn project currently in the presale stage, raised over $4.7M in investor funds and is poised to tap into half a Trillion Dollar Metaverse market with real-world rewards.

• Avalon Corp, founded by leaders from games including EverQuest, Call of Duty, Diablo, God of War, and Assassin's Creed, raised $13 million in funding to build a new interoperable digital Metaverse.

• OhBabyGames The team behind Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises, Announces $6 Million Seed Round led by co-led by eGirl Capital and Synergis Capital.

• Amazon Funds Web3-Friendly Studio Superplastic in $20M round and gets first rights on TV shows, films and gamified experiences

• Hypersonic Laboratories, Creator of HELIX Metaverse, raises $3.5 million in pre-seed round led by Play Ventures.

• Mino Games raised $15M to create a Dimensionals Web3 game. The company has so far raised $25M for their various Web3 gaming projects.

• Born To Die, a fast-paced 3D shooter game secures Pre-Seed Funding for $1.5M and launches Genesis NFTs.

• Hashed and Coin98 lead a $4M Pre-Series A financing round for Aura Network to expand ecosystem ahead of mainnet launch.

• Nefta, a Web3 engines platform, raises $5M in a seed round led by Play Ventures' Future Fund to accelerate hiring and capitalize on huge market interest.

• Million on Mars raises $3.5M led by Great Southgate and Widus Partners for its blockchain-based space sim.

• Hiro Capital and Skybound Entertainment led the funding round for Telltale to bring its first new games to market, such as the highly-anticipated The Expanse: A Telltale Series.

• ESports Chinese gaming company VSPO receives $265M from Saudi government-owned Savvy Games Groups.

• IndiGG riases $20M as it is acquired by Kratos Studios to build the world's largest gamers' nation - A new network state governed by gamers.

• A16z Crypto and DWF Labs Lead Round for $13.8M Token Sale of YGG, a play-to-earn gaming guild.

• Azra Games raises $10M in a round led by A16z for Legions and Legends NFT game, bringing the total amount raised for the seed round to $25 million.

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“Patience you must have, my young Padawan”
-Yoda

See you same place same time next week!

❤❤❤

Yoda Labs team