Monthly Recap

Web3 Gaming Attracting Interest Despite a Rough Year!

We see traditional game publishers like Square Enix doubling down on blockchain. Investors are rushing to fund web3 gaming and Sandbox is accelerating collaborations. We knew it was only a matter of time-Axie accessories are here The blockchain lives on as kill-to-earn-game launched on Solana. Polkastarter wraps up the year as Gaming Awards winners are announced. This, and much more as we welcome you to the Yoda Labs Monthly Recap of December 2022.

Web3 Gaming News 🎯🎮

• Sandbox partners with Wemade to accelerate collaborations in the web3 gaming space. Sandbox is the biggest metaverse project in the web3 space, with more than 4 million users and a $690 million valuation. While Wemade is one of the largest South Korean web2 gaming companies, with over a decade of production experience.

• Gaming giants Animoca Brands, and the best-in-class interoperability solution LayerZero jointly launch a global hackerhouse initiative to demonstrate real-world use cases of interoperable digital assets in games.

• Ev.io, the Solana-based, kill-to-earn game has launched a beta version. The mobile version will be released in 2023. 

• Spielworks announces ‘Dungeon Worlds’, an added feature to the popular game Dungeon Master. The new feature allows influencers to effectively run their own dungeons.

• Axie Infinity Philippine has launched the first-ever Axie accessories to fortify the connection between players and their axies. In addition to this, land gameplay is live for Axie Homeland.

• Gelixir Labs, a major Korean gaming studio, has announced the launch of its brand new, PC-based Play-to-Earn MMORPG Astel of Astra. 

• Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda stated 2023 will be a year of "major evolution and transformation". The company is ending support for a number of its games while deploying more resources, energy, and focus on blockchain gaming. In addition, Square Enix invests in an NFT gaming firm, Beeple speaks on NFT art future and more. 

• Metaverse Game Studios Debuts First AAA Web3 Narrative Strategy RPG on ImmutableX. 

• Start Atlas wins Best Graphics award, Superior wins Best Action Title, whilst Big Time wins Game of the Year in the Polkastarter Gaming GAM3 Awards ceremony.

• Play-to-own, NFTs and Web3: Crypto Raiders drops knowledge with NFT Steez.

• Game studios promise more fun with Collaborate-to-earn Model. Become a part of the next big thing in crypto gaming with Calvaria – don't miss the presale.

• Trinity Gaming partners with EmChain FZE to facilitate content business in the Indian web3 and blockchain gaming space.

• Bye bye Solana. DeGods to Ethereum and Y00ts to Polygon. DUST token will still bind the two communities and move to both blockchains.

• My Neighbor Alice saw its second land sale on December 16th. Originally developed to promote blockchain adoption among the gaming community, version 2.0 is now available with many new in-game features added.

•  Ultra Arena is the new blockchain-based tournament system by the decentralized gaming platform Ultra. Win/loss records, players rank, tracking statistics, and managing teams is now possible with the web3 tournament system dashboard.

• Fabled Mintpass holders get exclusive access to demo areas introducing players to the game. Players can find and equip various equipment, consumables, and more in this open-world, action RPG fantasy game.

• Watch virtual panels, keynotes and workshops hosted by Block Chain Alliance (BGA) that took place throughout 2022. These include panel discussions on the Metaverse, the questions around what qualifies as an in-game asset, and blockchain gaming on Enjin.

• Crypto.com NFT will be collaborating with Eyeball Games to present their upcoming BallDroids collection. Eyeball Games is the creator of Eyeball Pool, a pool game where the skillful can take ownership. The BallDroids collection is set to launch on Crypto.com NFT on 19 January 2023.

• Fantazy a decentralized fantasy sports platform launches on Polygon. It is aiming to bring trustless web3 infrastructure to the fantasy sports industry by addressing issues around data storage and the use of bots that cheat users out of prize money.

• After announcing its partnership with Aptos, South Korean Triple-A gaming studio, NPIXEL, will be launching its first-ever MMORPG Web3 game this year.

Web3 Gaming Trends 🔥🚀

• Experts believe that the blockchain gaming space will be worth $66 billion in 2027.

• 75% of game developers expect to work on web3 game projects due to the growing popularity of blockchain gaming.

• Investors rush for web3 gaming in funding winter. Fuelled by growing user interest in P2E games, compared to 2021 there is a sixfold jump from $115. million to $620.5 million in 2022..

• The Gaming Industry is evolving with blockchain. Liquidity, asset-ownership and the metaverse are areas impacted. Where Security of environment, more command, the possibilities of additional income, automation and the transfer of assets are the most crtitcal benefits of blockchain gaming.

• Did you know blockchain games played a significant role in the DApp space? The sector produced 7.4 billion transactions this year. Check out the key takeaways from DappRadar's 2022 review coveing DeFi, NFTs and blockchain games.

• Move to earn, blue-green protocol, augmented reality are just some of the ways that PubNub is providing infrastructure and bringing people together in real time, and reimagining blockchain gaming.

• Why is gaming the best Entry Point into the Crypto World?

• The blueprint for successful web3 games is already established with Fortnite. For web3 gaming companies to succeed they need to solve accessibility issues such as onboarding and custodial wallets are not a hindrance. Transparency needs to be addressed by building a game that gamers want where teams sell on what they can deliver. User experience is paramount and if it takes more than 2-3 steps most gamers will go elsewhere.

Exploring the Metaverse 🛸🤖

• Experts at Grayscale project the metaverse to be a multi-trillion-dollar industry by 2030. Currently, the web3 metaverse is valued at less than 5 billion.

• Yuga Labs, founder of BAYC and Otherside Metaverse, appoints Daniel Alegre as its CEO. Daniel Alegre is the former COO of Activision-Blizzard, the company behind Call of Duty.

• Telecom giant Huawei believes that the current infrastructure is insufficient to service the needs of the Metaverse.

• Old-generation dating apps like Tinder are in trouble, as a third of single adults are excited to find love in the metaverse.

• Warner Music, Polygon team up to launch web3 music platform ‘LGND’.

• If social media has scarred my generation, what will the metaverse do? The Independent revisits Zukerberg's plan for an even more immersive, embodied internet, where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it.

• Metaverse technology will contribute heavily to the Automotive Industry next year, Nvidia Says.

• Future of banking: A metaverse bank, on your browser soon.

• Metaverse experience to sway real-world travel choices in 2023: Survey.

• FTC opposes Microsoft’s metaverse-focused Activision Blizzard purchase.

• The co-existence of multiple metaverses, AI-powered virtual words, and metaverse police are some of the metaverse predictions for 2023.

Funding in Gaming, and the Metaverse Space 💸💰

• Samsung is investing more than $35 Million in Latam-focused metaverse initiatives

• Social Collectible platform Revel finishes a $7.8 million seed funding round led by DragonFly Capital.

• DWF Labs, the leading web3 investment company, invests $1 million in Mars Labs to furnish the growth of Mars Metaverse.

• AR NFT Game Onlybots raises $3 million Seed Capital led by Polygon Studios and Hashkey Capital.

• Web3 game Dogami raises $7M in a seed extension funding round led by XAnge, with participation from Bpifrance, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Wagram Capital. Dogami is part of the virtual pet movement in the metaverse, dubbed as the web3 adoptable dog.

• Animoca Brands launches new $2bn metaverse business fund

• Shibuya announced its successful seed funding round of $6.9 million by Andreessen Horowitz and Variant Fund.

• Forte Makes $5M Strategic Investment in SuperLayer to expand beyond web3 gaming.

• Digital Entertainment Asset Secures $10M from LDA Capital to Expand its GameFi Platform.

• The beta presale stage of Metacade raised nearly $1 million in its initial 3 weeks. Metacade is the first virtual gaming arcade in the metaverse industry. It provides players with a variety of games and money-making opportunities and allows players to take part in competitive tournaments with substantial rewards against more seasoned players.

We would love to continue the discussion with you! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest news and announcements!

“Your focus determines your reality.” Qui-Gon JinnSee you on the next one, from the Yoda Labs team

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