Jan 23
Big Names Step Up to Boost GameFi
UpOnly | Research #44: Recent work of market leaders helps attract investment
A standout characteristic of Web3 is the willingness frontrunners feel to carry the industry on their back. Whether it is GameFi giant Animoca Brands establishing billion-dollar funds to grow startups or Polka Starter creating the Gam3 Awards to honor the best games in the blockchain industry, market leaders step up to foster growth in GameFi.
Despite a slow Q4 for GameFi in 2022, 2023 kicked off with massive announcements from VC firms, blockchains, and industry-leading media outlets, broadcasting a strong signal out into the world. GameFi is not going anywhere and doing everything possible to prosper.
In this week’s UpOnly | Research, we document the recent work of big players in the industry to help grow GameFi, stabilizing the sector in times of turmoil and laying the foundations for the future. We then share details of a billion-dollar investment that was just announced, which will no doubt benefit the industry.
Big players chip in to promote the industry
Perhaps no company has taken the blockchain industry on its shoulders quite like Binance, who did everything they could to negotiate the buyout of FTX but failed. In relation to GameFi, Binance has built the BNB Chain and captured almost a third of activity on the market. They have used their status as an industry leader in several important ways.
(Source: Ancient8)
Recently, Binance announced the Game Jam, a GameFi development competition, which will run during February. The competition features big prizes for the team that can deliver the most promising games and also awards individual standout participants with awards such as most valuable builder.
Despite launching in London on January 24th with an in-person networking event, the competition will be fully-remote. The theme for the event will be social games designed to be played with or against other human players. Additionally, over four weeks, BNB Chain will host a series of workshops on game design, art design, and blockchain development.
Binance will also assist good projects via supporting tweets and give priority consideration for grants once the games are officially launched. The ultimate goal is to see more games debut on BNB Chain, fostering healthy competition and encouraging networking to aid blockchain gaming.
The Game Jam announcement comes off the back of the news that BNB Chain would be partnering with industry-leading media outlet GameFi.Org, a deal that will no doubt increase user onboarding and project exposure within the industry. The announcement was made in late December. Binance and GameFi.Org kickstarted their collaboration on GameFi dApp development, technical research, and community growth. The partnership also involves the organization of group gameplay sessions, Web3 discussions, and competitions for both communities.
Another leading Web3 outlet has put itself forward recently to lead the charge in promoting the industry. Cointelegraph has been one of the top Web3 media destinations since the industry’s inception and is now looking to give back to the community through a new Web3 accelerator program, helping blockchain platforms gain exposure.
The program targets a broad range of projects across the Web3 sector, including NFTs and GameFi. More than a dozen companies have signed up. Cointelegraph has now publicly opened the application process.
Unlike many similar initiatives, the accelerator program aids participants in the form of media products. These include advertorial products, individually tailored projects, educational materials, and native content integrations. Cointelegraph will also support projects by introducing them to investors, exchanges, market makers, and technological partners.
Cointelegraph will also leverage its comprehensive partner network to offer marketing strategy support. The accelerator program looks to bring significant, long-lasting brand exposure to participating projects. It will be running anywhere from 9–24 months.
GameFi platforms like Nakamoto Games have also done their part to promote the industry. With an online community of over 400,000 across all social media outlets, they have allowed promising developers to leverage the Nakamoto Games fan base through private token presales at discounted prices.
The initial coin offerings (ICOs) benefit the developer by providing access to a large number of GameFi users while helping the gamer through the discounted acquisition of GameFi tokens. They have recently announced an upcoming ICO for the debuting Web3 MMORPG Outlanders.
Nakamoto Games are also looking to take their ecosystem to multiple chains, an important step many projects take to increase interoperability and adoption and grow the GameFi community. This has become a crucial milestone for top projects in 2022.
(Source: CoinMarketCap)
The persistence of market leaders is driving investment
Q4 of 2022 was slow for investment in the GameFi sector, with a sharp decline in funding compared to the rest of the year. However, the industry has remained resilient, and 2023 has breathed life into the market with some great news. Abu Dhabi-based venture capital fund Venom is allocating $1 billion to invest in Web3, blockchain, and cryptocurrency projects.
(Source: Bitmetis)
Through their partnership with Iceberg Capital, Venom aim to support blockchain startups globally, including GameFi platforms. Iceberg Capital will leverage its network to offer incubation programs and technical, legal, marketing, and regulatory guidance.
The partnership’s primary focus is to accelerate the progression of Web3 and blockchain businesses in early-stage development. The announcement only reinforces the UAE as the blockchain hub of the Middle East. Over 1,500 Web3 businesses and organizations reportedly now operate in the country.
However, Web3 gaming is becoming a global phenomenon. This January, the African GameFi platform Carry1st raised 27 million with help from VC firm BitKraft Ventures and NS Andreessen Horowitz. The mobile games publisher closed its funding round, intending to use the capital for publishing and digital content creation.
Carry1st has stated that a portion of its funding would go toward expanding internal capacity and growing its content portfolio. This included exploring Web3 play-to-earn gaming and the integration of NFTs into the gaming experience. GameFi is spreading worldwide and may emerge as a legitimate way to supplement income in many regions.
UpOnly helps GameFi platforms boost exposure
Growing industries need leaders and established players to help foster community development and consumer awareness. UpOnly does all of this through a sophisticated AI-driven data directory. Thriving projects can list to our audience — an audience of nearly 200,000 across all social media platforms. Once these projects partner with UpOnly, they will get massive exposure to a GameFi audience, be able to host tournaments for their community, and soon can issue coins through an upcoming ICO service.
That’s not all. Our new AI integrations will recommend the project to potential investors who use our platform, and UpOnly will also participate in co-marketing campaigns with developers to promote the project. All the while, investors get great discounts on tokens and actionable insights from our data directory based on cutting–edge AI technology. Everyone needs to do their part to build an industry that they believe in, and UpOnly provides a fertile meeting ground for project growth.
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