Weekly Alpha Gaming Metaverse Expedition (WAGME) #24 — 27 October
Shrapnel raises $20m Series A, Hytopia closes $3m fundraising round and Merit Circle announces its token migration while also launching their UX-focused gaming platform, Beam.
👁️ Highlights at a Glance
🔥 Hot Take:
Hand held PCs are going to start eating into console/PC in a major way. The future belongs to mobile developers who can blend mobile F2P live ops with AAA content for iOS, Android, Linux and Windows. It’s a touch screen landscape world — Gabriel Leydon
🏆 Top 3 of the Week:
Shrapnel raises $20m in its Series A round led by Polychain Capitalwith an early-access release in December with a full launch planned for 2024.
HYTOPIA raises $3m led by Delphi Digital / Delphi Ventures and joined by other phenomenal VCs & angels. More
Merit Circle announced the migration of its MC token to BEAM and began rolling out its gaming platform that aims to bring Web3 gaming technology to the forefront in a player UX-focused way. More
🎨 Mints, Drops & Updates
HELIX Metaverse - Multiplayer Stress test (October 26). More
StrayShot - Open Beta Test (October 27). More
Fableborne - Closed Playtest (Ends October 27). More
The Bornless - Halloween Playtest 1 (October 27-29 & 31). More
Shockwaves - 2nd Closed Alpha Test (October 28). More
Sugartown - Oras Gamma Charge (October 28). More
Last Remains - Equipment NFT Mint (October 28). More
Aavegotchi - Halloween Party (October 28). More
Parallel - Planetfall Public Sale (October 29). More
Impostors - MetaData Refresh (October 31). More
🎮 Gaming Updates
Beam introduces Beam Drive One, which displays all the games and products, transactions, accounts and blocks on the network. More
Champions Ascension’s early access alpha playtest is live featuring taunt emote, premium Gold currency, and tickets for events. More
Cradles recaps last week’s product updates including 70% completion of NFT and contract development, interior missions testing and optimization, and additional vital game design. More
Decentral Games’ DG Weekly #144 covers Alien Invasion, DG & Friends Competition Aftermovie, NFTdraft Competition, and more. More
GUNZ testnet is live, and players can collect their HEX airdrop when they download the GUNZ wallet. More
Heroes of Mavia has been approved for release on the App Store. More
HYTOPIA raises $3m led by Delphi Digital / Delphi Ventures and joined by other phenomenal VCs & angels. More
Illuvium shares their Overworld progress with new features like explored chat SDK, teleportation ability while scanning or extracting, and an option to skip in-game sequences during region travel and heatmap generation. More
Influence teamed up with ArgentHQ to bring a limited edition SPOK (NFT) for Limited Release participants with crewmates on Starknet by Nov. 1st. More
Loot Realms introduced a new look for their game RealmsWorld, as well as an ongoing tournament with $1000 $Lords for grabs. More
Mahjong Meta announces that new cards are coming on October 25. More
Moonfrost's closed alpha playtest attracted over 17,000 sign-ups - wave 2 coming this November. More
Nifty Island introduces the Chibi Digi Starter Pack, a special collaboration between Nifty Island and Limit Break. More
Night Run dials in 7,533 installs on the Epic Game Store, 2,400 players, and 7,460 scores posted on the backend. More
Oh Baby Games dials in 40,000+ races in 3 days for their alpha wave 4. More
Parallel announces that Patch 0.23 release on October 30 will include a new Battle Pass, new Skins, new customization options including Field Backs and Emotes, as well as a new in-game store. More
Phantom Galaxies announced that their upcoming early access will be moved to the new release date of November 15. More
Pixelmon shares details on their upcoming game Kevin the Adventurer ahead of the October 24 launch date. More
Pixels teases a new NFT coming to Ronin with an initial supply of 100, and players have to play to be eligible. More
Rumby Party Global launches for Android & iOS. More
Stella Fantasy introduces new character FLOLEN, a naughty noble girl with a willful and demanding personality. More
Tally Up officially announced its global launch by enabling free, fair and global tournaments around the world. More
The GRAPES announces that their free-to-play game Grape Run is now live with skill based cash tournaments. More
Tides of Fate is the latest major expansion now available in Gods Unchained. More
Today the game hosts their Work In Progress Wednesday #41, where they showed some clips from their third prototype which has all kinds of new gameplay features. More
While Kevin the Adventurer is getting a lot of hype, Chris emphasizes that we should not forget about Pixelmon’s Arena and Hunting Grounds. More
Worldwide Webb Playa playtest is now live, and for one week, landholders, season 1 pass holders and squad up with groups of up to 3. More
ZTX final playtest stats are out racking in 47,000+ unique testers, and 10,000+ assets crafted. More
📚 Deep Dive
Simon’s analysis reveals that since 2010, mobile F2P games depended on the MVP approach to gauge retention. Recently, the trend shifted towards metagame and monetization over core gameplay, largely influenced by revenue-leading Asian studios. Developers now either launch numerous games quickly or spend 2-3 years on a comprehensive title, altering the VC funding landscape for mobile games.
JACL's Q3 analysis shows a 33% drop in Web3 game deals and 18% less funding. Despite this, steady funding suggests selective VC investments. Excluding a $50M Illuminati Cap fund, August saw a 71% funding dip. September's data indicates VCs finalized deals earlier but announced them cautiously.
Apix shares his thoughts on why people are building fully on-chain games, highlighting three main drivers: content, community and economy. Players become both contributors and creators, enhancing the social and economic aspects of the game. Players can also easily produce game modifications and additions, shifting their role from mere players to active contributors and creators, elevating the game's social layer and enriches the in-game economy
Conglomerate, a contributor of TheCoreLoop released Weekly Onchain Gaming Roundup #5 covering the arrival of Dojo v0.3.0, a new game by Paima Studios, Pirate Nation’s Halloween updates, and introduction of UGC in Phi.
Jon Jordan chatted with serial entrepreneur Kevin Chou about Trophy, a gaming identity and rewards platform that aims to distribute 98% of its revenue to players and just went live in India.
Jonah Blake released a pretty comprehensive summary of the various developments happening around the Web3 Gaming space.
FOGDAO’s recent episode interviewed lordOfAFew and Loot Hero where they discussed the potential of on-chain gaming, its associated challenges and Loot Survivor, an on-chain arcade game by Loot Realms on Starknet.
WolvesDAO highlights that 90% of Web3 creators face irrelevance as Web2 creators bring their substantial, loyal audiences. The challenge for Web3 creators lies in user acquisition and a tendency to mirror traditional gaming content without harnessing Web3's unique features. For sustained relevance, they should build strong game ties, carve out niches, ensure quality, capitalize on first-mover benefits, and cultivate a devoted following.
Innovators: Projects bringing something new or disrupting the norm
Trophy — Web3 Gaming Identity and Rewards App. More
Underworlds — Fully onchain generative 3D skin-crawler built during Dojo Starknet Game Jam by EndlessCrawler and funDAOMental where users navigate a tar-drenched dungeon, chased by the eerie Slenderduck and its offspring while your light and sanity dwindle. More
Game Makers: New studios, developers or titles entering the space
Subnation — Gaming and Web3 venture studio creating digital worlds and innovating physical experiences. More
Brinkbound Games — PC and console-based casual game developer creating a multiplayer shooter game. More
Tech Corner: Focus on infrastructure tools and platforms
AW Changelog — Fully on-chain game alfa, game review (every week), infrastructure testing and thoughts written by FOCG builders. More
🧠 Closing Thoughts
"A lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep."
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