🎮 Metaproof Gaming

Hey frens, this is Sophia from 🎮 Metaproof Gaming, the weekly newsletter where we keep you informed on how the metaverse and web3 are changing the gaming industry.

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💌 A quick thanks to our friends…

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📲 By the numbers

• DappRadar reported that there are currently 1.13 million unique active wallets connected to game DAPPs across 48 different blockchains on a daily basis, representing an 85% increase from the previous year. The number of on-chain game transactions also saw a significant increase as they reached 7.4 billion, reflecting a 37% growth from the previous year and a staggering 3,260% increase since 2020. (Source)

📫 News & trends

🎾 Gamers, set, match: Australian Open’s Roblox experience triples real-world attendance record in less than a week

The Australian Open, only days away, has been rocking the hugely popular Roblox platform as it launched AO Adventure, offering players the chance to explore a virtual playground modeled on the tournament’s Melbourne home ground.

AO Adventure features tennis courts, obstacle courses, and branded stalls, marking Tennis Australia’s latest venture in its growing stable of web3 and metaverse-adjacent projects. Players are welcomed by “humanoid Nick,” a digital avatar of Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, for a chance to interact with him.

Roblox players have already visited the Australian Open’s in-game experience more than 2.4 million times since its launch, the gaming platform stated, tripling recent real-world attendance numbers as Tennis Australia attempts to turn online gamers into pass-buying fans. In less than a week, the experience has amassed far more visits than the 2019 Australian Open, the last tournament unaffected by COVID-19 restrictions, which drew a record 796,000 fans over its duration.

⚠️ Prepare for trouble! Fake Pokémon NFT game wants your private info

Security researchers at ASEC (via Bleeping Computer) have sounded the alarm on two different Pokémon-themed websites that invite users to download “.exe” files for a fake digital version of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, intended to seize control of the user’s computer and steal their private data. The fake game, called Pokémon Card Game, is different from the official Pokémon Trading Card Game in that it’s not actually a game; it’s malware disguised as a Pokémon-themed NFT game that prompts users to click a compromising link that will immediately install remote control software on the infected computers. This allows hackers to gain access to private user data and open the computer up to future malicious cybersecurity attacks. The social engineering tactic even went so far as to create what could qualify as a “pretty convincing” fake website, along with a fake marketplace where one can “claim” and “mint” Pokémon Card NFTs – again, with no actual Pokémon NFTs.

🚀 Cometh battle partners with Ledger Live to set a new standard in web3 gaming

French blockchain gaming studio Cometh has announced the integration of Cometh Battle, its blockchain free-to-play tactical card game, within global digital asset and web3 platform Ledger. The integration will happen via Ledger Live, a desktop and mobile app to securely manage digital assets. Cometh Battle, the first blockchain game on Ledger Live, is a pixel art game launched in open beta in May 2022. It allows players to play, earn, own, collect, trade and even rent their NFT spaceships and cards. Players start with a starter spaceship and a free deck of 40 cards that they can strengthen as they progress through the game by crafting and trading new cards. The Ledger Live integration will foster an even better and more secure experience for both casual and advanced gamers, according to its press release.

🤩 Metaoasis has joined the metaverse with an interactive VR field

Game publishing platform MetaOasis has announced on Twitter that it has joined the metaverse with an interactive VR field. The web3 platform seeks to empower new web3 games and aids developers in easily building games in web3. Details remain sparse, but MetaOasis is clear in its intent to lower the barriers for web2 users to jump into the web3 world, which it says should “not be a carnival for a few people … We must think about how to make the traditional users see and accept the revolution brought by web3. Reduce their learning costs, solve their use confusion, and finally build a bridge across web2 and web3.”

🐵 Bored Ape flexes that $450M it raised for its metaverse empire with poop game

Bored Ape Yacht Club’s monkey poop game, Dookey Dash, is an upcoming game where players traverse a sewer system in pursuit of a treasure box key that a monkey shat out of his ass. The genre of Dookey, which will be the first game that BAYC launches as part of its $450M metaverse initiative, became popular after the mainstream success of Temple Run, a series that crossed a billion downloads on mobile platforms back in 2014.

Players need a “Sewer Pass” NFT to play, which can only be obtained by those who own a BAYC or Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT or through buying one from someone else who has the Sewer Pass, according to the developer Yuga Labs’ website. Players accumulate points by surviving the run, collecting “fragments,” and dodging obstacles. Not unlike its predecessor Temple Run, Dookey features microtransactions: players can buy boosters with cryptocurrency.

Read on for more of this Kotaku review, which minces no words: “Dookey Dash asks you to humiliate yourself for the opportunity to upgrade your NFTs.”

🤝 mm2 partners with The Sandbox to create content in the metaverse

Web3 company and mm2 Entertainment subsidiary Metaviva has tied up with The Sandbox to build a virtual playground in the latter’s gaming metaverse. The virtual playground will focus on content creation and development for mm2’s entertainment brands, part of which is Metaviva taking ownership of a 6x6 plot of land within The Sandbox to offer players interactive experiences. Some examples are extensions of real-world content including films, drama series, sports, and music, and landowners within the platform are able to host contests and events. In addition, players will be able to join a virtual film set and help create stories based on mm2’s existing IP, potentially interacting with digital characters or non-player characters (NPCs) or helping create plotlines and watch the characters play out their preferred script.

🏁 Drone Racing League teases high octane metaverse game

Project Drone Galaxy from the Drone Racing League has emerged as one of the most anticipated games in the pipeline. Due to debut on Agroland later in 2023, its first trailer has officially been released, showing players able to build their own drones and then compete for glory on the race track. The Drone Racing League is believed to take the already popular drone racing space to the next level, with expectations of topnotch and hyperrealistic visuals that will make the experience even more immersive. The trailer also shows users exploring the metaverse as their chosen avatars, navigating a colorful landscape full of twists and turns. Some obstacles to hurdle include giant fan blades and even other players’ weapons.

📈 The serious games market is projecting significant growth

The serious games market is expected to grow from $6.73B in 2021 to $17.39B in 2026, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6%. This market, focused on the sales of serious games products and services used to promote learning, has seen projects that mix entertainment and education, with major players that include BreakAway Ltd, Designing Digitally Inc, and Triseum LLC. While platforms such as PC and consoles promote growth, the smartphone remains most dominant. End users of serious games include the education, healthcare, media, and even aerospace sectors, with activities intended to be engaging and immersive while promoting both learning and behavioral change. Also helping drive the market’s growth is virtual reality technology, fostering an entertaining environment to facilitate learning.

🤖 Sinverse’s AI integration: A revolutionary step forward in the metaverse and web3 gaming

Decentralized metaverse platform SinVerse has claimed to be the first metaverse to fully implement AI technology to pave the way for a “truly immersive and dynamic virtual experience.” Its goal, according to a press release, is to make its native token SIN more valuable and useful for the community by providing more utilities and use cases for it. One of the key features of SinVerse's AI integration is combating cheating in the platform's games, where AI-powered NPCs can detect and prevent cheating, notably in the popular SinVerse game "GTA on the blockchain.” The company also registered the SinVerse.AI domain name, suggesting future partnerships coming in the AI space.

🇰🇷 Crypto in South Korea – ‘Metaverse Seoul’, NFT gaming ban and STO launch

While positioning itself at the forefront of blockchain adoption, South Korea appears to stay on top of cryptocurrency regulation, with a local court ruling against the release of a blockchain-based P2E game after determining in-game items and NFTs promote speculation. South Korean game developer SkyPeople, the studio behind the NFT game Five Star, filed an appeal to the earlier decision, arguing that the characters created are not rewards but records of ownership. The Seoul Administrative Court disagreed with the thinking and rejected the appeal not to process the age rating for Five Star. In order to be released to the public, all video games must receive an age rating from the Game Rating Administration Committee. The Game Ratings Administration also previously banned games involving crypto or NFTs, citing a local law that prohibits firms from promoting speculative behavior to players through cashable prizes.

🏟️ ESPL is embracing web3 gaming with ESPL Arena

Esports gaming platform ESPL has revealed the launch of ESPL Arena, its new web3 gaming platform. ESPL Arena will enable gamers to compete in tournaments and leagues as well as earn rewards by playing their favorite esport games. The platform also promises to deliver the ultimate gaming experience, with features including an advanced matchmaking system, in-game chat, and an intelligent analytics system. ESPL Arena also introduced a unique token system to allow gamers to earn points and rewards by playing in tournaments and leagues.

🍻 PlaceWar announces partnership with Cheersland

PlaceWar has disclosed its partnership with Cheersland, a platform that allows for the monetization of gaming experiences and social networks through its scalable GameFi Metaverse Aggregator. PlaceWar is a decentralized, P2E strategy game built on multiple blockchain platforms and features engaging artillery gameplay, which enables players to shape and influence the game world through building, combat, and forming alliances. Cheersland, operating on a Game-as-a-Service model combining play-to-earn and build-to-earn, offers a range of products such as Gamified Launchpad, Multi-game Universe, Multi-asset Staking Platform, and NFT Market. It also uses an invitation mechanism to attract new users and create a diverse GameFi ecosystem.

👨‍💻 GameFi Dev Competition: Game Jam is being offered by BNB Chain

Blockchain BNB Chain has announced a four-week gaming developer competition, kicking off with an in-person event in London on January 24 and holding a fully remote competition. The competition called Game Jam Showdown will run from February 1 to 28 and will focus on the theme of social games. Winners will be awarded prizes such as admission to the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) VI, tweets from BNB Chain, and priority consideration for grants. With the aim of launching games on BNB Chain or ZK, BNB Chain said gaming will be a major catalyst in the crypto industry in 2023, with Game Jam positioned to foster healthy competition and networking in the space.

🗓️ W3Summit 2023

The W3Summit 2023 will feature leading thinkers, disrupters, and change-makers who will provide insights into the future of web3 and the technologies that will shape it. The conference will provide an opportunity for attendees to explore web3’s potential and engage with key players in the industry, to collaborate and shape the narrative of the ecosystem. Gaming - A New Horizon is one of the conference highlights, tackling gaming and its entry into web3 and the metaverse. The conference will be held on March 13-14, 2023 at Hotel Hilton, Bengaluru, India. Register here to be part of the event. 

💸 Finance buzz

• South Korean gaming firm Neowiz successfully raised $12M in funding for Intella X, its web3 gaming platform. The platform plans to launch on Polygon, a prominent Ethereum Layer-2 scaling platform. (Source)

• Mobile games publisher Carry1st secured $27M in funding to develop its publishing and digital content creation platform in Africa, an area that investors believe has high potential for web3 adoption. (Source)

🗣️ Quote of the week

All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

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If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse.

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