Tag: Gaming

Hong Kong – Star Atlas, a next-gen metaverse with triple-a game design and Unreal Engine 5 graphics built on the Solana blockchain, and The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming metaverse and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, today announced a partnership that aims to revolutionize gaming interoperability between the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. The relationship between the two metaverse environments launches with the Star Atlas VoxEdit contest which opens for submissions from 2 May until 15 May. 

The Star Atlas VoxEdit Contest gives players the opportunity to act as an envoy from The Sandbox with the task of visiting one of the three main galactic factions in the Star Atlas metaverse – the ONI, Ustur, and MUD. Envoys are then tasked with creating a report on what they find by designing a portrait of one of the faction’s inhabitants using The Sandbox’s free VoxEdit software. 

Winners will be voted on by the teams of both The Sandbox and Star Atlas with the results being announced on June 11. The top four winners will split 50,000 in SAND, The Sandbox’s in-game currency, and a fleet of coveted Star Atlas spaceship NFTs. 

The VoxEdit Contest is also joined by BLOND:ISH, the renowned producer, DJ, and sustainability activist, who has an existing presence in both metaverse ecosystems. Envoys exploring the Star Atlas metaverse are invited to get inspired by the cosmic sounds and create a headpiece for an intergalactic Star Atlas faction member by designing it with VoxEdit. The entry that can best immerse and entertain a space traveller will be selected by BLOND:ISH and receive lustrous Star Atlas spaceships when the Contest concludes on June 11. 

“We’re excited to announce the first of many cross-platform integrations, connecting the ecosystems of Star Atlas and The Sandbox,” said Michael Wagner, co-founder and CEO of ATMTA, Inc., the principal development studio of Star Atlas. 

“We share ambitious goals with respect to our developments within the broader metaverse, and we see this relationship as a pivotal moment to demonstrate the potential of interoperability of both game environments and blockchain protocols. The bridges we build today will serve as infrastructure of the future in seamless exploration of the infinite experiences digital world builders will create in the years to follow,” added Wagner. 

Star Atlas is a next-gen metaverse that looks to take the best of blockchain technology and real-time graphics technology to build an innovative gaming experience. Since last year, the company has brought many unique NFT products to market, including playable spaceships, that have allowed Star Atlas to generate nearly $200 million in revenue to date. 

As the metaverse’s leading decentralized gaming virtual world, The Sandbox fully embraces the idea of the metaverse as a continuous shared digital space where worlds and brands collide to make magic and create real utility and economies. StarAtlas joins over 200 existing partnerships including Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Gucci, Warner Music Group, Ledger, HSBC, and Ubisoft, among others. 

“We are proud to be partnering with Star Atlas and are excited to develop new projects with the franchise,” said Sebastien Borget, COO of The Sandbox. 

“This contest is the beginning of a new bridge linking metaverses to each other, with the goal to bring more content and cross-platform integration to both of our audiences. We can’t wait to see the amazing assets that our communities will create!” added Borget. 

Meanwhile, BLOND:ISH commented, “The coming together of metaverse ecosystems opens up a new world of possibilities for artistic expression. This innovative and collaborative Star Atlas and The Sandbox partnership is exactly what web3 is about and has the potential to create fully sustainable NFT future experiences while rallying the worldwide community around a message of creativity, curiosity and boldness to dream of what we might become. I am thrilled to activate my entire community and see what fantastic creations this contest will bring. LFG!” 

BLOND:ISH is a Canadian producer, and DJ solo act, and has collaborated with Star Atlas on augmented reality NFT experiences as well as with The Sandbox on bringing her brand to the metaverse. Her music collaboration acts include Depeche Mode, Pete Tong, and playing at festivals such as Coachella, Burning Man, and Ultra Music Festival.

Star Atlas shared that for 2022, it will be launching several major feature releases including a web-based mini-game and a full production release known as the Volant Studio Showroom, which will present cinematic quality video game visuals using Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite technology. 

Hanoi, Vietnam – MetaBomb, a play-to-earn game, is launching its IDO in April and dropping a few bombs on the GameFi market in Q2 of 2022. 

According to Binance Academy, IDO is a crypto token offering run on a Decentralized Exchange (DEX). Liquidity pools (LP) play an essential role in IDO’s by creating liquidity post-sale. A typical IDO lets users lock funds in exchange for new tokens during the token generation event. 

MetaBomb is coming closer to the final production stage and with the ideas of GameFi 2.0 in mind, this play to earn game will be the place where players can be immersed in the true potential of a metaverse.

Stepping into the GameFi market in its infancy, MetaBomb Founder Cuong Vu has experienced all its ups and downs. “It is the blooming time of GameFi and blockchain when several big names enter this space.” said Cuong Vu, CEO of MetaBomb.

MTB token is the main in-game currency. It will be used to buy Hero Box, fusion and upgrade Hero level, mainly in the first phase. The player’s income level will change naturally which requires the player to continuously reinvest in the game if they want to keep the income steady.

“The way it operates will unfold soon and promises to amaze many players,” said Vu.

He supplemented that the in-game activities and upgrading systems are tools to ensure steady funding to a balanced and healthy game economy, assuring the sustainable development of the project.

According to MetaBomb, they are currently developing and soon to launch an NFT system that has the ability to store values of assets and resist inflation just like ‘gold’ in the real world. 

The game is designed with a variety of game modes, many types of fee arising from game activities and upgrading items that will help keep the player’s pool reward stable and healthy.

Southeast Asia and South America are the go-to-markets for MetaBomb to acquire established play-to-earn game lovers. MetaBomb would later expand its marketing activities to North America, Europe, and East Asia.

The game’s Testnet version will be released on the BNB chain in April 2022.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Smartphone brand vivo in Malaysia has recently announced a special partnership with premiere gaming brands Razer and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)  as they launch a brand-new smartphone series, vivo T1 series, with gaming at its heart.  

The tech company shared that the series model will be available in two colours, Turbo Black and Turbo Cyan. “Get. Set. Turbo!” is the official slogan accompanying the new T1 series, which conveys vivo Malaysia’s commitment to offering its gaming series to Malaysia soon. 

According to vivo, the partnership with Razer aims to deliver an ‘elevated gaming experience’  on a smartphone, while the tie-up with PUBG is slated to organise an upcoming campaign for Malaysians. 

Paris, France – Video game developer Riot Games, known for its online game ‘League of Legends’ has announced an equity investment to animation studio Fortiche Production, who animated the animated series ‘Arcane’, which is based on the lore of League of Legends.

Through the equity investment, Riot Games now holds a significant non-controlling stake in Fortiche. Brian Wright, chief content officer at Riot Games and Brendan Mulligan, director of corporate development at Riot Games have also joined Fortiche’s board of directors.

Riot Games and Fortiche have long worked together in creating media projects, the first one being for the music video of ‘Get Jinxed’ to promote the character Jinx on League of Legends. Other collaborations included music videos ‘WARRIORS’ and ‘Enemy’, both of which are sung by American band Imagine Dragons. Furthermore, the two companies have also worked together in music videos for ‘Seconds’, ‘RISE’, and ‘POP/STARS’, which is performed by their virtual band K/DA.

Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, said, “Fortiche has been an integral partner for a long time, but this agreement ensures we’ll be working closely for decades to come. We hold a high bar for everyone we work with and insist they understand players deeply and focus on them relentlessly, and from day one, Fortiche has exemplified player experience first.” 

He added, “In working with Fortiche, we collaborate to push the boundaries of what’s possible and raise expectations for how games can be represented in the media. As proud as we are of Arcane, we know the best is yet to come.”

Meanwhile, Pascal Charrue, Jérôme Combe, and Arnaud Delord, co-founders of Fortiche, commented, “The various collaborations with Riot Games, and especially Arcane, have made Fortiche Production a new major player on the international animation scene. Riot Games, by trusting us, has given us the means to achieve our common ambitions and has shown that it is possible to offer new content that can reach a large audience. In 2023, we will celebrate ten years of collaboration: there is no better way to symbolise the trust and ambitions of our two companies than this association.”

Sydney, Australia – Gametech and gaming marketing company Livewire has expanded its exclusive partnership with in-game advertising platform Anzu to help more APAC advertisers reach players within some of the most popular AAA console titles via non-disruptive in-game ads.

The partnership between Livewire and Anzu first began in January when the two companies partnered to help APAC advertisers reach players in Roblox.

Anzu is the sole official licensed provider for Xbox and their offering includes AAA console titles from leading game studios, including Ubisoft and Saber Interactive, who recently announced a partnership with Anzu to bring in-game ads into their highly anticipated AAA racer Dakar Desert Rally at launch.

Many more AAA titles are also on the way, which adds to Livewire’s growing suite of gaming solutions including the recent launch of a social gaming offering and the Livewire Creative Studios.

Furthermore, advertisers working with Anzu and Livewire benefit from advanced gaming marketing and gametech solutions, including research, gaming strategies, brand lift measurement, audience verification, data enrichment, and fraud detection in partnership with industry leaders such as Moat, Comscore, Kantar, and Nielsen.

Livewire co-founders Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, said, “Launching in-game ads within premium AAA console titles is a significant milestone for gametech. Console games boast large durational play time, high attention rates, and are often played on large screens. Brands and agencies can now reach players within this premium environment via in-game ads that add to the gaming experience.” 

Meanwhile, Itamar Benedy, co-founder and CEO at Anzu, commented, “We are very excited to bring our premium AAA console inventory to more advertisers in APAC through this extended partnership with Livewire. We have already seen huge success working together with Roblox. I’m looking forward to extending this partnership and success to the console space, which is becoming an increasingly important media channel for advertisers looking to connect with their audience in an authentic and engaging way.” 

The expanded partnership taps on the 1.4b gamers in APAC, which is expected to grow to 1.8b by 2024, where advertisers running their campaigns in premium titles have a unique opportunity to place themselves in front of this large and diverse audience. With the APAC games market also estimated to grow by over 10% annually with a total market cap of $708.3 billion by 2026, this lucrative region has plenty of demand up for grabs.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Axiata’s fintech arm Boost has launched a one-stop storefront solution for Malaysian gamers called ‘Game Connect’ through its regional cross-border payment and customer growth platform provider subsidiary Boost Connect.

Boost Connect’s innovative storefront solution caters to its clients’ and partners’ needs to meet the rapid growth in consumer demand for digital content across gaming and entertainment. It also allows clients and partners to quickly ramp up their offerings to enrich their end-users’ digital lifestyle demands while driving more traffic to their services, achieving better customer retention, and expanding their revenue streams.

The storefront was developed for Boost Life, Malaysia’s consumer eWallet and digital lifestyle payments platform. This announcement also follows Boost’s launch last year of a similar Storefront for Cambodian telecommunications giant Smart to tap into the game voucher market there.

‘Game Connect’ will provide gamers with an end-to-end solution for their gaming needs. The new storefront currently allows for the discovery and seamless purchase of gamers’ favourite game reloads and vouchers. As a start, Game Connect features 63 titles in the store including must-have mobile titles like Mobile Legends, Genshin Impact, PUBG, and Roblox. Also available are vouchers for stores including Playstation, Unipin, Razer, Google Play, Garena, and Steam, as well as Nintendo, and Amazon.

Sheyantha Abeykoon, Boost’s CEO, shared that their aim is to create an inclusive digital ecosystem with accessible solutions that cater to the digital lifestyle of their customers. 

“Game Connect is part of our efforts to offer gamers a one-stop solution and easy access to purchase game credits, vouchers and more through one platform,” said Abeykoon.

Meanwhile, Raja Mansukhani, Boost Connect’s CEO, commented that they are excited about this launch, Game Connect offers Boost Life the opportunity to enhance its product value proposition, and at the same time, it provides the esports and gaming community in Malaysia a better and more convenient customer experience and meets the ever-increasing demand for gamers. 

“This is our second storefront solution deployment within the region and there’s an increasing demand for proactive product propositions like these across our client base,” said Mansukhani.

Boost said that game pass subscription, gaming devices and peripherals, entry passes to gaming tournaments, as well as a ‘Pay Later’ feature for games and devices will be made available through 2022. More gaming providers and partners will also be added in the near future. Boost Game Connect can be accessed via both the Boost app and a dedicated storefront website.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital, a subsidiary of Indonesian telco Telkomsel has announced a joint venture with Aplikasi Multimedia Anak Bangsa (AMAB), a subsidiary of GoTo. The venture, called Majamojo, will build on the ongoing collaboration between the two local champions, which has already seen the introduction of a number of well-received mobile game promotions in Indonesia.

Majamojo will focus on mobile game development in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It will look to form partnerships with third-party game developers, while leveraging Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital and GoTo’s strengths, including their digital capabilities, technology assets, and wide-reaching ecosystems.

This is in part of the joint venture’s objective of being the largest gaming publisher in Indonesia, as well as expected to strengthen Indonesia’s gaming industry, and encourage the development of more homegrown digital talent. 

Its efforts will also support Indonesia’s digital transformation and bring the benefits of the digital economy to more people throughout the country.

Andi Kristianto, CEO at Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital, said that they are optimistic about the role Majamojo can play, contributing to the development of the gaming industry and the digital ecosystem in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

“Majamojo further strengthens Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital’s business, following the incorporation of PT Kuncie Pintar Nusantara (Kuncie) and PT Fita Sehat Nusantara (Fita) into its portfolio. Our goal is to maximise the advantages of Telkomsel’s assets and capabilities to grow Majamojo’s position in the gaming ecosystem, complementing what Dunia Games has covered so far,” Kristianto said.

Meanwhile, Reggy Susanto, head of strategic partnerships at GoTo, commented that by expanding their collaboration with Telkomsel, they will make it even easier for everyone to access digital products and services from GoTo and Telkomsel, so that they can better meet the needs of the growing mobile-first market in Indonesia.

Telkomsel Ekosistem Digital will be the majority shareholder of Mamamojo, with the remaining shares held by AMAB. To accelerate Majamojo’s business strategy, Jungwon Hahn will lead the joint venture as president director and M. Dody Darmawan as finance director.

Hahn explained, “I am excited to lead Mamamojo, which will focus on publishing games and developing the gaming industry locally and regionally. Our mission is to serve gamers with dedication and become a force to be reckoned with in Southeast Asia. We also aim for Majamojo to become a leading company in Indonesia that will strengthen the gaming ecosystem in Indonesia and beyond.”

Singapore – BuzzAR, the first woman-led metaverse startup in Southeast Asia, has recently raised US$3.8m in funding in a bid to create a more inclusive metaverse through family-friendly games, virtual reality (VR) and GameFi projects.

Said funding was led by venture ecosystem F50 Elevate in Texas, USA, regional venture capitals, angel investors including former Marina Bay Sands executive Ian Wilson, IP & Brand Protection expert, Peter Hlavnicka, former Google executive, among others.

BuzzAR’s ambition is to scale the metaverse business globally, after gaining accelerated growth in Southeast Asia, with A-list venues signing multi-year contracts, featuring the most exquisite venues to the global audience.

For Bell Beh, co-founder and CEO at BuzzAR, said that their startup is poised to be the first SEA metaverse startup that have fully scaled the enablers of the metaverse, including virtual reality and Avatar engine.

“In 2022, BuzzAR is launching the last 2 enablers, which are Web3 games and Social Networking (2022). The company is launching 3 GameFi projects, riding on BuzzAR’s HappyToon avatar engine, where 2 million avatars have been generated by users from 163 countries. There are investors in the pipeline to raise its first 8 figures funding to scale the vision of building an inclusive metaverse,” Beh stated.

Meanwhile, BuzzAR’s Co-Founder and CTO, Ken Lim, has published 20 games and amassed 20 million players without VC funding. Now, he joins BuzzAR with all the profitable business assets from Play Spirit Games, including The Cooking Game VR.

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising company Anzu has secured rights from game developer Saber Interactive to be its in-game adtech provider for its racer game title ‘Dakar Desert Rally’. The secured rights comes after the two companies partnered up in November 2021 to bring blended in-game advertising to Saber Interactive’s upcoming game titles.

Anzu is helping the team replicate that; advertisers will be able to run their banner and video ads within Anzu’s in-game ad placements, which will take the form of 3D objects like roadside billboards and banners. They will also be able to take advantage of a variety of custom integration options, including custom vehicles that can be painted with brand colours, logos, and even have the driver wear a custom uniform. 

In addition, there are also options for roadside flags that can be branded with a product logo and different colours, and garage takeovers, where brands can add custom wall banners and items to decorate the building.

Alex Yerukhimovich, VP for games at Anzu, said, “We’ve been working closely with Saber Interactive to ensure our ad placements are perfectly positioned to enhance both the player and advertising experience. This is a great opportunity for advertisers to showcase their campaigns in a visually stunning AAA title, and for players to experience races with real ads that are relevant to the setting alongside the track. Just like they would expect to see if they were watching a real race, making the experience all the more authentic.”

He added, “More and more advertisers are making in-game advertising a larger part of their digital ad strategies. As the anticipation continues to grow around this title, we’re looking forward to bringing many into the Dakar experience to reach its millions of diverse and dedicated fans who stretch across the entire globe.”

Meanwhile, Todd Hollenshead, head of publishing at Saber Interactive, commented, “Our goal is to bring Dakar to life in a realistic and fun way, and it’s been great to see that passion mirrored by the talented team at Anzu through their industry-leading technology and expertise. We’re working closely together to ensure these ads are implemented in a way that is immersive and serve to help faithfully recreate the real-life rally experience.”

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising platform Anzu and video gaming giant Ubisoft have extended their partnership following the success of dynamic ads being integrated to Ubisoft’s games, namely racing title Trackmania and sandbox MMO Growtopia.

The in-game advertising integration by Ubisoft started out in 2021, which blended into the gaming environment, appearing on 3D objects like roadside billboards and banners. Since then, Anzu has brought several big-name brands into the titles, including Samsung, Microsoft, American Eagle, and Vodafone.

Said integration premiered as part of the DIGI1 by Gamevention online gaming convention. During a 30-minute live stream, four streamers participated in the first-ever worldwide multiplayer streaming session of the yet-to-be-released, new version of Trackmania, complete with the blended in-game Vodafone banner ads powered by Anzu technology.

Itamar Benedy, CEO at Anzu, said that they are thrilled about extending their partnership, adding that they look forward to bringing their blended in-game ads to more of Ubisoft’s premium titles.

“We’ve been on an incredible journey with Ubisoft. They were one of the first big studios to work with us on our PC offering after identifying an opportunity to offer Trackmania fans a popular title, with in-game ads that not only compliment the gameplay but make it more realistic,” Benedy said.

Anzu has worked with several entities in the past year to extend their in-game advertising offering, including Saber Interactive, Roblox, and Eskimi.