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Animoca Capital, Stripe Taking Cryptocurrencies, Music Industry & Party-to-Earn, And More Web 3.0!

Animoca Capital, Stripe Taking Cryptocurrencies, Music Industry & Party-to-Earn, And More Web 3.0!

A lot has happened lately in Web 3.0, which shows progress and intent as well as growth after the FTX incident. With 2022 drawing to a close, several games are coming up with updates and launches to make your holidays worthwhile. We will discuss these updates and launches for games like Mojo Meele, Cryowar, Colonize Mars, and Treeverse. Also, War Park is ready to come forward with its first community preview, and Mist is going for its pre-alpha test.

On the business side of the Web 3.0 industry, we have Animoca Brands launching Animoca Capital. Moreover, Swords of Blood landed hefty funding, Splinterlands thought outside the box, the multi-billion dollar music industry embraced Web 3.0 as in something like Party-To-Earn, Play-to-Earn games changed dynamics, Fenix Games raised $150 million, and Stripe took cryptocurrencies on board. 9GAG and their metaverse, and Battle of Guardians.

We have all of the latest updates for you in one place; stay up to date and read the full stories below to find out what’s new in the crypto industry.

Animoca Brands Sets Up Animoca Capital

Animoca Brands has set up a $2 billion fund at Animoca Capital. Animoca Brands is a huge name in the gaming industry and acts as a gaming investment firm in Web 3.0. Some of the Web 3.0 games with Animoca Brands’ investment are The Sandbox, Alien Worlds, Axie Infinity, and Decentraland. Its newest venture, Animoca Capital, is a metaverse fund that will invest in metaverse projects starting in 2023. So, we may expect growth in metaverse projects, especially in Asia, next year.

Stripe takes Cryptocurrencies on Board

Next, we have Stripe, a famous global online payment processing company that takes cryptocurrencies on board by introducing a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp. By putting out a widget that can be directly embedded on different Defi platforms, the company will make it possible for its customers to exchange USD for cryptocurrencies. This will make Defi more accessible and help it reach Web 2.0 users, which is especially important now that the centralized Defi exchange, FTX, has shut down.

Nowadays, a common way to on-ramp fiat to crypto is to buy cryptocurrency from centralized exchanges like Kraken, Binance, and Coinbase and then transfer it to a third-party wallet. This method has failed to impress mainstream users so far. Also, developers have to deal with fraud and the need to follow complicated KYC requirements. This is where Stripe comes in and offers solutions to tasks related to KYC, payments, fraud, and compliance. Stripe’s services will start in the US initially and gradually move to other countries.

Electronic Music Welcomes Party-to-Earn

The electronic music industry is about to get a restoration like never before. There is a blockchain crypto project designed specifically for clubbers, festival goers, and electronic music fans. The project is known as Kulbcoin, and it is one of a kind in the crypto industry as well as the electronic music industry. It wants to make a cryptocurrency that everyone in the electronic music world can use. The cryptocurrency will help fans earn rewards like VIP access to events, meet and greets with famous DJs and music artists, and more.

Klubcoin will employ a new business model called Party to Earn. This model, like the play to earn model for games, will aid in the decentralization of music and festival events. Klubcoin will help bring down exorbitant entry barriers like sold-out, costly tickets. Take, for example, the recent Tomorrowland 2022 music festival. The base ticket for Tomorrowland 2022 was $280, and the same goes for other festivals and concerts. This practice destroyed the spirit and roots of electronic music, which people of all ages and groups gather to enjoy.

So, Klubcoin steps in to even the playing field by letting fans buy tickets to events that are sold out at reasonable prices. It will also give discounts on food and drinks and give people access to Klubcoin parties and meetups. Klubcoin also plans to bring fans, creators, and artists onto the same platform. This will give people who make music a chance to reach more people and connect directly with their fans.

Play to Earn Games Recent Updates and Launches

Swords of Blood, a one-of-a-kind, fast-paced hack-and-slash crypto game, received $1.6 million in funding. The MMORPG blockchain NFT game is a free-to-play game with AAA elements running on the Polygon network. Check out the game’s review here.

Splinterlands’ in-game market gets a new update that lets players trade things other than cards. This is a welcome change. This will help the non-card market flourish; these items may include totems, titles, packs, land plot claims, and more.

As for other games, we have “Colonize Mars” planning to launch its closed beta sometime next week. The closed beta will give players an early look at how the game works and let them give feedback to the developers. Moreover, the closed beta will offer a first look at the game, where building, maintaining, and running a colony on Mars will come into effect. The game’s closed beta will continue until the first quarter of 2023.

We also have Mist moving forward with its game and opening the next phase of its pre-alpha. This stage is only available to players who have Tier 3+ items or a large number of MIST tokens. So, if you don’t have game NFTs or tokens, then you shall wait a little bit longer.

Another game going for a test run is War Park, a MOBA based on tanks like Spider Tanks. The developers decide to run a simulation test between the 16th and 18th of December. War Park announces a playtest for its community, and everyone can take part in it. The game will let you feel the nostalgia of WWI and WWII as it uses historical tanks instead of futuristic ones.

The last game is Farming Tales, which has a new update that adds a new town to the metaverse called New Waxchester. And if you are into Cryowar, then register for its open beta access and experience intense PvP and PvE battles.

As for some other news from this past week:

“Battle of Guardians“: A PvP Fighting Blockchain NFT Game that Will Break the Fighting Game Genre. Battle of Guardians uses the Unreal Engine and is powered by Solana Network. This game is a treat for fighting genre gamers who play games like Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and more. However, the catch here is that “Battle of Guardians” offers several rewards to its players that have real-world value. So, the grinding and practicing in Battle of Guardians are worthwhile. Moreover, players engage in multi-dimensional, multi-realm battles in an expansive open world.

“9GAG” embraces Web3 and announces Memeland, an upcoming metaverse project. A new metaverse project is officially on the cards, and a renowned team is ready to take the leap. We all may have come across or known 9GAG at some point in our lives. For those of you who don’t know 9GAG, it is a social platform where people share funny stuff in the form of memes and get upvotes from the community. The platform was started way back in 2008 and now enjoys an audience of more than 200 million. This popular social platform is known for meme creation, meme sharing, and, most importantly, making people laugh. The same team, with millions of viewers, is now launching its own metaverse project, the Memeland. Memeland is a web-focused venture studio. The mantra, however, remains the same: connect the creators and the community with the addition of NFTs and MEME.

Web3 gaming keeps getting better because new projects keep getting money and investmentsFenix Games has raised $150 million to start a new blockchain game publisher that will be different from the others. The company plans to launch a publisher as well as a platform for blockchain games that will help these games hit the market. Fenix Games plans to invest in, buy, and publish blockchain games that already exist and those that will be made in the future.

Animoca Brands acquires Power Rangers developer nWay

Animoca Brands – The Full Story

There is always a handful who bear the torch and lead the way in uncharted lands. Animoca Brands is one of those beacons in Web3, digital entertainment, video games, NFT, and the blockchain technology that is leading by example. Most of us who are familiar with games are already aware of this rising video game giant. However, if someone isn’t then delve right with us into the story of Animoca Brands and its fairy tale success.

Animoca Brands Suffers Ups and Downs Along the Way

Animoca Brands, like many other gaming companies, took off on conventional gaming focusing on mobile platforms. It was one of the biggest and leading mobile gaming companies in Asia until a tragedy struck in 2012. The company had a solid fanbase for its games with more than 40 million downloads on Apple’s App Store. They were sailing smoothly with annual revenue of over $20 million. However, Apple’s decision to deplatform Animoca due to the cross-promotion of its apps had a severe impact.

Fate Takes Auspicious Turn for Animoca

The fate took a turn for good after a couple of years in 2017 when Animoca Brands got into blockchain. Their very first venture was in a cute little meek blockchain and NFT gameCryptoKitties. The company’s decision to acquire CryptoKitties’ developers Fuel Powered and Axiom Zen was spot on. The game wasn’t supposed to be a huge hit when before its release, but it soared in popularity. Right at that time, Animoca also jumped into Dapper Labs and become its shareholders. It was the potential that NFTs have that made Animoca go all in into the domain.

decentraland - Animoca Brands -video games - blockchain games
decentraland – Animoca Brands -video games – blockchain games

After that, it was as if Animoca had a hand of gold, whatever it touched turned gold. Animoca Brands was just getting started with its acquisition of Sky Mavis, the creator of the massively popular Axie Infinity game. Then the company also got its hand in OpenSea in the early days, now OpenSea is the world’s largest NFT marketplace. Besides, Animoca also owns Wax, Decentraland, and Sandbox. All of these are astronomically popular among gamers. All of these major buying and investing came in during 2018 and 2019.

The Sandbox - Animoca Brands -Web3 - NFT Games
The Sandbox – Animoca Brands -Web3 – NFT Games

Animoca Brands Suffers Another Bump

However, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine after getting into crypto. Another deplatforming or delisting was waiting for Animoca. The company was publicly listed in Australia on ASX. The decision to indulge in NFTs and crypto led to Animoca losing its status on ASX. The event led to crunch time and valuation dropped drastically. But now, the company stands tall with more than a $5.7 billion valuation after several successful acquisitions. It might seem that it’s a walk in the park when it comes to acquiring companies, not for Animoca.

The Trick of the Trade

Animoca Brands is a serious prospect when it comes to research and development. Rigorous research takes place before each and every acquisition. The company looks at several different factors like gameplay, game category, market size, market competition, and finally the result of playtesting. Their research layout surely does work if we fare in Axie Infinity and Alien Worlds. Moreover, their success also lies in timing, Animoca Brands is more of a seed investor and series A investor in projects.

The shopping spree for Animoca continues all year round. Recently, the company entered into partnerships with Yuga Labs, OneFootball, Planet Hollywood, Cube Entertainment, and Untamed Planet. Despite the crypto winter the company didn’t stop investing in blockchain technology and Web3 projects. The mantra is still the same in 2022 invest in projects that are working on open metaverse, conducive, and innovative. Animoca’s commitment to this radical ecosystem is unwavering.

The Future of Web3 According to Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands believe that Web3 is an evolutionary phenomenon and it will become the new normal in the future just like the internet. Digital property rights, economic decentralization, and freedom will give become beneficial for billions. Moreover, according to Animoca, Web3 is still in its early days, and its application is also in the nascent stage just like how the internet and smartphones rolled out. They believe that the current market crash will not kill Web3, NFTs, open metaverses, and or cryptocurrency. These are cyclical variations and bumps along the way. The future is only apparent to those who see the broader perspective and consider the technology in the long-term view.

Animoca Brands Upcoming Titles

As for the upcoming titles, Animoca Brands is eyeing AAA titles with top-notch production. Titles like Life Beyond, Phantom Galaxies, and new partnerships indicating a football game, have us all revved up and excited.

Phantom Galaxies

Check out this report on crypto gaming, and how it fared up in 2022.