Binance has recently been really changing its tune on cryptogaming. So far, the company has at least partially disregarded cryptogaming, in favour of fungible token projects. In fact, for the entirety of 2021, Binance only featured one single crypto game in their report and on their launchpad, and only three crypto games ever.
Now they’ve decided to go in a different direction – by partnering with Hong Kong-based gaming company Animoca Brands. Animoca already has plenty of Blockchain Projects in their portfolio, often also acting as a venture capital company rather than the game software company. They are behind The Sandbox – coincidentally one of the games that Binance has already featured on their Launchpad – Arc8, REVV Racing and more.
Both Binance and Animoca have pitched into the $200 million investment program that will provide funding to upcoming crypto gaming projects. Specifically, the money is supposed to go to early stage projects. This is a pretty major move and one featuring a lot of money at that. No details as to what projects are in consideration or how a project can be submitted for evaluation have been given.
The pledge of a total of $200 million from major players in the crypto and crypto gaming worlds respectively are pretty remarkable – not only because they demonstrate commitment but also because they should go a long way in increasing people’s faith in the industry itself. There are still a lot of sceptics out there that think gaming and crypto don’t go together, despite the growing number of new projects launched constantly.
There are currently only a few major players that really dominate the crypto gaming scene much like League of Legends dominates the esports scene – that doesn’t really help in painting a diverse picture of what crypto gaming can do. That said, projects like the Sandbox, Axie Infinity and others are all at least proof of concept that more is possible… and plenty of projects are vying to get there first, so to speak.
However, funding is often a problem for these projects, which is where venture funds, investment deals and so on come in handy – there aren’t yet any huge, established studios that can simply finance their work, and every major investment is also a huge risk that could easily end its creator’s studio. Some projects are in development for a really long time to offset the financial risks, while others rely on crowdfunding, seed rounds and so on to have a fighting chance. All that is perfectly normal and reasonable, however it no doubt also looks scary to a lot of potential creators.
Traditional gaming is a more ‘sure’ bet – there are options like working with big studios, simply selling ideas, concepts and content on, or even setting up a somewhat lower risk studio. Crypto gaming doesn’t have most of that, but it well could – partnerships like this funding plan from Binance and Animoca Brands are a great step in that direction, enabling projects to focus on, well, their work, rather than how to also pay their rent.
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