Animoca and Binance's $200M blockchain game investment plan launched a year ago has been slow

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Odaily Translator | Nian Yin Si Tang

Summary:

Summary:

- A year ago, Animoca Brands and BNB Chain announced a $200 million co-investment plan, but made only a small amount of investment.

December 2021, Animoca Brands and Binance Smart Chain (now called BNB Chain) ahead of crypto bear marketAnnounceAnnounce

announced a new $200 million investment program for cryptocurrency gaming startups. Yet a year on, the program has seen little investment.Offered by DealroomData Display, Web3 gaming and software giant Animoca and Binance Labs, the investment arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, have since launched the projectannounced

The companies that received investment were encrypted game startups Heroes of Mavia, Community Gaming and Tatsumeeko, which raised $5.5 million, $16 million and $7.5 million respectively between January and June this year. None of the investment rounds were made through a co-investment scheme, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. This makes sense since Heroes of Mavia is built on Ethereum, Tatsumeeko is built on Ethereum and Solana, and Community Gaming is not a game at all, but a platform that provides esports infrastructure.

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slow progress

When asked about the progress of the plan, Animoca’s spokesperson highlighted six “joint investments” between Animoca and Binance in BlinkMoon, CryptoSlam, Avocado Guild, GuildFi, Gamee, and LiveArtX, but with some possible exceptions, these appear to be Nor is it part of the $200 million plan. Gaming guilds Avocado Guild and GuildFi both raised funding ahead of the initiative’s launch; CryptoSlam is an NFT data aggregator not built on the BNB chain; LiveArtX is a digital art trading and discovery site; and Gamee was acquired by Animoca in 2020. Acquisitions, which did not receive strategic funding from Binance Labs until February of this year. Only game studio BlinkMoon may qualify for the program.

While the crypto bear market is one potential reason for the slow start of the program, another reason is that the crypto gaming industry is still in its infancy.

Gwendolyn Regina, investment director at BNB Chain, told The Block that Web3 gaming is still “a fairly nascent field,” despite the relative success of games like Axie Infinity and The Sandbox. "Without a solid infrastructure and tools, we can't create great game projects," she added. Co-investment plans appear to have adjusted accordingly.

"The fund started with a mission, but we allowed it to expand into other areas, like guilds that we thought were supporting the gaming ecosystem, because it made sense. We've made investments and continue to work together, so considering the Events, it is not surprising that investment may be slower than expected," Regina said.

She further stated that Animoca and BNB Chain have been collaborating, “often sharing insights, transaction processes, and opportunities for collaboration within both ecosystems,” but added that she “could not reveal the full extent of our collaboration.”Another notable collaboration between Binance and Animoca saw Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis raise $150 million in April. At the time, Sky Mavis lost $540 million due to a serious hack. But The Block later revealed that Binance was part of the funding round.the size of the investment – ​​in any case, this does not qualify as a co-investment scheme.

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"Cryptocurrency Mass Adoption"

When announcing the news, BNB Chain’s Regina said in a blog post that the game’s “massive real-life use cases make it one of the core focus areas for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, allowing retail consumers to enter the Web3 world.” .”

The plan is part of BNB Chain’s $1 billion growth plan, of which $100 million will be co-invested with Animoca, which will also inject $100 million.

Animoca Brands is probably the most active crypto gaming investor in the world, with hundreds of investments including The Sandbox, Dapper Labs and Star Atlas. While this partnership between Animoca and Binance has temporarily stalled, Animoca remains highly active. The Hong Kong-based company made more than 60 investments in the first half of this year. The firm had made a total of 340 investments as of September, according to The Block Research.Last week, Animoca Brands co-founder and CEO Yat Siu said in an interview that the companyAnimoca Capital Plans Up to $2 Billion Fund