Weekly Gaming News: Merit Circle & YGG Gaming End Partnership, Catheon Gaming Partners w/ Kungfu Dama, Playful Studio Raises $46M for Web3 Game, & More
Welcome back to Avarta’s weekly gaming news round-up.
This week has seen a lot of news related to partnerships. Merit Circle and YGG Gaming end their partnership; Catheon Gaming partners with Kungfu Dama to build a new AAA title; Sknups and Dolce & Gabbana form a partnership.
Aside from that, Playful Studio raised funds for its Web3 gaming alliance, and ProximaX launched a testnet browser app for its Xarcade platform.
This week’s blockchain gaming news update will cover all that and more.
Merit Circle & YGG Gaming Terminate Relationship
Two of the most prominent names in the play-to-earn scholarship space, Merit Circle and Yield Guild Games (YGG), have decided to part ways due to a lack of perceived added value. Their partnership lasted seven months and consisted of YGG investing in Merit Circle’s projects.
Following Merit Circle terminating its relationship with (YGG, they bought out the guild’s $175,000 investment in the play-to-earn gaming decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) for 1.75 million USDC.
The partnership had both companies offer play-to-earn gamers so-called scholarships. They would choose players from developing countries and borrow the NFT that served as the entrance fee for the game. In return, gamers would return yield to the NFT’s owners as they play.
Playful Studio Raises $46 Million for Web3 Gaming Alliance
Playful Studio has raised $46 million in a Series A round for its Web3 gaming alliance, the Wildcard Alliance.
The funding round was led by Paradigm with support from Griffin Gaming Partners, Polygon, and Sabrina Hahn.
The alliance is working on a “hybrid multiplayer online battle arena,” which takes inspiration from other collectible card games like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. In the game, players can compete in front of other players who can interact with the game.
Paul Bettner, the co-founder of Playful Studios, spoke on the unique approach of the game: “Despite this opportunity, the current focus of web3 game development tends to be on finance over fun, economy over engagement, currency over community. With Wildcard, we’re focused on fun first, building a next-generation ‘spectator sport’ to welcome the entire community of competitors, collectors, sponsors, and fans to play together.”
Sknups Raises $3.5M for Blockchain Game & Unveils Dolce & Gabbana Partnership
Digital fashion collectibles platform Sknups raises $3.5 million in funding while also announcing a worldwide gaming partnership with fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. Sknups plans to work alongside Dolce & Gabbana to bring its Italian signature style into games.
Funding raised by Skunps originates from fashion and Web3 investors, including angel investors and traditional funds, including Redrice Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and Adelpha.
Following the announcement, Dolce & Gabbana launched its first collectible campaign — this new inaugural digital drop is now live at sknups.com.
Catheon Gaming Partners with Kungfu Dama to Build AAA title Prajna Gate
Catheon Gaming, a blockchain gaming and entertainment company, announced an industry partnership with leading Chinese game developer Kungfu Dama. The partnership will spawn two AAA titles, Prajna Gate and Prajna Metaverse.
The partnership brings Catheon Gaming’s expertise and network in blockchain, NFTs, gaming and Web3 into Kungfu Dama’s game development.
Prajna Gate is a multiplayer horror shooting game on Unreal Engine 5. Prajna Metaverse is a 3D metaverse that integrates social networking, entertainment, gaming, and community.
ProximaX’s Launches Xarcade Testnet Browser App
Xarcade, ProximaX’s game tokenization platform, has launched a testnet browser app compatible with releasing Browser/HTML5/Web and Web GL games within the testnet environment. The project has stated that all game developers are welcome to discover the new app.
Xarcade gaming ecosystem has three major sectors, with the testnet browser app being the latest addition. They also have a mainnet in the form of the future browser app, offering the testnet and mainnet experience and the Future Xarcade metaverse called MetaXar.
The ProximaX Team spoke on the project’s future plans: “Our team is hard at work to make the Testnet Browser App compatible with iOS, macOS, Windows, and other platforms, so stay tuned!”
That wraps up this edition of Avarta’s weekly gaming news update.
