Web3 gaming is seemingly getting more wind under its wings, as blockchain venture firms Solana Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and FTX launch a $100 million investment fund. The future of the GameFi industry is looking very bright, as it grows exponentially.
The fund’s purpose is to invest in “the intersection of blockchain and gaming”: tech companies, gaming studios that operate on the Solana blockchain. Gaming could be a great gateway for Web3 to bring in the next billion users.
The CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted his excitement on the partnership:
“We’re *really* excited to be working with some of the best partners we’ve had to build out what might be the biggest growth area in the sector: web3 + gaming + NFTs.”
We're *really* excited to be working with some of the best partners we've had to build out what might be the biggest growth area in the sector: web3 + gaming + NFTs.
Lightspeed and FTX announced their first investment for the gaming studio Faraway through a $21 million Series A funding round alongside other important partners such as a16z, Pantera Capital, and Sequoia Capital. Faraway will now integrate Solana blockchain into “Mini Royale”, the studio’s top game.
Faraway CEO Alex Paley commented on the project:
“Blockchain technology will unlock the potential for truly player-driven, open economies and will usher in the next wave of gaming and virtual worlds, (…) Our goal for both current and future games is to create extremely fun and social games with open economies, giving players true ownership over their in-game assets and a true voice in how the game evolves over time.”
Web3 Gaming And Solana Grow Hand In Hand
Web3 gaming has seen huge growth in terms of user popularity, while Solana’s token has made massive gains this year starting from $1.60 to $253 at the time of writing. The new digital era is allowing further monetization and experiences in the gaming ecosystem by integrating DeFi and NFTs.
The merge of the blockchain and gaming comes with great potential for revenue alongside the possibility of creating strong communities and new features for them.
Amy Wu, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners commented:
“High-performance blockchains like Solana are now capable of delivering the kind of web2 experiences gamers expect while providing the advantages of decentralized Web 3 systems.”
She further explained her take on the metaverse:
“The metaverse is a potential digital world where people build identity, reputation, make friends, play, and transact in.
If it becomes even a fraction as meaningful as our offline lives, it’s incredibly valuable. Hence why Web 2 companies like Meta and native Web 3companies alike are trying to build this. People spend hours a day in games like Fornite and Roblox, so I believe the metaverse will be born out of a social game.”
CEO of Solana Labs Anatoly, Yakovenko, also commented:
“In the last few months we’ve seen talented game builders leave their jobs at Riot, EA, Scopely, and other established gaming firms to build Web 3 games on Solana. We are excited to collaborate with Lightspeed and FTX to support and accelerate this new wave of builders.”
According to Newzoo projection the gaming market will grow to $218.7 billion by 2024. They also reported player 5.4% growth rate from 2020 to 2021.
