Village Studio is raising $ 2.3 million for cross-game Playken avatars

Village Studio raised $ 2.3 million to create a cross-country game Playken based on avatars non-functional icons (NFTs).

The Web3 platform was founded by gaming industry veterans Will Luton (SEGA, Rovio), Cyril Barrow (Rovio, EA) and Tak Fung (Microsoft, Zynga).

Animoca Brands, which has invested in more than 200 blockchain games, led the round with angel investors, including Venrex, AngelHub, K3 and WinZO, as well as Jas Purewal (chairman, Facepunch) and Phil Mansell (CEO, Jagex).

Village Studio wants to solve the problem of interaction in Web3 games, starting with the Playken avatar platform and game portfolio. Playkens are NFT wearable game avatars that can be purchased and sold. The company said that each wearable device will have unique attributes that can be used in several games.

Luton, co-founder and product manager, said, “It’s great to have Animoca Brands with us for this journey. They immediately got what we wanted and the problems we are here to solve.

The funding round will allow Village Studio to hire a core and start building the platform and its games.

Cyril Barrow, Chief Operating Officer, said, “It is our vision to make the interoperability of game elements valuable to players and developers. It is a great opportunity for Village Studio to have Animoca Brands with us and support us. ”

Interoperability is something that decentralized technology can bring elements of gaming like character avatars, but it takes a lot of agreement between gaming companies to technically achieve that. Many developers believe that this is not very useful for games, but Web3 supporters say that it will allow real ownership of the content created by players and users. This can be valuable in a world where players change games or if a gaming company closes the game and nothing is left.

Yat Siu, CEO and co-founder of Animoca Brands, said: “Village Studio, a team with a strong experience and a clear vision for the future, is building new experiences in games by emphasizing interaction. We are pleased to be a part of this project and look forward to its success. ”

Although Village Studio doesn’t say which games it will work with its avatars, there is one white paper here. The company plans to sell its NFTs in advance, but said it will focus on sustainability. This means unproven blockchains (like Ethereum, which consumes a lot of energy), pumping and unloading “ponzinomics” and ways for players to spend again and again.

The team consists of four people and the company started operating in November.

In an email to GamesBeat, Luton said: “We are really excited about the opportunity to interact as a key building block for a more open future for what some call metaverse. The founders started talking about how someone could create an avatar system that translates a game backed by portable statistics into the game. Gradually, we realized that we had to be the other one. “

Some players and game developers reacted negatively to NFTs. I asked Luton about it, and he said, “I was in F2P early (for free) and that’s why he’s so familiar. I think there is always great resistance to change in the games. In this situation, there are some reliable concerns about carpet weaving and ponzinomika, and it is a complex space, so it is difficult to see the potential. Many Web3 game developers, including ourselves, are now in focus. The discussion is over and we must go and prove it. “

Therefore, the company pays great attention to sustainability, he said.

“This includes alternative evidence chains, as well as the environment to support our players. We aim to make our tokenomics slowly add value over time, with players spending money on the game every year, not just pumps and garbage. Sales are fun, not player profits, “Luton said.

As for the business model, the company sells wearable items for Playken avatars.

“They can also be sold in our market. The revenue will fund a treasure trove that we will distribute to ourselves and to developers who use Playken avatars in their games, “he said.