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Many entrepreneurs and investors are looking at blockchain games, where NFTs are trading
Former TikTok video game giant Jason Fung, who introduced the blockchain game launch as one of the two founders, told Reuters in an interview, as the noise about blockchain games grows while heavy metals are still on the alert.
The 34-year-old left TikTok last month after two years with the company, and his departure comes as TikTok and its Chinese owner ByteDance grow out of the $ 300 billion global sports market to face rivals. of Tencent Holdings, an effort to produce mixed results so far.
It also demonstrates a balloon interest among entrepreneurs and investors in blockchain games – a new generation of blockchain-based online games that allow players to trade items in the form of free tokens (NFTs).
Fung, whose new business is called Meta0, said he left TikTok after seeing an opportunity to offer a solution to the current diversity of infrastructure options available to developers who want to build blockchain games.
“At the moment, if you look at any developer when using NFTs or blockchain in their games, they should choose one blockchain, either Polygon or Solana or Binance Smart Chain. But consider the most effective option, ”he told Reuters in Hong Kong, referring to the popular blockchains.
“So we decided, let’s do it. Let’s find this company together. Let’s get rid of my business life at TikTok and put it at great risk, ”said Fung, who was based in Shenzhen and reported to TikTok chief executive Vanessa Pappas.
The Meta0 founding team has six members in addition to two founders, and the company closed the first round of funding, Fung said.
You declined to divulge details of another founder, group or investment. He said the company was looking to raise money by issuing tokens, as well as emerging capitalists and strategic investors.
The capital letters are clear
Proponents of blockchain games claim that they will disrupt the gaming industry as crypto money can make the material more flexible and spread game ownership to players. But blockchain games are sometimes also associated with scams, and the apparent economy of some games has collapsed after players have purchased them.
Many established gaming companies such as Tencent, Sony, and Microsoft have not yet made a major bet on blockchain games.
Fung, as TikTok’s global head of game strategy and performance, was tasked with developing game content and exploring new features such as hosting smaller games in the app.
TikTok and ByteDance are gaining momentum in sports during Fung ‘reign, with the acquisition of ByteDance which includes the purchase of a $ 4 billion Moonton gaming studio, and TikTok experimenting with small game features in its operating system.
Efforts have seen both successes and obstacles. Last month, data tracking company Sensor Tower claimed ByteDance’s portfolio of mobile games generated more than $ 1 billion worldwide in revenue over the past 12 months.
However, ByteDance re-launched its 101st studio in Shanghai last month, putting half of the workforce 300 or more. Product of its acquisition of Mokun Technology in 2019, 101 Studio was ByteDance’s first development unit closed as it struggled to make it.
Fung, who was leading sports units at Alibaba Group Holding and Electronic Arts in Asia before joining TikTok, declined to comment when asked who could replace him in TikTok.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Blockchain Games: a hot investment trend
Despite the warnings of others in the industry, blockchain games have become one of the hottest investment channels discussed by crypto tycoons from Silicon Valley to Dubai.
Prior to the recent collapse of the crypto market, the blockchain gaming industry raised a record $ 1.2 billion in the first half, according to a report by investment company Drake Star Partners in April. Last year, a total of R3.6 billion was raised in the sector.
“We have developed a code for game developers, and we are taking a flexible, blockchain-agnostic approach to the development of their game,” Fung said, discussing the future prospects of blockchain games.
“With the law we are developing, developers can easily build their capacity to support a game of different blockchains, and allow the user to transfer their NFTs series.”
