Business
Playstudios Gaming Platform Creating Blockchain Division, web3 Fund
PlayStudios has announced a new strategic alliance with Forte to power their brand new venture into web3.
playBLOCKS will leverage Forte’s technical infrastructure, blockchain technologies, and economic models to create rich and engaging experiences built specifically for token economies, and to manage digital assets in a secure marketplace where players are connected with world-class brands and their rewards programs, per the press release.
“Forte offers a complete and unmatched solution to power token economies with tools that prioritize the player experience,” said Andrew Pascal, founder and CEO of PLAYSTUDIOS. “We are very excited to work with the experienced team at Forte and to leverage their sophisticated technology to power our innovative playBLOCKS loyalty and rewards model which will benefit our players, games, and reward partners.”
“PLAYSTUDIOS has been a visionary in the games space for over a decade, pioneering both rewarded play for millions of players with playAWARDS and continually embracing and developing a leading position in new technology platforms from social to mobile,” said Josh Williams, CEO, Forte. “We are incredibly excited that playBLOCKS represents the combination of great, fun games with Web3 digital assets and rewards in the physical world. Web3 will continue to unlock a massive shift in how entertainment is built and consumed with economics that benefit players, creators and publishers. We are so happy to be building towards that future with PLAYSTUDIOS.”
Both Forte and PLAYSTUDIOS share a vision about the transformational opportunity of blockchain gaming, one that creates massive new creative and economic opportunities centered around utility, trust, and authenticity.
“Since our inception, Forte’s goal has been to build and connect the blockchain technology that makes it possible for anyone in the world to gain true digital property rights. This goal merges online and physical-world experiences, creating truly immersive economies that reward and benefit more participants. Our partnership with PLAYSTUDIOS and playBLOCKS is a significant step towards that vision,” continued Williams.
It will be interesting to see if NFT SEO and/or Blockchain SEO will be leveraged to increased the visibility, or if Influencer Marketing will play a role in their growth.
FromSoftware title ‘Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’, which is published by Bandai Namco, has laid claim to the top spot of the boxed charts in the United Kingdom this week following it’s August 25th release.
Armored Core 6’s debut pushed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the second overall spot in news that video game journalists have been covering extensively.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Bandai Namco believes that ‘Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’ is a “big step up in the franchise’ and communicated their hopes that it would surpass previous Armored Core games following the increased popularity in the game developers work on Elden Ring.
The United Kingdom charts also saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom move back to the 3rd spot, and FIFA 23 holding the 4th spot.
The biggest rise was from Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which jumped back in the top top from it’s previous 24th spot to land in 6th with a 146% increase in sales. That game, along with Hogwarts Legacy, is currently a part of a Playstation 5 bundle.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year edition entered the Top Ten this week with an appearance in the 9th spot.
The news wasn’t so good for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which saw a debut in the 13th spot last week but has now dropped to 37th following a 43% decrease in sales week-on-week, despite it’s initial push on every video game streaming platform following it’s heavily hyped arrival.
Here is a breakdown from the United Kingdom Boxed Top Ten for the week ending on August 26th, via GamesIndustry.biz.
| Last Week | This Week | Title |
|---|---|---|
| New Entry | 1 | Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon |
| 1 | 2 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
| 4 | 3 | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom |
| 3 | 4 | FIFA 23 |
| 9 | 5 | Hogwarts Legacy |
| 24 | 6 | Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga |
| 5 | 7 | Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate |
| 7 | 8 | Minecraft (Nintendo Switch) |
| 12 | 9 | The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition |
| 2 | 10 | Grand Theft Auto V |
Interactive drama developer and BAFTA-nominated studio Scriptic has raised a total $6.2 million in additional seed funding, including $500,000 from the Sony Innovation Fund, bringing the total seed investments to $8.7 million.
The funding will be deployed to continue going towards the expansion of its mobile narrative offerings, and the studio aims to provide its generative AI developer tools to more writers and storytellers.
“It’s a huge honor to have Sony Innovation Fund join our roster of stellar investors, and we’re thrilled that they share our vision for the future of interactive media and storytelling,” Scriptic CEO Nihal Tharoor said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
This marks another example of studios who find Angel Investors and find VC investors to fund their initiatives, and those deals making waves in the gaming industry.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is set to officially acquire headphones manufacturer and audio technology company Audeze, officially entering a deal to purchase the company, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
SIE is aiming to expand the audio technology of Playstation games and with this deal, not only will Audeze help them in that mission but Audeze will continue to operate as a separate entity and develop its audio products, per a number of video game journalists covering the story.
“Audeze is a premier brand for headphones, and this acquisition highlights Sony Interactive’s focus on innovation and providing the best audio experience to PlayStation players,” SIE senior vice president of platform experience Hideaki Nishino said.
Stay tuned for more updates regarding this story.
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