With a total of $156 million in investments, this mysterious field is attracting VCs' attention for its potential to onboard the next one billion users into the Web3 industry.

Unsurprisingly, users are already flocking to a successful platform within this sector, with one application boasting an impressive one million users.

Are you ready to jump on the next unicorn in the making? LFG!!!

TLDR 📃

• VCs are heavily investing in the metaverse sector, notably gaming, indicating the potential for the next crypto unicorn.
• With a vast global player base, the gaming industry is viewed as a fast track to onboard the next one billion users the crypto.
• Projects like Futureverse, Mythical Games, and Pixion Games are receiving significant VC attention, indicating promising opportunities in the metaverse.
• Futureverse, with its unique blockchain network and innovative integration with AI, emerges as the most promising candidate among the highlighted gaming companies.

Disclaimer: Not financial or investment advice. Any capital-related decisions you make are your responsibility and yours only.

One sector stands out this month 🔦

Between when we published our last institutional money report and now, VCs have invested a staggering $697 million into crypto. 

As expected, Web3 infrastructure was the top recipient of these investments; our previous report deep-dived into why VCs are bullish on crypto infrastructure.

And while VC investments in infrastructure are impressive, what truly stands out is the metaverse category. This month VCs have invested $156 million in the metaverse sector comprising NFTs, gaming, and cinematic universes. 

Simply put, the metaverse segment only comes second to infrastructure and has attracted almost three times more investments than DeFi.

VCs are betting that the metaverse could be the next frontier in crypto. 

But what do VCs know that the rest of us don’t know?

Why Web3 gaming? 🎮

Let’s go by the numbers.

There are approximately 3.09 billion active gamers players worldwide. VCs believe gaming could onboard the next one billion people into the crypto economy.

Seconly, gamers are already accustomed to digital ownership and digital currencies. 

Existing games like Fortnite have skins and V-Bucks, and many kids who play Roblox count their money in Robux, not the USD.

And unlike the finance industry, which tends to be slow-moving and heavily regulated, the gaming sector is nimbler.

While investments in DeFi require ongoing support to deal with stringent regulations, investments in the metaverse are on the fast track to finding product-market-fit.

VCs seldom make philanthropic investments; it’s always about the money.  And if we are talking about the odds of a profitable exit, the Metaverse seems to have some of the most fantastic prospects in Web3.

But where exactly are VCs putting their money? And should you follow their steps? 
Let’s find out 👇

Futureverse 🤖 

VC investment: $54,000,000

VCs involved: 10T Holdings and Ripple 

Futureverse is an innovative gaming company that skillfully combines AI and blockchain capabilities to create its open metaverse. 

One of its prominent consumer games, AI League, developed in collaboration with FIFA, demonstrates the power of blockchain technology and AI in gaming. 

What sets Futureverse apart is its decision to build a blockchain network called "The Root Network". This new blockchain is explicitly tailored for metaverse apps and is integrated with Ripple's XRPL, supporting XRP as a gas token. 

If you already hold XRP, this development might be worth extra attention. 

Make sure to keep tabs on Futureverse’s progress here

Mythical Games 🏈

VC investment: $37,000,000

VCs involved: Scytale Digital, with ARK Invest, Animoca Brands, MoonPay, Proof, and Stanford Athletics

Mythical Games, a Web3 gaming studio, aims to build a mobile gaming empire using its Mythical Chain blockchain and gaming ecosystem. 

Its most successful game, NFL Rivals, is an officially licensed Web3 game from the NFL and NFLPA– and it boasts 1 million downloads already.

Granted, many players may not fully understand crypto, so Mythical Games’ strategy is to onboard players to the games first and introduce the NFT and crypto features later.

Mythical Games plans to launch a marketplace similar to Steam, except that users will actually own the items they buy.

Keep up with its latest developments here

Pixion Games 👾

VC investment: $5,500,000

VCs involved: Avalanche Foundation’s Blizzard Fund, Shima Capital, Eldridge, Merit Circle, ReadyPlayerDAO, VGC, Zee Prime, Mechanism Capital, GSR and Misfits Gaming

Web3 gaming studio, Pixion Games, is building its flagship game, Fableborne.

Fableborne is a multiplayer action RPG mobile game, similar to the popular game Clash of Clans. 

Next to the game, Pixion Games will also launch its own NFT marketplace. Users can trade items for its native currency, $FAB, which is also used to upgrade and maintain Fableborne NFTs inside the game.

Details are sketchy, but Pixion Games plans to create more games alongside Fableborne and launch an Avalanche Subnet. 

Keep up with its latest developments here.

Cryptonary’s take 🧠

VCs are investing in Web3 gaming, but how do I plug into a big payday here?

We align with the VCs that you should look for smart gaming studios making highly-engaging games that integrate blockchain technology in the background, almost imperceptibly to gamers.

The next criterion is to get into gaming projects that offer actual ownership of in-game assets to gamers. Of course, the clever play would be studios that also own infrastructure or marketplaces where these assets are traded. They should also share a part of their revenue with token holders. 

And most importantly, what we want to see are gaming studios that launch tokens which go beyond mere in-game utilities.

Among the ones mentioned, Futureverse looks the most promising. 

As always, thanks for reading. 🙏

Cryptonary, out!