Source: news.google.com
Gaming giant Animoca Brands expects to raise a reduced target of $1 billion this quarter. This fund will be used for investments in web3 and metaverse.
The goal is a deviation from the $2 billion commitment made in November.
Web3 funding adjusts for fragile market
Animoca’s CEO had previously revealed to Nikkei that the company intended to set up a $2 billion fund. Most notably, he was in collaboration with former Morgan Stanley executive Homer Sun.
The ambition was to go global while supporting mid to late stage web3 startups.
The cut was mainly due to the collapse of FTX and losses in the crypto market. Beyond the overall market decline, about a dozen Animoca portfolio companies bore the brunt of the collapse, according to co-founder and chairman Yat Siu. This includes the Star Atlas starship game, the treasure of which was mostly on FTX.
Solana-based game studio Star Atlas had previously revealed that the FTX accident cost it half its cash flow.
Siu also stated that Animoca Capital is in discussions with potential investors and will use the funds to promote blockchain and metaverse startups. Although the executive said Animoca Capital’s target is the first quarter, the market will decide the direction.
He also agreed that a fragile market could eventually result in slightly lower fundraising targets.
Complicated gaming market after FTX implosion
There are still issues to deal with beyond the general negative sentiment in the sector. Many people still consider the Play to Win, Play to Own, GameFi and NFT niches too complex. The industry widely agrees that web3 games are not very intuitive to potential gamers. According to a survey, only 52% of popular gamers are not familiar with web3 gaming terminology.
However, regarding 2022 funding figures, Animoca Brands has remained among the top web3-focused projects.
The platform revealed that Temasek, Boyu Capital and GGVCapital were among the investors that contributed about $544 million cumulatively in 2022. He said the funding fuels their efforts to create an OpenMetaverse and give Internet users access to digital property rights.
Additionally, according to Nasdaq, Animoca Brands also executed the most metaverse deals in 2022. These deals spanned supporting organizations, open metaverse platforms, and web3 game producers.
Disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to the company or person involved in the story for an official statement on recent developments, but has yet to hear back.
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