SevenX Ventures has an investment portfolio of more than 20 projects in the gaming sector, covering gaming infrastructure, gaming content, gaming distribution, gaming platforms, gaming services, gaming asset management, etc. The cumulative investment amount exceeds US$50 million, with 11 lead and co-lead investments.
SevenX Ventures has been firmly optimistic about and continuously invested in the Web3 gaming track since its establishment in 2020. From the perspective of gaming, as a traditional track, it has been constantly upgrading, and the important driving force for each upgrade is technological innovation, such as hardware technology, Internet technology, the emergence of new platforms, etc., and each innovation will bring the gaming track to a new level. We believe that Web3, as an important cutting-edge technology, will also bring new vitality to the mature product form of games through the concept of decentralization, token economic models and other footholds. From the perspective of Web3, it has been in a state of infrastructure development leads, and the application layer follows exploration since its birth. We believe that games will be the second scenario to achieve large-scale application (mass adopotion) after finance, thereby consolidating the user-level existence value of Web3 and bringing healthy long-term development to the industry.
Regarding investment in the Web3 gaming sector, SevenX Ventures’ logic can be summarized as the entire industry chain + cutting-edge narrative.
First of all, the core of Web3 is blockchain technology and token economy, which will bring disruptive innovation to every link of the game industry chain. Therefore, we also invest along each link of the game industry chain, looking for the innovation or increment brought by Web3 to this link. In our eyes, the (main) links of the Web3 game industry chain include: game infrastructure, game content, game distribution, game platform, game service, game asset management, etc. The corresponding Web3 native projects have either changed their business models (such as value circulation path, income/profit distribution model), or greatly increased their business carrying capacity.
Secondly, the cutting-edge narrative of Web3 games is another logical main line for us. For example, full-chain games with asset + financial games as the core have strong Web3 native attributes. Their characteristics such as financialization, assetization, and composability have become a new category of game products as the penetration rate of Web3 modules increases. For example, we also believe that the new generation of AI technology will bring exciting changes to games. Whether it is the breaking of the game production paradigm by AI technology or the fresh game experience brought by AI characters, they will be important variables for Web3 games.
As of now, SevenX Ventures has invested in more than 20 gaming projects, with a cumulative investment of more than US$50 million, and has led or co-led 11 projects.
As a global, full-track fund, the value that SevenX can bring to the gaming portfolio is also extremely unique, that is: Eastern and Western perspectives + internal and external circulation.
First of all, game development has obvious regional characteristics. Whether it is the European and American market, the Asia-Pacific market or other regional markets, there are mature local game ecosystems. However, the underlying color of Web3 games is borderless, so it requires strong cross-regional resource integration capabilities: it is necessary to organically connect narratives, funds, growth channels, liquidity, traffic and distribution resources in different regions to make a game successful. Our investment map is spread across the East and the West. We have been deeply involved in these two markets for many years and have a deep brand, reputation and resource accumulation. We are very good at helping Asian projects enter the Western market and helping Western projects land in Asia.
Secondly, another important feature of Web3 games is that multiple factors such as narrative height, asset system, token economy and playability coexist, which requires a lot of cooperation between project parties and projects within the game industry chain and cross-track projects. Given our full industry chain investment logic, we are very good at helping project parties find direct partners within the game industry chain to solve the most practical implementation problems. We are also very good at helping project parties find cross-track partners such as infrastructure, finance, exchanges, etc. outside the game industry chain to help project parties build diversified narratives and elevate the positioning of the project.
Gameplay
MATR1X FIRE (lead investor; multiple rounds of betting)
MATR1X FIRE is the first metaverse shooting mobile game incubated by Web3 entertainment platform MATR1X, focusing on classic shooting. Players can choose from a list of playable characters and compete in teams of five to eliminate the enemy. As of April 2024, MATR1X FIRE has exceeded 1.2 million downloads worldwide, and the number of independent wallet addresses on the chain has exceeded 1.22 million. Recently, the first professional e-sports competition in the history of Web3 was successfully held-MATR1X FIRE Asia Masters.
Co-investors: OKX Ventures; Folius Ventures; HashKey Capital; Amber Group, etc.
MetaCene (lead investor; multiple rounds)
Metacene is a cyberpunk-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), carefully created by a first-line production team in Asia. It combines the classic elements and gameplay of MMORPG with NFT and tokens, and introduces innovative mechanisms such as decentralized service operations and DAO governance, bringing a rich comprehensive experience to Web2+Web3 players.
Co-investors: Folius Ventures; The Spartan Group; Animoca Ventures, etc.
Space Nation
Space Nation is building the next generation of space opera IP and franchises. Space Nation Online is its first and core product. It is a Web3 space opera MMORPG that has been in the making for nearly 4 years. Using Web3 technologies and tools, Space Nation seeks to integrate P4F and P2E in the game world, building a complex and sustainable in-game economy that meets the needs of a large number of Web2 players and some Web3 users.
Co-investors: Lighthouse Capital; HashKey Capital; Arcane Group, etc.
BLOCKLORDS
BLOCKLORDS is a player-driven medieval grand strategy game where the world and narrative are shaped by the decisions and skills of the players. Players can choose from a variety of gameplay styles, including farming, combat, resource management, and domination, allowing their heroes to forge their own destiny. The game studio behind Blocklords is MetaKing Studios, whose team members have worked at or with the worlds most creative and innovative companies including EA, Ubisoft, Paradox, Creative Assembly, Lucasfilm, Disney, Universal Pictures, Netflix, and Apple.
Co-investors: Bitkraft Ventures; Delphi Digital; Animoca Brands; Spartan Group; Funplus, etc.
Age of Dino (Lead Investor)
Age of Dino (AoD) is a next-generation massively multiplayer online (MMO) strategy game based on American comic dinosaurs, developed on the Xterio platform. The game experience includes infrastructure construction, feeding and upgrading dinosaurs, resource collection, adventure, alliance battles, and fighting against opponents and dinosaur armies controlled by Al. In terms of product design, it combines blockchain technology and social gameplay, and covers GVG, PVE and PVP elements. The gameplay is rich and meets the game preferences of different players.
Co-investors: Xterio; Animoca Ventures; Hashkey Capital, etc.
L3 E 7 (Lead Investor)
L3 E 7 is a pure 3D LBS (Location Based Service) game. Through advanced graphics rendering technology, real-world cities are cloned into the cyberpunk metaverse world, allowing players to experience the earth in an immersive way. In the world created by L3 E 7, players can adventure, participate in battles, and interact freely in real-world stores to receive rewards, including in-game tokens and governance tokens. With more than 50 characters and more than 10,000 virtual cities to explore, L3 E 7 redefines the landscape of online games.
Co-investors: Spartan Group; OKX Ventures; Big Brain Holdings
CASTILE (Lead Investor)
CASTILE is a next-generation AAA RPG+Roguelike card game developed by NytroLab, set in the fantasy Cthulhu universe. Currently, the project has received funding and resource support from many world-renowned venture capital companies such as SevenX Ventures, Amber, Aptos, OKX Ventures, HashKey, and Leland Ventures to invest in the subsequent development and operation of the project. CASTILE currently supports running on Android mobile devices, and will support running on iOS mobile devices and PCs in the future.
ATMAN (Lead Investor)
Atman is a WEB3 E-Sport DAO with fairness as its core concept. Through decentralized event service contracts and NFT-Mod asset editor, it allows every user to have the opportunity to share profits and become a builder of order. Its first self-developed competitive game project is the CCG competitive card auto chess product, which has the characteristics of first-line game quality, innovative competitive experience, and extremely long life cycle among similar products.
Civitas
Civitas is a community-driven game in the SLG 4X (exploration, expansion, development and extermination) strategy genre, where players level up their cities individually or collaboratively by fighting or joining forces with other cities. NFT buildings have different functions and properties and can be decorative or functional. Players can also burn buildings and other resources to upgrade to new ones. CITI tokens can be obtained by completing tasks and participating in activities, such as contributions to sub-DAOs and AR mini-games. They can also be found randomly when collecting resources. CITI tokens can be used for governance, staking, and in-game purchases.
Co-investors: Framework Ventures; Delphi Digital, etc.
Gaming Infrastructure
Ronin
Ronin is an EVM blockchain designed for developing games with player-owned economies. Developed by Sky Mavis, the parent company of Axie Infinity, Ronin uses the blockchain as the underlying infrastructure and provides a comprehensive development environment and ecosystem application support. At the same time, Ronin also uses its rich Web3 operation experience to provide ecosystem games with all-round empowerment including token economic models, user growth, creator ecology, etc., making them popular products in the GameFi track.
Beam
Beam is an open source blockchain and tool provider dedicated to gaming. It is an ecosystem that simplifies the complexity of game development and significantly enhances the gaming experience, putting the focus back on the players.
Rangers Protocol (Lead Investor)
Rangers Protocol is a Metaverse-oriented infrastructure, a high-performance engine for complex development and data migration. Rangers Protocol integrates and expands cross-chain, NFT, EVM and distributed network protocols, providing decentralized applications (DApps) and assets with the ability to interact frictionlessly with multiple different chains.
Co-investors: Framework Ventures; Pantera Capital; HashKey Capital, etc.
Thirdwave
Thirdwave is the first unified Web3 growth platform. Thirdwave connects on-chain off-chain data, providing customers with a rich product matrix including data panels, intelligent delivery systems, and data middle platforms, providing game developers with business insights, wallet intelligence, and targeted advertising to grow their projects.
Co-investors: Coinbase Ventures; Framework; Animoca, etc.
Nefta
Nefta aims to help Web2 game developers easily transition to Web3 through its product suite, giving these games new ways to monetize, retain, and increase user loyalty. The product suite includes but is not limited to automatic wallet creation, various types of NFT creation, NFT leasing, analytics suite, fiat onboarding, and advertising technology.
Co-investors: Polygon Ventures, etc.
YGG (early participation; multiple rounds of betting)
Yield Guild Games (YGG) is the earliest and largest Web3 gaming guild, with a mission to help all players from all over the world level up. Playing games together is a concept engraved in YGGs genes. When the community gathers together and explores the game together, what remarkable achievements can be created, and YGG hopes to share this achievement with everyone.
Co-investors: a16z Crypto; DWF Labs; Delphi Digital; Animoca Brands, etc.
W 3 GG
W 3 GG is the first officially supported SubDAO of YGG, mainly developing the YGG Southeast Asian market except the Philippines, currently covering Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. W 3 GG is committed to leading the implementation of Web3, elevating games to a level beyond entertainment, and aims to provide the community with more inclusive learning, personal growth, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Co-investors: Polygon Ventures; OKX Ventures; HashKey Capital
gaming platform
Xterio
Xterio is a leading Web3 gaming ecosystem and infrastructure platform, distinguished from other game distribution platforms by its superior technology development and successful distribution and operation expertise. The platform was co-founded by industry veterans, including Michael Tong, former COO of NetEase and CSO of FunPlus, and Jeremy Horn, former Vice President of Jam City. Xterio is committed to accelerating the integration of Web3 technology and games, aiming to simplify the experience for developers and players and promote the widespread adoption of decentralized games and digital ownership.
Co-investors: Binance Labs; Makers Fund; FunPlus; Animoca Brands; HashKey Capital
MATR1X (lead investor; multiple rounds)
MATR1X is an innovative cultural and entertainment platform combining Web3 + Artificial Intelligence (AI) + eSports, aiming to use blockchain technology and AI to bring revolutionary changes and innovations to the gaming and digital content industries.
Co-investors: OKX Ventures; Folius Ventures; HashKey Capital; Amber Group, etc.
Full chain game
Lords
Bibliotheca DAO ($LORDS) is a development DAO operated by Loot Realms NFTs, aiming to build fully on-chain games and autonomous worlds. Bibliotheca DAO is building and managing an open-source permissionless game ecosystem based on StarkNet, and is currently incubating the development of 12 games. It is also the founder of the on-chain game engine Dojo, establishing a leading position in the StarkNet ecosystem. The Bibliotheca DAO not only advances the field of on-chain games, but also always sticks to the core vision: to create an open, public and permissionless world governed by Loot Realms NFTs and always open to global participants, while ensuring that games can be reconstructed from data and run on the L2 network. The Bibliotheca DAO created the first batch of fully on-chain games, such as Loot Survivor, Pistols at Ten Blocks, zConqueror, etc.
Curio (Lead Investor)
Curio is a blockchain gaming and infrastructure company exploring high-stakes competition and social composability. The team developed Treaty, a 4X core multi-resource competitive strategy game with over 5,000 players, and Keystone, the most performant on-chain EVM-based game engine. Curios flagship social war game Duper is currently in alpha testing and is expected to launch in Q3 2024.
Co-investors: Bain Capital Crypto; Robot Ventures, etc.
Cellula (Lead Investor)
Cellula is a full-chain AI game that empowers users to create, build and develop digital life. Its unique virtual proof-of-work (vPOW) asset distribution method provides an innovative incentive layer for games within the Cellula ecosystem.
Co-investors: OKX Ventures; Binance Labs, etc.
Gabby World
Gabby World is the first AI-native composable blockchain game platform that allows users to generate and run dungeon games with AI in an autonomous world. In short: Sandbox/Decentraland running on a generative AI model. Project highlights include: 1) AIGC: All game components are generated by AI through on-chain prompts and run on a large model; 2) FOMO: Game mechanism inspired by FOMO 3D, and creator economy of composable games; 3) DND: Dungeons and Dragons gameplay driven by AI open narrative and on-chain random numbers.
Prediction Market
Azuro (lead investor; multiple rounds)
Azuro is a decentralized on-chain prediction liquidity layer and infrastructure. It uses a new liquidity pool design - Liquidity Tree, which is used to create and maintain market liquidity. Azuro supports thousands of sports markets and other games, and has a rich feature set that anyone can use to create a variety of applications, embedded integrations, or derivatives. Currently, Azuros TVL exceeds 8 million US dollars, more than 30 front-ends are developed based on Azuro, more than 50 million predicted transactions, and generates more than 2.5 million US dollars in revenue.
Co-investors: Fenbushi Capital; Delphi Digital, etc.
eesee
eesee is a decentralized NFT and FT aggregation trading and lottery platform. It solves the problem of NFT supply side by aggregating different NFT Marketplaces, and sells these NFTs through lottery, providing additional liquidity to the cooperating NFT Marketplaces. eesee offsets the negative effect of users failure to win the prize through special token cash-back, further motivating users transactions.
Co-investors: Animoca Brands, etc.
AI+Games
AI Arena
AI Arena is an innovative Web3 fast-paced game that integrates blockchain technology and AI. It promotes AI and blockchain technology to hundreds of millions of gamers through games. The future vision is to create a bilateral market for AI algorithms.
Co-investors: Paradigm; Framework Ventures; FunPlus
