Published on: 11/10/2022
Tribo raises $1.17m to develop Web3 multiplayer game
Blockchain gaming company Tribo has raised $1.17 million for an upcoming free-to-play casual multiplayer Web3 game. The funding was provided by Play Ventures, Sisu Game Ventures and Joakim Achrén.
“Multiplayer is where Web3 shines. We have experience with deep collection systems and deep economies and can do them well from Web2. Now we can level up those games with Web3,” said Tribo CEO Miko Kuusisto, as quoted by GamesBeat.
Kuusisto was optimistic about the game’s prospects, explaining that he believed multiplayer experiences to be the strongest selling points of Web3 gaming. He added that the founders of Tribo had experience in Web2 games and were looking to expand their reach into the Web3 ecosystem. Notable games Tribo developers have worked on include Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies and Candy Crush Saga.
The exec went on to explain that the main reason Tribo would be making Web3 games is the potential design opportunities. He was adamant that Web3 would create new opportunities for unique gaming experiences and become the new norm in gaming. He insisted that “gaming audiences would migrate over the next few years” to engage with player-owned economies.
“For us, the Web3 opportunity is less about the tech and more about new design possibilities and the general expectation that there is a better way. Players are already demanding more from their games,” said Kuusisto.
“With free-to-play games, we have 15 years of labels on how to do these things. And now we want to create something new that hasn’t been possible in the virtual world. That requires rethinking on how to do metagame systems and economics. Our target is multiplayer for the mainstream.”
Problems and opportunities with the recent market crash
Despite his optimism towards the potential of Web3 games, Kuusisto noted that the team was cautious due to the recent crypto market crash. He said the company had to revise its short-term plans but would not change its long-term strategy to tackle crypto market winters.
“… our conviction about the Web3 space is strong and it hasn’t changed. We knew there would be another crypto winter market. It was inevitable. To us, it doesn’t matter. In the long term, it is inevitable that these changes are coming,” said Kuusisto.
Kuusisto also noted that larger companies were likely to stall on releasing content for the Web3 audience due to the market crash. They were more likely to put resources into consolidating their Web2 projects than attempt a further push into Web3. Thus, Kuusisto argued that Tribo had a window of opportunity to get the loyalty of its target audience with its “mid-core” games.
“That kind of leaves the audience in the middle, or what people call the mid-core games, and the main mass of players that plays mobile games as well as the target audience for us,” added Kuusisto.
Kuusisto said that because the Web3 gaming industry was yet to mature, smaller companies could develop a successful game or model and “become the big companies of the future.” He asserted that Tribo would not copy the current market leaders due to the unsustainability of their models.
“The whole space is moving super fast. Many of the ideas we had half a year ago are now in the trash. It’s like we are speedrunning. It feels like we are moving fast than we did with free-to-play games,” said Kuusisto.
