On November 2, Sky Mavis, the company behind the highly popular NFT game Axie Infinity, unveiled a collaboration with South Korean game studio Act Games to bring several renowned Japanese video game series to the native Ronin blockchain. This partnership aims to merge the world of blockchain and NFTs with beloved Japanese IP to engage a broader audience.
The first game to make its way to the Ronin blockchain as part of this initiative is Zoids Wild Arena, which draws inspiration from the well-known anime series created by Japan's leading toy manufacturer, Tomy. Zoids, initially introduced as plastic models in 1983, has a devoted fan base worldwide. Other series to follow suit include Hello Kitty, Aggretsuko, and Bubble Bobble.
Sky Mavis's Chief Executive and Co-founder, Trung Nguyen, expressed his enthusiasm for this collaboration, highlighting Act Games' proficiency in leveraging iconic IP to drive user engagement across different audiences. This partnership is expected to combine their expertise in web3 technology with nostalgic IP that has an established core fan base.
As part of the initial incentives for users, Zoids NFTs and token drops will be provided to those who migrate to the Ronin wallet to participate in the game. Act Games has a history of developing four arcade-style games, amassing $6.4 million in net sales and 3 million downloads since 2019.
Axie Infinity, created by Sky Mavis, has been a massive success in the NFT space, generating $4.2 billion in NFT sales since its inception. It has witnessed millions of daily active users and garnered revenue of $1.3 billion. Furthermore, its Ethereum Virtual Machine-powered gaming blockchain, Ronin, ranks second only to Ethereum itself in terms of NFT sales transactions.
Sky Mavis, which currently operates from Vietnam and Singapore, has attracted substantial funding from prominent investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, Libertus, Mark Cuban, and Binance, during several high-profile funding rounds. This partnership with Act Games marks another step in the company's expansion into the world of Japanese IP and NFT gaming.
