While investment is growing in the blockchain gaming sector, criticism of crypto games is frequent, focusing on how to protect users outside of crypto space.

Blockchain’s leading game company, Animoca Brands, believes that acquiring conventional video games with loyal players and their exposure to the benefits of blockchain and DLT technology is the best way to attract new audiences to crypto.

Dapper Labs raised $12 million from venture capital firms and NBA players, $1.2 million net from NFT sales

Cointelegraph spoke with Yat Siu, the CEO of Animoca Brands, to learn about his company’s strategy to bridge the gap between major games and the crypto world.

Animoca Brands has quickly become a leader in the crypto game industry, securing a global license agreement with Bitcoin Lifestyle prior to its launch in F1 Delta Time, and announcing a $3 million initial exchange offer (IEO) for its title The Sandbox on the Binance launch pad last week.

Siu described The Sandbox as an example of how strategic acquisitions have enabled Animoca to capture non-native audiences and expose them to blockchain technologies.

Blockchain Heroes Refuse to Accept „Old World“ Fiduciary Payments

„When we acquire, we are not buying companies that are necessarily related to blockchain technology,“ Siu said. „When we acquired Excel, it was a traditional mobile game developer who had the Sandbox game that was not yet fully on the blockchain network, even though they had the vision to go there,“ he continued.

„Not only are we buying a talented team that could do things with this technology, but we are also acquiring customers that already play the game – and these are players that we can transfer.

Betting on the success of a game

Siu emphasized that Animoca seeks to acquire games that „already have a captive audience that already generates income [and] loves the product as it is.

„By giving them the benefits of blockchain technology, those players will get an additional benefit that we believe is very powerful,“ he added.

The Sandbox announced the sale of its tokens for $3 million through the Binance launch pad.
Siu described Blockchain as the engine of a breakthrough in the gaming industry, similar to the emergence of online games, but with very different concepts around „ownership and value“.

„Ownership allows players to have an interest in the success of the game.“