GAM3S.GG, formerly Polkastarter Gaming, has closed a $2 million seed funding round, led by Mechanism Capital with the participation of other major venture and angel investors.
The seed round fundraise coincides with a rebrand of the project to align with its new vision. The full list of investors also includes Polygon, Double Peak, ArkStream Capital, LD Capital, ROK Capital, Hyperithm, Snackclub, Emurgo Ventures, Eden Ventures, Mix Marvel Ventures, 4SV, CommonWealth Capital, Venly Ventures, TKX Capital, SkyVision Capital, Compute Ventures and MarketAcross, as well as several angel investors in the web3 gaming space.
The raise will serve to scale and grow the GAM3S.GG gaming superapp — dubbed the “IGN for web3” by investors and partners. The platform currently offers curated web3 gaming content, with 200+ games listed across 15 chains, and over 60,000+ registered gamers, positioning itself as the biggest hub for web3 gamers since its launch in November 2022.
“Web3 games are a uniquely difficult product to build, let alone the infrastructure surrounding and enabling it. This holds especially true for gaming hubs and aggregators,” said Ken, Partner at Mechanism Capital.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the successful seed funding round and the development of the web3 gaming superapp supports the emirate’s move to a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy. GAM3S.GG is a member of AD Gaming, an initiative guiding the growth of Abu Dhabi’s gaming sector.
Throughout 2023, gaming industry giants have tested the waters of web3 gaming, with the likes of Zynga and Ubisoft working on the web3-native games Sugartown and Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles respectively. A large wave of new gamers entering the space is creating great necessity for an aggregator such as GAM3S.GG. Moreover, gamers’ sentiment towards web3 gaming is shifting, and GAM3S.GG is building the hub to enable newcomers and natives alike to explore new frontiers and experiences within one single web3 gaming superapp.
“The gaming industry is at a crossroads; while web3 offers new exciting possibilities, the lack of quality content and a singular destination for all your web3 gaming needs has left many gamers lost,” said Omar Ghanem, Co-Founder & CEO at GAM3S.GG.
GAM3S.GG has seen thousands of registered gamers exploring its selection of curated content focused on next gen web3 games since its inception. Last December, the platform hosted the first and largest web3 game award show – the GAM3 Awards, which saw over 250,000 votes and 140,000 unique viewers tune into the streamed event. Now, the platform aims to continue building advanced features to eliminate barriers to entry for blockchain games, including social logins, player-owned item management, progression rewards, retrospective in-game progress tracking, as well as directly playing web3 games on the platform.
“Traditional gaming has its IGN and Kotaku, yet the industry isn’t ready for the change that blockchain-powered titles present; and if we wait for them to step in, we’d lose potential early adopters and valuable progress — and that’s why GAM3S.GG was born,” added Ghanem. “We’re not just curating; we’re spotlighting the top games, setting the gold standard, and allowing gamers to engage with games in unprecedented ways as we aim to become the definitive home of web3 gaming.”
The team’s mission for GAM3S.GG is to help web3 gaming reach 100 million users through its platform and content, and continue its evolution as the trusted gateway for gamers looking to explore the possibilities of blockchain-powered games through upcoming features that aim to bring all your web3 gaming needs under one roof.
Sultan Al Riyami, Head of Gaming and eSports at AD Gaming, added “Abu Dhabi has become a regional hub for web3 gaming, with the likes of GAM3S.GG leading the way. The comprehensive web3 gaming ecosystem that they are building will stand them in good stead within a sector so intrinsically focused on community building and engagement, so we look forward to seeing their accelerated growth in Abu Dhabi.”
“There’s immense value in platforms that curate and guide, particularly at early stages in new niches, and while we’ve seen plenty of platforms & aggregators rise over the years, GAM3S.GG stands out as a beacon of innovation in web3 gaming,” said Shreyansh Singh, Head of Investments at Polygon. “We’ve worked closely with the team over the past 18 months and investing in them isn’t just about backing a platform; it’s about championing a vision where web3 gaming is accessible, quality games rise above the noise, and where gamers have a trusted compass in this new frontier.”
This is only the beginning of the GAM3S.GG journey, and the industry is still in its infancy. With several household names entering the blockchain gaming world more often, the platform will serve as the gateway for all gamers to enjoy web3 games to their maximum potential with all the content they need.
