Aethir has partnered with Magic Eden to jointly build a unified gaming ecosystem

On April 30, distributed GPU cloud infrastructure Aethir partnered with the world's leading multi-chain NFT platform Magic Eden. Aethir's enterprise-grade "GPU as a Service" infrastructure will be integrated with Magic Eden's NFT platform to create a unified gaming ecosystem, making Magic Eden the preferred NFT platform for Aethir's gaming clients.

In the context of the rapidly evolving modern gaming industry, blockchain gaming projects are overly reliant on the core mechanism of NFTs. The goal of NFTs is to tokenize in-game equipment, items, avatars, etc., providing players with more interactivity and value. Known for its multifunctionality in the NFT space, Magic Eden plays a pivotal role in blockchain gaming projects, offering significant support for the creativity of different entities in the gaming field.

However, as blockchain games gradually gain attention, the demand for GPU computing power has also significantly increased. In light of this challenge, Aethir provides the raw GPU resources necessary to drive the next generation of blockchain games. By leveraging Aethir's distributed cloud infrastructure, Web3 gaming projects can ensure a seamless and immersive gaming experience for users worldwide.

Aethir CEO Daniel Wang stated, "Magic Eden is a true powerhouse in NFTs, with unprecedented experience in supporting blockchain games and Web3 innovations. As a leader in the NFT marketplace, their role complements Aethir's disruptive GPU cloud infrastructure for driving cloud gaming. The partnership between Aethir and Magic Eden is about the scalability of blockchain games and provides NFT game studios with the resources to seamlessly integrate millions of new users globally. Our GPU infrastructure combined with Magic Eden's NFT marketplace will become a crucial part of the next generation of Web3 games."

Magic Eden's Chief Revenue Officer Chris Akhavan mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that Aethir's computing power infrastructure is expected to address key distribution issues in Web3 gaming. Web3 game studios have the opportunity to go beyond mainstream app stores, allowing players to instantly access Web3 games without the lengthy download and installation times.

"Magic Eden is currently the largest NFT marketplace globally, covering Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Bitcoin, and recently integrated the Base mainnet, featuring a multi-chain wallet. In terms of gaming, our main product for game developers is the project launch platform," Akhavan said.

"This means game developers can mint NFT collections on Magic Eden and present them to most NFT collectors or gamers, who can achieve smooth and seamless transactions based on the secondary market."

Aethir's Chief Revenue Officer Paul Thind emphasized the role of this partnership in accelerating innovation in the rapidly evolving Web3 gaming space, as well as the synergy between Aethir's distributed GPU cloud platform and Magic Eden's community-centric NFT marketplace.

"We see many people just wanting to come in, play quickly, and then move on to other things. The collaboration with Magic Eden truly enables this, as they have the NFTs for purchase," Thind said.

Reshaping the Future of Gaming

Magic Eden stated that this partnership represents an important step towards a seamless, scalable, and immersive Web3 gaming experience, with the potential to reshape the gaming landscape in the coming years.

Aethir announced that it is leveraging advanced, distributed enterprise-grade GPU computing infrastructure tailored for AI and gaming to revolutionize DePIN, receiving support from leading Web3 investment firms such as Framework Ventures, Merit Circle, Hashkey, Animoca Brands, Sanctor Capital, and Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC).

Thind mentioned that Aethir has secured approximately $105 million in funding and is integrating its "GPU as a Service" cloud gaming technology with various games, enabling them to access its decentralized GPU cloud infrastructure platform. Everything is enterprise-grade, focusing on AI and gaming, making "GPU as a Service" available so that game developers can more easily reach players using cloud gaming technology, thereby simplifying the onboarding process for Web3, which in turn reduces costs for game developers.

"We believe this collaboration is a natural fit," Thind said.

Akhavan pointed out that mainstream app stores impose strict limitations on how game developers build and design Web3 games, making it very difficult to release games. Typically, if you want to create a true blockchain game, you have to find a way to distribute the game directly. In Web3, downloading 10GB of content incurs significant friction costs, and there is already enough friction in Web3 itself.

Despite these frictions, Akhavan stated that with the surge in Bitcoin prices, Web3 is taking off again, and there is strong optimism that this year's market performance will surpass that of previous years. Akhavan believes that Magic Eden is a trustworthy site for purchasing NFTs, helping to enhance the discoverability of games, which has been greatly diminished in recent years due to Apple's increased focus on privacy over targeted advertising.

A New Wave for Web3 Gaming

When asked about his views on the Web3 gaming market, Akhavan believes the situation is better than last year.

"Last year's crypto bear market was definitely a tough year. Many investors disappeared, leading to many early-funded game startups struggling to secure additional funding. But what we are seeing now is that startups are rising again and starting to gain real attention."

He added, "In terms of revenue, user numbers, and all the metrics we typically focus on when investing in games, these startups are showing real appeal, and they are able to secure new funding, which is very important. This is a huge affirmation for Web3 games, and we are now seeing a new wave, with many games exhibiting high playability."

Ubisoft is returning to Web3 gaming, with Maplestory, Parallel, and Pixels making good progress, and Eve Online developing its Web3 project. Web3 gaming company GFAL has raised funds from Supercell and Mitch Lasky, and has the support of gaming pioneer Trip Hawkins. Akhavan and Thind stated that as the industry grows, both Aethir and Magic Eden can expand beyond Asia and develop more easily on a global scale.

"Many Web3 games have gained attention in this cycle, but they haven't spent much on user acquisition," Akhavan said. "They are finally able to truly leverage what I believe is a major advantage of Web3 technology, which is to genuinely involve players in the game economy, making this the primary source of user acquisition. This is one of the reasons many of us are excited about Web3, as it is similar to 'free-to-play'."