ChainCatcher news, Gate Ventures officially announced a strategic investment in Japan's leading Web3 gaming company double jump.tokyo Inc., as part of a $10 million funding round led by SBI Investment. This significant investment highlights Gate Ventures' strong commitment to promoting the development of blockchain technology and the Web3 gaming ecosystem globally.This Series D funding round is led by SBI Investment and has attracted participation from industry leaders such as Sony Group Corporation, Taisu Ventures, and Kitadenshi Inc. This funding will help double jump.tokyo further develop and support blockchain games, blockchain infrastructure, and related services, as well as strengthen the company's organizational structure and talent base. Since its establishment in 2018, double jump.tokyo has been at the forefront of blockchain game development.With the support of Gate Ventures, double jump.tokyo plans to expand its innovations in joint game development and infrastructure enhancement. Gate Ventures is confident that this collaboration will help double jump.tokyo become a key driver in the widespread adoption of Web3.

ChainCatcher news, South Korean gaming giant NCSoft achieved over 250 times return on its investment in SUI tokens in the first half of this year. In the first half of this year, NCSoft sold 16,908,112 SUI tokens at a price of 1,490 KRW (approximately 1.10 USD) each, generating a total revenue of 25.2 billion KRW (approximately 18.6 million USD). The initial investment was only 100 million KRW. Last year, NCSoft invested about 300 million KRW at a price of 6 KRW per token, purchasing 49,920,806 SUI tokens, most of which were locked. The remaining 32,921,536 tokens will be unlocked in May next year and May 2026.It is worth noting that in November 2022, NCSoft's U.S. subsidiary NC West invested 15 million USD in Sui's developer Mysten Labs.

ChainCatcher news reports that according to Soccerverse's official Twitter, gaming giant Square Enix has joined the Soccerverse team and led its $3.1 million funding round. This investment will help Soccerverse innovate football management games through blockchain technology, allowing players to build dream teams, trade player influence, and experience the future of football gaming.Additionally, according to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Square Enix is one of the most influential video game providers in the world. Its famous game series include: Final Fantasy®, Dragon Quest®, Tomb Raider®, and the legendary Space Invaders®.

ChainCatcher news, South Korea's largest mobile game publisher Netmarble, known for mobile games such as "Blade & Soul," "Lineage 2," and "Seven Knights," announced a strategic investment in CARV by its subsidiary MARBLEX. The two parties will work together to promote AI and data-driven gaming experiences.This collaboration will bring a more personalized player experience to MARBLEX, the blockchain gaming company under its umbrella, through CARV's modular data layer. The revolutionary protocol ERC-7231 proposed by CARV has recently been approved by the Ethereum Foundation, setting a new standard for data ownership and identity management in the Web3 industry.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by Chosun Biz, sources indicate that NXC, the holding company of South Korean gaming giant Nexon and the largest shareholder of one of South Korea's top five cryptocurrency exchanges, Korbit, is seeking to sell its 48% stake. NXC acquired a 62% stake in Korbit for 93 billion won in 2017, and its share was diluted after SK Square, an investment company under the SK Group, joined as the second-largest shareholder in 2021. An official from NXC stated, "We cannot make a formal statement at this stage."The report indicates that Korbit's performance has gradually deteriorated over the six years since being acquired by NXC. A deficit is also expected in 2023. NXC stated at the beginning of its investment that it would not directly participate in Korbit's management, and industry insiders analyze that even if Korbit falls into difficulties, NXC has not provided significant support to the exchange.

ChainCatcher news, Takashi Kiryu, the president of Japanese video game giant Square Enix, stated that three key investment areas have been identified in the new business sectors: blockchain entertainment / Web 3.0, artificial intelligence, and cloud technology. The company is currently adjusting its organizational structure and optimizing resource allocation to support these areas.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series, Take-Two Interactive Software's subsidiary is launching its first Web3 game, Sugartown. It is reported that Sugartown is developed by Take-Two's subsidiary Zynga, allowing players the opportunity to earn in-game currency. Players will use Ethereum (or ERC-721) tokens to access the game. An access token named Oras will be issued later this year, with 10,000 of these tokens available for minting as part of the initial rollout.

ChainCatcher news, Bloomberg reported that Sega Corp., the Japanese gaming giant, and Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi stated that they will take a more cautious approach to the Web 3.0 model and temporarily withdraw from the blockchain gaming sector, putting plans to develop such games on hold. Additionally, it was mentioned that Sega will retain its largest franchise rights from third-party blockchain game projects to avoid devaluing its content. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, South Korea's largest game developer Nexon has announced the launch of the NFT game MapleStory Universe on Polygon. The game's head, Hwang Sun-young, stated that they will work closely with the team at Polygon Labs to develop and market the game and build an NFT ecosystem based on it.It is reported that MapleStory first debuted in South Korea in 2003 and has since been released in several other countries around the world. In the game, players create their own characters and embark on quests, battling monsters and interacting with other players in a virtual world. The game features a variety of different professions to choose from, each with its own unique skills. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, South Korean gaming giant Wemade announced a strategic investment in the smart transportation service platform HwikGo. The two parties will combine smart mobility and blockchain technology to launch a new service, extending mobility into Move to Earn and Live to Earn. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, South Korean gaming giant Wemade has announced the launch of its DeFi service Kurrency, aimed at enhancing usability, transparency, and reliability. Kurrency is a service that issues crypto dollars through collateralized debt positions, allowing users to pledge virtual assets supported by the service as collateral to issue WCD (WEMIX Crypto Dollar). WCD is issued by ensuring that the value of the collateral exceeds the total amount of "over-collateralized" loans issued. WCD will connect Wemade's KLEVA protocol, DEX, and other Wemade DeFi services, as well as various other DeFi services across multiple chains, improving capital efficiency and interconnectivity between services. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean gaming giant WeMade has withdrawn all lawsuits against the digital asset trading platform under the joint consulting organization (DAXA) for violating the delisting regulations of the virtual currency WEMIX. According to legal sources cited by Yonhap, WeMade submitted a notice of withdrawal to the Seoul Central District Court against Upbit, Bithumb Korea, Coinone, and Korbit.In December 2022, the Seoul Central District Court rejected the temporary injunction application filed by WeMade's subsidiary Wemix PTE regarding the delisting of the WEMIX Token by crypto trading platforms such as Upbit. However, WeMade expressed dissatisfaction with the court's ruling and subsequently appealed, until today when they withdrew the lawsuit. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, South Korean gaming giant Wemade has signed a memorandum of understanding with blockchain security firm CertiK. According to the terms of the memorandum, Wemade and CertiK will establish a long-term security partnership and initiate joint marketing activities. CertiK will assist Wemade in enhancing the security and efficiency of the WEMIX 3.0 ecosystem. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to News1, South Korean gaming giant Wemade will launch the Ethereum Layer 2 platform testnet in March. This testnet will utilize the technology researched internally at the zero-knowledge proof research center established by Wemade in December last year. Wemade plans to release the official version of the platform in June and hopes that the blockchain platform "Wemix 3.0" connecting with the Ethereum Layer 2 platform will help expand the Wemix ecosystem. (source link)

According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Forkast, Japanese gaming giant Square Enix is developing multiple blockchain games based on the company's intellectual property, which will be released this year. The company's president, Yosuke Matsuda, reaffirmed the commitment to integrating blockchain technology with video games.It is reported that Square Enix has produced world-renowned games such as Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, and as of March 31, 2022, Square Enix recorded net sales of 365.2 billion yen (2.8 billion USD). In November 2022, Square Enix announced the launch of its first NFT game, Symbiogenesis. However, Square Enix fans have expressed dissatisfaction with the company's adoption of blockchain technology, citing distrust in digital assets, concerns about the potential environmental impact of the technology, and the low quality of blockchain games. (Forkast)

ChainCatcher news, the South Korean game developer Nexon, known for developing popular games such as "Dungeon & Fighter" and "KartRider," has partnered with Tencent Cloud to launch the metaverse platform Nexontown, which is currently open to South Korea.Nexontown features an open hall, camping sites, classrooms, and meeting rooms, where users can interact using items and characters from Nexon's online games. Tencent Cloud provides Nexontown with features such as audio and video, low barriers to entry, fast access, and high concurrency support, allowing players to engage in real-time video chat and in-game item trading through Tencent Real-Time Communication (TRTC). (Techinasia)

ChainCatcher news, according to VentureBeat, as part of the $300 million funding previously announced by Mysten Labs, the South Korean online gaming company NCSoft has invested $15 million in Mysten Labs. This funding will be used to drive the development of the Sui Layer 1 blockchain as infrastructure for Web3 games and other projects.It is reported that NCSoft was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in South Korea, with subsidiaries around the world, releasing online and mobile games for millions of fans. NCSoft established a joint venture subsidiary in Taiwan with Game Orange, named NC Taiwan Co., Ltd. (NC Taiwan, NCT), which operates games such as Lineage, Aion, and Blade & Soul.Previously, ChainCatcher reported in September this year that the Sui development team, Mysten Labs, announced the completion of a $300 million funding round led by FTX Ventures, with participation from a16z Crypto, Jump Crypto, Apollo, Binance Labs, Franklin Templeton, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, A&T Capital. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to ZDNet, South Korean gaming giant WeMade has launched the WEMIX3.0 mainnet and is currently negotiating with various exchanges for the migration of the existing Wemix Classic to Wemix Coin. The existing WEIX WALLET application has been changed to PLAY WALLET.In addition, WeMade will issue the stablecoin Wemix Dollar and the DeFi service WEMIX Fi on October 22, and the new economic platform NILE, which combines NFT and DAO, will also be launched successively. (Source link)