Vietnam-Based Summoners Arena Raises $3M

The funding round for the video game developer was led by Pantera Capital.

AccessTimeIconFeb 11, 2022 at 1:03 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 5:23 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Summoners Arena, a GameFi role-playing game (RPG) developer in Vietnam, closed a $3 million funding round that was led by Pantera Capital and that counted Coinbase Ventures and Impossible Ventures as participants.

  • In an interview with CoinDesk, Zoe Hoang, Summoners Arena's chief marketing officer, said that the team is hoping to differentiate Summoners Arena from other entries in the genre by making it a game that people actually want to play, not just play-to-earn, calling her company's model "play-own-earn."
  • The team plans to use the proceeds to hire more staff and further develop the game by enhancing the graphics and adding support for virtual reality. It also plans to create a universe of other games with the same characters.
  • Hoang said that gaming is the “perfect use case” for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) because it can create a sense of ownership for gamers. When playing a game, gamers might "invest" dozens of hours of time, but before GameFi, there was no way for the gamers to claim ownership over their achievements.
  • Interest in gaming in Vietnam has accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic, with gamers primarily using their mobile phones or PCs. Consoles are pretty much nonexistent in the market because of their high cost and limited utility.
  • Using NFTs to represent ownership of achievements in the company's video games – and not just for speculation– is what caught the attention of Pantera Capital, Hoang said.
  • “By prioritizing building an amazing game first and layering in crypto-economics second, their play-own-earn model is setting a strong example for other projects in the space, learning lessons from early attempts at the play-to-earn model," Paul Veradittakit, a partner at Pantera Capital, said in a press release.
  • Although play-to-earn games are on shaky regulatory grounds in parts of Asia, Hoang said that the Vietnamese government hasn’t taken a position on crypto and existing laws haven’t caught up with the technology. Still, the government is meeting with stakeholders and has an open ear to their feedback on developing new laws.
  • GameFi tokens now have a $23 billion market cap, according to CoinGecko.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.