Mighty Bear raises $10 million to create blockchain games
Blockchain games continue to grow despite the crypto winter. In doing so, the industry has had to adapt and mature at a faster pace than ever before. The play-to-earn model – which was all the rage less than a year ago – has largely been replaced today.
Crypto game companies now swear by the play-and-serve ethos instead. It has been designed to be more sustainable, with equal emphasis on both gameplay and crypto mechanics. Play-to-earn games often ignored the former, luring users in with the promise of free money and offering little entertainment value.
The play-and-earn model is proving to be more enticing not only among crypto-natives but traditional gaming enthusiasts as well. For homegrown game development studio Mighty Bear Games, it’s an ideal time to venture into the world of Web3.
The company was established in 2016 and is known for mobile games such as Disney Melee Mania. In July of this year, Mighty Bear raised $10 million to build its own ecosystem of blockchain games.
Get into blockchain gaming
“We’ve been looking at making a game on the blockchain since as early as 2018, but we could never really see a way to make it a fun experience,” says Mighty Bear CEO Simon Davis. “It wasn’t until late 2021, after finishing development on our last title, that we took a look at the idea.”
By this time, the first wave of Web3 games – led by popular titles such as Axie Infinity – had already enjoyed enormous success. “It showed us that there was a lot of potential in creating an amazing experience with NFTs, and we wanted to be part of the next generation of games.”
From the jump, Mighty Bear realized the importance of balancing playability with the potential to make money. It was the only way to ensure the longevity of their games.
“Games need to be fun to be sustainable,” explains the company’s Web3 Lead, Michael Arnold. “Players should really enjoy the game so they spend money on entertainment rather than just investing.”
Blockchain games reward users with crypto tokens. If users are driven solely by the prospect of making money, they will continually sell their rewards, leading to a drop in token value over time. For a game to be sustainable, there needs to be incentives that motivate people to use tokens for other purposes in the game – whether it’s buying cosmetic upgrades or new avatars.
“We want to reward skill,” Arnold said, explaining Mighty Bear’s approach to sustainable blockchain gaming. This appears in the studio’s first Web3 release, Mighty Action Heroes.
“The highest ranked players will be able to earn NFT heroes and gear. This helps reward the most competitive and talented players while excluding bots trying to exploit the ecosystem.”
Develop Web3 games
To make the transition to Web3, Mighty Bear had to train their team who had only worked on Web2 games up until this point. Arnold was one of the new members hired to facilitate this internal shift.
The Web3 area has traditionally had a very high barrier to entry and can be intimidating for many, especially those without a particular interest in the technology and culture. We developed an entire onboarding experience for the team and continue to acquire more Web3-native talent as well.”
– Simon Davis, CEO of Mighty Bear Games
Developing for Web3 involves a wider range of considerations than Web2. From monetization to tokenomics, game studios need to establish how crypto-based elements will affect gameplay and the overall user experience.
“A lot more care and craft goes into designing sustainable and engaging economies, while building a fun game that people will want to play regardless of the revenue model.”
With Mighty Action Heroes, Mighty Bear decided to utilize his existing abilities. “Our team has experience making core genres like Battle Royales and MOBAs more accessible to a wider audience,” says Davis.
The team used what they had learned from their previous games and brought it all together in the Web3 space.
The future of blockchain gaming
Davis compares the beginnings of blockchain gaming to the free-to-play gaming model that emerged in the early 2000s. Before that, games were sold as CDs or cassettes for a fixed price.
Free-to-play games introduced new ways of monetization where anyone could enjoy the core game and then choose to pay for upgrades, additional content, or other benefits.
There was huge outcry then about the monetization model since it was so different from the traditional approach to box games. But over time, free-to-play became part of the landscape.
Eventually, there will no longer be a distinction between Web2 and Web3 games – they will just be games.
– Simon Davis, CEO of Mighty Bear Games
For Mighty Bear, this is just the beginning of their foray into Web3. Mighty Action Heroes is the first of several games to come, all of which form part of the MightyNet ecosystem.
Featured Image Credit: Mighty Bear
Also read: “If gaming to make money isn’t fun, it won’t have long-term success”: Oasys Director
