Com2uS Holdings and Wemade, Fierce Competition to Expand the Blockchain Ecosystem

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Competition among mid-sized game companies such as Com2uS Holdings (formerly Gamevil) and Wemade to expand their blockchain ecosystems is intensifying. As leading domestic game companies have announced plans to enter the Play to Earn (P2E) market starting next year, securing market dominance has become crucial.

◆ Everyone is jumping into the ‘blockchain ecosystem’ = According to industry sources on the 2nd, Com2uS Holdings recently acquired the cryptocurrency platform specialist company ‘Jenaad’ and integrated it into its development division. Through Jenaad’s blockchain technology expertise, they aim to complete the electronic wallet and smart contract technology for a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, while also integrating blockchain-based advertising solutions into HIVE, which is evolving into a blockchain game platform, to create synergy.

They also carried out a major organizational restructuring to build an independent global blockchain ecosystem. The game production headquarters was reorganized into a structure optimized for blockchain game development and blockchain ecosystem creation. In addition to the production office responsible for blockchain game development and the token system (C2X), a new economic operations office was established. This department is tasked with designing and maintaining the blockchain economy stably. C2X is a proprietary token issued by Com2uS Holdings.

Efforts to onboard other game companies’ games into the C2X ecosystem are also underway. On the 18th of last month, they formed a strategic partnership with Terraform Labs, the developer of the blockchain platform ‘Terra,’ to build the blockchain ecosystem. Subsequently, they signed business agreements with companies such as OL.M’s ‘Kritika,’ DaeriSoft’s ‘Sasin Kiugi Online,’ and RPG Republic’s ‘Annyeong Ella’ to onboard these titles onto C2X.

Wemade, which achieved success by launching the P2E model blockchain game ‘Mir4 Global,’ is also aggressively expanding the ecosystem of its proprietary token ‘Wemix.’ Their goal is to release 100 blockchain games using Wemix as the base currency.

To this end, they signed a business agreement with Joycity, the developer of ‘Gunship Battle: Total Warfare,’ for blockchain business, game development, and release. Supercat, known as the developer of ‘Baram-ui Nara: Yeon,’ also joined the Wemix ecosystem. The onboarding of UTP Plus Interactive’s metaverse platform ‘Ditoland’ has been decided, and Action Square’s ‘Blade: RE.ACTION’ (hereafter ‘Blade: Reaction’) has also been confirmed to join.

◆ Speed is key in blockchain games = The reason these game companies are focusing on expanding their blockchain ecosystems is the market preemption effect. The more games serviced within this ecosystem, the more active the transactions become, attracting more users. Jang Hyun-guk, CEO of Wemade, said, “At this point, the biggest success factor for blockchain games is speed,” adding, “Since it is definitely a field with a first-mover advantage, companies that start quickly can achieve greater success than their potential.”

Major domestic game companies have also announced plans to enter the blockchain game market next year. NCSoft plans to showcase a lineup of games applying NFTs in the first quarter of next year. This includes new intellectual properties (IP) as well as existing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). The company has formed a task force internally and completed technical preparations.

Netmarble is focusing on future technologies such as blockchain, metaverse, and NFTs, exploring ways to incorporate them into their business. Bang Jun-hyuk, chairman of Netmarble’s board, is reported to have ordered the discovery of business models combining intangible assets and cryptocurrencies since 2018.

Kakao Games is also developing an NFT marketplace specialized for games and the metaverse. Its subsidiary FriendsGames, responsible for development, recently accelerated marketplace development by absorbing and merging with Nabu Studio, a blockchain-based sports game specialist company.