In every era, entrepreneurs who are the best at entrepreneurship have found solutions to unsolved issues and opened questions and transformed them into businesses.
In the early 2000s the most pressing questions were about social. How can you turn a plain interface into a personal and interactive platform that allows people to write to? The possibilities grew as mobile proliferation increased: the big questions in the 2010s were about what you could do when everyone had access to a device they could communicate, make micropayments and play games.
Two new computing technologies are now available at production scale: AI, and crypto. We’re already seeing some of the most talented entrepreneurs in the world beginning to explore what can be unlocked when you use the two technologies.
That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our investment in PLAI Labs, founded by Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb, technology veterans who previously were the founders of both the social media platform MySpace and the game studio Jam City.
MySpace was founded in 2003 and has since been a major social network. Jam City is well-known for mobile games such as Cookie Jam, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, or Disney Emoji Blitz. With over 30 million monthly active users, billions of downloads, they’re one of the most successful game studios in the industry.
Chris and Aber have been at forefront of technological advancements in the past, and they are now laser-focused for the future.
PLAI Labs, Chris and Aber’s new venture, is focused on building the next generation of social platforms leveraging AI and web3. They have a combined experience in game design and social media and are building a new platform that allows users to chat, trade, play, battle, trade, adventure, and play together.
Champions Ascension is their first entertainment experience. This massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), allows players to port in non-fungible token characters (NFTs), go on quests, trade objects, fight in the colosseum and build their own dungeons. They’re also building an AI protocol platform which will help with everything from user generated content (UGC) to matchmaking to 2D to 3D asset rendering.
We believe games are the foundation of the future social networks. The best games have strong communities and enticing core gameplay. They also have robust meta-progression systems which together determine how players interact with one another. Web3 games have the potential to build the decentralized metaverse. They are able to do this through their distributed infrastructure and their focus on player empowerment through asset ownership. Chris, Aber, as well as their team, are the best equipped to seize this opportunity.
We’re excited to support their team going forward, and you can see a preview of what they’re building here: https://www.champions.io/
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