Pixelmon, a next-generation monster-collecting franchise, has announced a strategic partnership with Ava Labs to bring its ecosystem to the Avalanche blockchain. The collaboration begins with the launch of Pixelmon’s flagship mobile title, Warden’s Ascent, and is part of a broader strategy to expand the brand’s intellectual property through blockchain-enabled digital ownership and mobile-first gaming experiences. The game will introduce Pixelmon’s signature gameplay and storytelling to a global audience of mobile players, supported by Avalanche’s high-performance infrastructure.

Pixelmon Partners with Avalanche for Mobile Game

Why Avalanche Blockchain?

This partnership represents a significant development for Avalanche’s growing gaming ecosystem. Avalanche has recently surpassed six million wallets with a balance and has recorded over three million monthly active users. With the network processing millions of daily transactions, it provides the technical scalability and speed needed to support frictionless web3 gaming.

About the Mobile RPG: Warden’s Ascent 

Set in the fantasy world of Nova Thera, Warden’s Ascent is a turn-based role-playing game (RPG) developed for iOS and Android devices. Players explore a narrative-driven world where they can discover, hatch, and evolve more than 100 unique monsters. The game incorporates gatcha-style hatching mechanics, layered strategic gameplay, and competitive player-versus-player features. It aims to appeal to young adult audiences interested in anime, collectables, and mobile gaming.

The partnership allows Pixelmon to launch on Avalanche’s C-Chain, making blockchain features such as true digital ownership more accessible to players without disrupting the user experience. According to Giulio Xiloyannis, CEO of Pixelmon, the plan includes an eventual upgrade to a custom Avalanche-based Layer 1 blockchain, enabling the team to tailor performance, transaction costs, and gameplay features to better meet evolving user needs.

Pixelmon Partners with Avalanche for Mobile Game

Expansion into Asia-Pacific Gaming Market

The partnership is also part of a larger effort to strengthen Avalanche’s presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, where mobile gaming accounts for more than half of global gaming revenue. APAC is home to the majority of the world’s gamers, with countries like Japan, South Korea, India, and Indonesia leading in mobile platform usage. Pixelmon’s aesthetic, which draws from anime and fantasy influences, aligns well with these markets and is supported by an active regional community.

Parker Heath, Ecosystem Growth Lead for Gaming at Ava Labs, stated that the collaboration supports Avalanche’s broader vision of expanding web3 gaming infrastructure and delivering real digital ownership to players. He emphasized that partnerships like this highlight Avalanche’s capacity to handle high volumes of activity while maintaining smooth user experiences.

According to data from Newzoo, by 2028 the SEA gaming market is expected to host 332 million gamers—equivalent to the current population of the United States. This represents a significant increase from 277.2 million gamers in 2023, reflecting a steady growth rate of 3.7% CAGR over the next five years. Thailand and Indonesia are leading the way in terms of revenue growth, further solidifying their importance within the regional market.

Pixelmon Partners with Avalanche for Mobile Game

Avalanche Builds Momentum in Web3

Avalanche has already seen success with several high-profile web3 gaming projects. Off the Grid, a AAA battle royale title from Gunzilla Games, has drawn over 13 million players and reached more than 450,000 daily active users as of February 2025. Another notable project, MapleStory Universe, the blockchain extension of Nexon’s well-known franchise, achieved a 92 percent daily active user engagement rate during its closed testing phase. It also processed over 846,000 on-chain transactions in a single day using Avalanche’s subnet architecture.

With the addition of Pixelmon, Avalanche continues to broaden its portfolio of interactive entertainment experiences. Beyond Warden’s Ascent, Pixelmon has plans to expand its universe with a trading card game, an idle RPG, an anime series, and other interactive formats that involve community-driven storytelling and participation.

Pixelmon Partners with Avalanche for Mobile Game

A New Model for Player-Driven Franchises

The collaboration between Avalanche and Pixelmon reflects a shift in the gaming industry toward player involvement and digital ownership. By using Avalanche’s infrastructure, Pixelmon is creating an environment where users are not just participants but contributors to the development of the franchise. This approach leverages web3 technology to build persistent worlds shaped by their communities, setting the foundation for a new kind of interactive media.

Pixelmon and Avalanche are positioning themselves at the intersection of mobile gaming, blockchain infrastructure, and franchise development. With the launch of Warden’s Ascent and further expansion into various game formats and storytelling channels, they aim to deliver scalable, accessible, and engaging web3 gaming experiences to players worldwide.