In a strategic move, Readygg appoints former Sony Interactive Entertainment chairman, Shawn Layden, as an advisor, alongside raising $4 million for their web3 gaming venture. Layden, initially skeptical about web3, now sees the value in Readygg's focus on ownership gaming. The funding, supported by key partners, propels Readygg's mission to mainstream web3 gaming.

AAA Expertise 

Shawn Layden, with extensive experience from Sony and PlayStation, is set to guide Readygg on monetization, ownership dynamics, and enhancing developer-player relationships. Christina Macedo, Readygg's COO, underscores Layden's insights, stating, "He has a lot of experience talking with developers. What are developers looking for? What do players want to hear? What hasn’t worked?"

Layden spent decades at Sony and previously served as the president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, contributing significantly to the success of the PlayStation brand. In his new role with Readygg, Layden aims to champion community-centric gaming that empowers players.

Layden commented in a press release: “Ownership gaming can foster shared experiences, enhance in-game achievements, and unlock new opportunities for players who are rewarded for the hours they play. This model enables gamers to permanently own the assets, reputation, and profile they cultivate and leverage it to unlock new horizons for engagement.”

Growing Ecosystem

The ecosystem is growing as Readygg has a partnership with Aptos Labs to expand its potential player base (not its actual users). Readygg’s network has already secured agreements with over 20 web2 publishers, boasting a library of 2,000 games enjoyed by 200 million monthly active users. Now the job is to convert them to web3.

The $4 million funding, backed by prominent investors, is a crucial step in Readygg's goal of mainstreaming ownership gaming. The funding comes from key partners including NeoTokyo and Delphi Digital, Merit Circle, Momentum6, Purechain Capital, Alex Becker, and Token Metrics Ventures. The infusion of capital will help Readygg toward its mission of mainstreaming ownership gaming. 

The company's ownership gaming model, driven by web3 technologies, has shown promise with titles like Runestone Keeper, increasing player engagement and retention. This model addresses rising game development costs, providing alternative monetization channels and reducing user acquisition costs.

Readygg, positioned as a game development Layer 3, incorporates decentralized decision-making, milestone rewards, cross-game utilities, blockchain technology, and NFT-based user-generated content. This approach simplifies the launch of web3 games, offering a seamless experience for developers, players, and content creators.

Addressing concerns about platform transactions, Readygg's solution ensures compliance with app store rules, facilitating in-game transactions for both Google and Apple. Christina Macedo emphasizes the company's positive traction, stating, "We have titles that are getting ready to launch."

Readygg’s solution enables both Google and Apple to be paid their 30% cut for in-app purchases. To buy NFTs in the games supported by Ready Games, players will make payments to buy in-game currency through Apple or Google. Then they use those coins to buy the NFTs. That ensures that Apple or Google get paid.

“We want to own this concept of ownership gaming, where the player has their on-chain identity, their assets, and their data,” Macedo said. “Now we’re starting to talk to triple-A studios and larger publishers and larger studios about Web3 gaming or ownership gaming or on-chain gaming. They’re starting to understand what we’re talking about and the business logic of it.”

The company is doing more marketing and it is adding more ambassadors like Layden from the web2 world to help users make the transition to web3 and validate the tech. Layden could help with the access to the triple-A developers, Macedo said.

Final Thoughts

As Readygg expands its team and taps into markets like Southeast Asia, the company's mobile game development toolkit becomes crucial. It offers an integrated solution for web3 on-chain support, covering wallets, user profiles, interaction, and a full dApp Store frontend stack.

Shawn Layden envisions a transformative period for the gaming industry, driven by innovative startups like Readygg. The funding, supported by investors like Illuminati Capital, signifies a positive trend in the blockchain gaming industry. Layden, optimistic about the future, sees this shift as an opportunity to create a world where players actively participate in the marketplace, benefiting from ownership, rewards, and item sales facilitated by blockchain technology.

This article was inspired by an original blog post from GamesBeat, you can read the full post on their website here for more information.