They say that it is in the hardest times that the best crypto projects are built.
At least that's what French mobile gaming giant Voodoo is hoping for, as it will launch its own cryptocurrency in 2023. According to our information, the launch will take place in the third quarter.
This cryptocurrency - its codename for now is "Voodoo Coin" - will be available via an unprecedented operation for a group of this size: an ICO (initial coin offering) 🤔
An ICO is a cryptocurrency fundraiser from the general public 💡
After experiencing a real boom in 2017, this type of operation, regulated in France since 2019 by the Pact law, has gradually disappeared. But the world's leading publisher of mobile video games - more than 6 billion downloads since its creation in 2013 - could bring it back to life!
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Voodoo doesn't want to launch a cryptocurrency by accident; it will allow users to access the paid sections of the blockchain games the group and its 700 employees are developing on its upcoming Voodoo Infinity app.
Players will also be able to earn in-game rewards directly convertible into "Voodoo Coins" which will be the global currency of the game ecosystem.
Several major Web3 players are said to be in the process of joining the project and acquiring "Voodoo Coins" in advance. Still according to our information, the ICO should take place on an exchange platform. Its name has not been disclosed, but it could be Binance, which is the biggest exchange platform on the planet.
The choice of Binance would make sense, as Voodoo ($425 million in revenue in 2021) is very well known in the U.S. and Europe, but much less so in Asia, an area where Binance is crushing the competition 💪
In terms of technological choices, the "Voodoo Coin" should be developed on Polygon.
First step before the ICO: creating a community
To develop its project, Voodoo intends to rely on a Discord community (which will be created before the end of the first half of the year, i.e. several weeks before the ICO) to test the games in preview and give feedback to the publisher.
"There will be an advantage to being part of this community because those who test the games in advance will be able to earn tokens in a privileged way," points out Yoni Lasry, in charge of Voodoo's blockchain activities. They will also be able to receive NFTs.
About ten games are currently in development, but three of them are more advanced and should be part of the catalog at launch.
As a mobile game publisher, Voodoo has historically catered to casual gamers and will have to deal with the difficulty of managing a cryptocurrency wallet. This hurdle could be removed via partnerships with Torus and Web3auth, which allow frictionless wallet creation with a simple Google, Apple, Facebook or Twitter account. More advanced users will be able to connect the wallets of their choice.
Goal: reach the mass market
With this project, Voodoo hopes to appeal to the widest audience. "Both crypto-users and the general public", underlines Yoni Lasry.
The challenge is not small, as no blockchain game has yet managed to go beyond the insiders.
Sorare currently has nearly 700,000 unique monthly users, but it is still far from the great success of traditional mobile games. For example, Candy Crush had 240 million monthly active players at the end of last year! 😝
"The first wave of blockchain games never exceeded 100,000 players at best," confirms a good industry insider.
One of the keys to the success of the Voodoo Infinity application will be its eventual presence on the Apple and Google mobile application stores. At least that's what the company is working on.
"The AppStore is an evangelization tool that remains incredible," explains Yoni Lasry, "obviously we could do without it to develop games for very educated audiences, but it's essential to go after the mass market."
