Will pseudonymous players reveal themselves?

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Hello reader,

The rush to embrace crypto in video games has gathered steam over the past few years. Some developers began building games on the blockchain, making it easy for players to collect digital assets and prove they own them.

Web3 users have grown to adore the romantic mystique in being pseudonymous in such games. However, this has led to a clash between players and games that don’t allow keeping one’s real identity under wraps.

Play-to-earn games like Crazy Defense Heroes have chosen to pay big bucks for boutique vendors to perform know-your-customer (KYC) checks in exchange for a label that marks them as “known privately.”

Today’s big story talks about how Crazy Defense Heroes added a KYC layer to its decentralized play-to-earn gaming platform – and lost 70% of its users in the process.

Meanwhile, Tech in Asia is indiscreet about its plans to help the startup ecosystem go green. Do fill out this CDP x Tech in Asia questionnaire survey and join our mission in creating a zero-carbon economy.

Today we look at:

• A play-to-earn game that lost a huge chunk of its users after adding KYC
• An edtech firm that’s looking to shake things up in Southeast Asia
• Other newsy highlights such as BukuWarung’s appointment of a top Grab executive and a Vietnamese fintech firm’s newest deal in the region.

Also, in light of Labor Day and Eid al-Fitr, the daily newsletters will be taking a short break and won’t be landing in your inbox on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will resume our newsletters on Thursday, May 4.

Premium summary

Behind an anonymous mask

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Crazy Defense Heroes, a play-to-earn game from Hong Kong-based blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands, is the latest in a growing list of crypto projects to add a KYC layer to its platform, drawing concerns over privacy from its community of gamers.

Users of the game have protested the move as the KYC mandate was introduced without warning. The game is also among the first – if not the first – play-to-earn titles to implement such a process.

Lessons from India to Indonesia

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