Animoca Brands to buy French blockchain game studio

Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming firm, plans to acquire Darewise Entertainment, the France-based developer of blockchain game Life Beyond.

Life Beyond concept art / Photo credit: Darewise Entertainment

While the size of the deal remains undisclosed, it will speed up game development and combine high-budget game production with blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and play-to-earn elements.

Co-founded by former Ubisoft employees Benjamin Charbit and Samuel Kahn, Darewise Entertainment’s first game, Life Beyond, is in development.

“Over time it became obvious that we’re a Web3 company at our core and that blockchain offers the means to achieve our vision,” said Charbit, adding that Darewise would benefit from Animoca Brands’ expertise and network in the Web3 space.

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Life Beyond, a blockchain-based multiplayer game, will be free to play, and the company is planning free drops of NFTs needed to join the game.

In 2020, Darewise raised 3 million euros (US$3.3 million) in a seed funding round led by European VC firm Serena and joined by Lakestar.

The acquisition follows Animoca Brands’ recent acquisition of France-based game studio Eden Games.

Currency converted from Euros to US dollars: US$1 = 0.92 euros.