Voodoo, a mobile video game developer and publisher backed by Tencent, plans to invest more than $200 million to launch a blockchain division that will offer NFTs, according to Bloomberg.
Known for mobile titles “Helix Jump” and “Paper.io,” the Paris-based company plans to integrate a system that rewards players with digital assets as they improve within a game.
- Voodoo will compete with French-based NFT fantasy sports platform Sorare, which raised $680 million in September at a $4.3 billion valuation.
- Ubisoft, another French game developer, recently launched Quartz, a platform that allows players to acquire playable NFTs.
- Quartz has received backlash from Ubisoft’s workers union, who deemed it “useless, costly, and ecologically mortifying.”
Growing Business
Voodoo — which has more than 300 million active users — is valued at $1.9 billion after Belgian holding company GBL acquired a 16% stake worth $300 million in July.
Tencent acquired its minority stake in Voodoo in August 2020. The China-based conglomerate posted $22 billion in revenue in Q3 2021, a 13% uptick compared to the same period last year.
Its value-added services segment — which includes video games — generated $11.7 billion in revenue in Q3, an 8% increase year-over-year.
