What is the appeal of the GameFi platform Mirror World?

Original Title: "Capital Gathers at GameFi Platform Mirror World"

Author: Kyle, Hive Tech

On March 11, a $4 million financing round for the GameFi platform project Mirror World attracted investment from over ten capital firms. The list of investors includes familiar names from the industry such as YGG SEA gaming guild and OKX Blockdream Ventures, as well as traditional venture capital firms focused on gaming like Galaxy Interactive.

According to the official website, Mirror World is positioned as an interconnected and interoperable metaverse gaming world. Once users own a Mirror NFT character, they can traverse various games connected to it, and NFTs such as equipment and items obtained in different games within Mirror World can also be used across games.

Another major feature of Mirror World is "smart NFTs." The project utilizes the smart NFT technology from AI startup rct AI. In simple terms, when existing NFTs are combined with AI technology, they can interact intelligently with players in the gaming world. Ideally, these virtual NFTs can proactively adjust their behavior based on changes in the environment.

The gathering of over ten investment institutions around Mirror World not only reflects optimism about the project itself but also signifies a consensus among institutions regarding the development prospects of NFTs and the GameFi sector.

In fact, in addition to investment firms within the crypto circle, traditional capital giants such as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, SoftBank, and Goldman Sachs have also made varying degrees of investments in the NFT and metaverse fields. The convergence of these keen investment institutions has become a barometer for trend transformation.

Mirror World Attracts Investment from Over Ten Institutions

On March 11, Eastern Time, the GameFi project Mirror World announced the completion of a $4 million seed round financing. Although the amount is not large, the number of investors exceeds ten.

The leading investors in this financing round include interactive entertainment investment firm Galaxy Interactive, Republic Crypto, and the crypto quantitative fund Alameda Research. Other participants include well-known guilds in the GameFi sector like YGG SEA and Avocado Guild, as well as the fund OKX Blockdream Ventures under OKX.

Additionally, several institutions such as Infinity Ventures Crypto, LD Capital, Sky9 Capital, Metasense DAO, and Nihil Ventures also participated in the investment.

The total financing amount of $4 million has attracted such a large number of institutional investments, suggesting a "too many monks for the porridge" situation. What exactly is Mirror World that has drawn so many institutions to invest?

According to the official website, Mirror World is a blockchain-based virtual world; it is not a game but can be understood as a metaverse platform with a matrix of games. Mirror World is positioned this way because it recognizes that the appeal of a single GameFi game is declining, leading to a depreciation of in-game assets until they become neglected.

Mirror World aims to connect different games and experiences, allowing users to traverse various gaming scenarios while possessing interconnected yet independent economic systems.

For example, NFTs such as equipment and items obtained in different games within Mirror World can be used across games; once players own a Mirror World NFT character, it is equivalent to having a character that can freely play all games. Although each game has different gameplay and scenarios, the character can move freely.

In the existing game world design, Mirror World includes an ARPG game called "Mirrama," a casual PVP arena duel game called "Brawl of Mirrors," and a SLG strategy game. It is reported that after the completion of this seed round financing, Mirror World will fully construct and accelerate the launch of these three games.

In September 2021, Mirror World had already issued 11,000 Mirror NFTs that can be used in games, all of which can be used across multiple games on the platform.

Mirror World Series NFTs

In addition to its interconnected and interoperable attributes, another major feature of Mirror World is the adoption of AI technology, which essentially allows NFTs to become intelligent, meaning that virtual creatures in the game can "come to life" and interact with players.

This "smart NFT" technology is implemented by the Y Combinator-incubated startup rct AI. Last November, Mirror World launched its first AI dialogue chip NFT—Soul—based on this technology.

According to the introduction, each Soul NFT can be bound to an existing NFT, bringing them to life. Ideally, after integrating AI technology, these virtual NFTs can proactively adjust their behavior based on changes and engage in dialogue with players.

Imagine when players are gaming, the NPCs (non-player characters) in the game no longer mechanically complete dialogue tasks but can intelligently interact with players, significantly enhancing the immersive experience of the game.

This smart NFT technology has already been applied. By the end of last year, well-known NFT projects like Cryptopunks and Bored Ape could already integrate with Soul NFTs for smart NFT upgrades; in January of this year, the NFT project AgeofZ introduced the Soul NFT mechanism to make its NFT characters more interactive, immersive, and appealing.

The concepts of game interoperability and smart NFTs make Mirror World stand out in the GameFi sector, which is evidently a significant factor in attracting multiple capital interests.

NFTs Attract Various Capital to Enter the Market

Among the investment camp of Mirror World, the backgrounds of some investors are also worth noting. In addition to familiar faces from the crypto circle like YGG SEA and Avocado Guild, there are also venture capital firms like Galaxy Interactive that focus on interactive content and technology.

According to information, Galaxy Interactive was founded in 2018 and is a subsidiary of digital asset bank Galaxy Digital. The fund focuses on VR/AR, AI, and blockchain-based gaming. Strictly speaking, it is not purely a crypto capital firm but invests in the "interactive technology industry" that adopts new-generation technologies to enhance interactive experiences.

Sam Englebardt, co-founder of Galaxy Interactive, describes the next-generation interactive technology industry as "the intersection of content, finance, and technology," believing that this technology will drive substantial economic growth. Therefore, the company particularly focuses on digital collectibles and building the metaverse, with Englebardt considering NFTs as the foundational pillar for creating an immersive internet.

According to incomplete statistics, Galaxy Interactive has invested in over 75 companies in the past three years, managing assets exceeding $650 million. In addition to investing in Mirror World, the firm has also invested in startups like Republic, 1047 Games, rct AI, Elodie, Roar, Art Blocks, and Masterworks.

In fact, as GameFi, NFTs, and the metaverse become new trends in the crypto world, more and more traditional and emerging capital are beginning to focus on this sector.

On February 17 of this year, renowned venture capital firm Sequoia Capital launched an independent crypto investment fund, marking its first specific industry fund since its establishment in 1972. Sequoia Capital partner Maguire believes that crypto assets will become the biggest trend in the next 20 to 30 years.

In the past year, Sequoia Capital has invested in several NFT-related projects, including Solana chain game developer Faraway and cricket NFT platform Faze Technologies.

Additionally, the firm has made multiple investments in areas such as Layer 2, DeFi, and Web3. In December of last year, Sequoia Capital also minted the original investment memo for YouTube from 2005 as an NFT and auctioned it on OpenSea to commemorate YouTube's position in the history of internet development.

The capital giants focusing on the NFT and metaverse sectors are not limited to Sequoia. In January of this year, Tiger Global invested $10 million in the NFT platform Unblocked on the Flow blockchain, and in November of last year, it also participated in the investment of cricket NFT platform Faze Technologies.

Since last year, SoftBank has also made significant moves into the crypto industry, investing not only in the crypto asset trading platform FTX but also in football NFT collectibles platform Sorare and NFT sandbox game The Sandbox.

Moreover, traditional investment institutions established in the last century, such as Insight Partners, Coatue, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Goldman Sachs, have also embraced NFTs and GameFi in these two major crypto fields.

Historically, whenever significant technological innovations occur in the world, these experienced capital giants have always been able to stand at the forefront. Now, various traditional capital and emerging venture capital firms are converging in the NFT and metaverse fields, which, to some extent, will become a barometer for leading trends.