TON partners with Animoca Brands: Is it a collaboration for hype or a deep dive into the industry?
Is the collaboration between blockchain game companies and emerging public chains to develop the GameFi market another benefit for users?Author: Kasou Kazoku
Recently, the collaboration between Animoca Brands and TON has become a hot topic in the industry. How this partnership will reshape the gaming market and what new opportunities it will bring to players and developers have become the focus of attention both inside and outside the industry.
Animoca Brands and TON Launch Strategic Cooperation to Expand the Blockchain Gaming Market for Mutual Benefit
As a pioneer in Web3 and blockchain gaming, Animoca Brands has achieved significant accomplishments in promoting the blockchainization of the digital culture and entertainment industry. TON, as an efficient and decentralized blockchain network, has a close integration with Telegram, providing it with a vast user base and social media influence.
This collaboration combines Animoca Brands' rich gaming resources with TON's technological advantages and large user base, which is expected to drive innovation and popularization in blockchain gaming, offering users a more colorful gaming experience. Additionally, this partnership may foster new business models and revenue opportunities, bringing positive impacts to the entire blockchain gaming ecosystem.
Collaboration poster
Firstly, although the amount of Animoca's investment in TON has not been disclosed, it includes an investment in Toncoin, closely tied to its role as a validator. This move highlights Animoca's confidence in TON's vision and the potential of the Web3 space. The collaboration is not limited to financial investment but also includes comprehensive market research on the TON ecosystem, focusing on its ability to drive cryptocurrency and GameFi adoption.
A key aspect of the partnership is the strategic support for TON Play, a gaming infrastructure project based on the TON blockchain. This infrastructure will enable developers to create and launch gaming applications on Telegram, potentially reaching its 800 million users. By integrating with Telegram's PlayDeck bot, users can browse a catalog of mobile games, opening up unprecedented avenues for blockchain gaming experiences.
Moreover, Animoca plans to explore porting a portion of its over 400 Web3 projects to Telegram, further enriching the gaming offerings on the platform. This initiative is an important step in combining traditional gaming with the emerging blockchain gaming sector.
The collaboration between Animoca and TON not only reflects trust in TON's vision but also aligns with its broader goal of facilitating the transition from Web2 to Web3.
This partnership, following Animoca's role as a validator in other blockchain protocols, underscores their commitment to promoting a decentralized gaming ecosystem. This collaboration is expected to significantly drive the growth of the TON ecosystem, particularly in the gaming sector, in the coming years.
Telegram and TON Intend to Mimic Tencent, but Success Remains Uncertain
Yuga Labs, closely related to Animoca Brands, is also one of the leading projects in the market. Previously, the founder of Yuga compared his company to Tencent, but in terms of actual development models and strategic layouts, Telegram and TON may be closer to Tencent's development path.
Founder of Yuga Labs
Telegram has 800 million monthly active users, providing a vast user base to promote products similar to WeChat mini-games or other small to medium-sized games. Additionally, TON has launched its own wallet application, Ton Space, which has unique advantages in the payment sector.
The launch of Ton Space means that Telegram users can use cryptocurrency for payments and interactions in a familiar environment, significantly lowering the barrier to entry into the crypto industry. Compared to traditional wallet applications (like TP or Trustwallet), Ton Space resembles WeChat Wallet more closely, offering a richer and more diverse range of application scenarios beyond just financial products.
Telegram is building a platform that allows third-party developers to create various mini-programs, from games to food services, enabling interaction with users within Telegram. This strategy is quite similar to WeChat's super app model, but Telegram's ecosystem will adopt a decentralized approach in certain aspects, thanks to the support of the TON Foundation and Tencent.
Previously, the TON Foundation announced a partnership with Tencent Cloud, which will further support TON's high computational intensity and network bandwidth needs. The involvement of Tencent Cloud not only provides technical support for TON but may also bring significant potential benefits to Telegram's mini-program market, similar to Tencent's success in China.
WeChat was the first to launch the mini-program model in China, now supporting millions of mini-programs covering payments, food delivery, e-commerce, and various services. With the help of a decentralized payment network, Telegram's mini-program ecosystem has the potential to reach a broader global user base.
Learning from WeChat's successful experience, Telegram and TON may gain insights from their collaboration with Tencent Cloud, particularly in how to leverage communication applications for various daily transactions. WeChat attracts users for daily transactions through its built-in payment system, while Telegram integrates 20 payment solutions without charging any commission through its Bot Payments API. In addition to mature payment solutions like Google Pay or Apple Pay, Telegram recently introduced a self-custodial wallet developed by the TON blockchain.
The experiences Telegram and TON draw from WeChat's model, as well as how to develop a decentralized mini-program platform, will be a process worth watching. This could not only change the user experience on Telegram but also promote the popularization and development of decentralized applications globally.
To Activate Telegram's User Resources, TON Play is Launched Specifically for the Blockchain Gaming Industry
To make an impact in the blockchain gaming circle, TON has launched Ton Play, providing game developers with a unique platform. By integrating Telegram's vast user base and the efficient performance of the TON blockchain, it offers unprecedented opportunities for game developers. This platform not only simplifies the process of game publishing and user acquisition but also greatly expands the possibilities of game development by supporting multiple game engines and providing diverse monetization avenues. The emergence of Ton Play could become a key force in driving the development of the TON gaming ecosystem.
Background image of Ton Play's official website
The main highlights of Ton Play include:
Direct access to Telegram's 800 million users: Games can be launched via Telegram Web Apps in just a few clicks, without users needing to download applications from the App Store or Google Play, nor handle .apk or .exe files;
Compatibility with multiple game engines: Telegram Web Apps support HTML5 or WebGL, compatible with various game engines like Unity, Phaser, PixiJS, BabylonJS, Cocos2d, etc.;
User acquisition and retention: TON and Telegram provide traditional and innovative user acquisition and retention tools, such as the TON Games Bot (a bot indexing all TON games), Telegram Ads (advertising on channels with over 1 million subscribers), and push notifications sent directly in Messenger;
Fast and cost-effective blockchain: The TON blockchain focuses on providing fast, seamless scalability and cost-effectiveness, ensuring a smooth user experience. It excels in scalability, decentralization, transaction speed, and cost efficiency;
Easy registration and authorization: Wallets are a key component of blockchain infrastructure. In the TON ecosystem, the primary wallet is the one within Telegram, providing all necessary functions including account creation, purchases, on-chain activities, and asset management;
Community building tools: Telegram channels and groups are powerful tools for building communities, allowing public messages to be sent directly to a large number of users;
Traffic and asset monetization: Telegram and TON provide developers with tools to create and launch high-quality games, attract and retain users, and monetize. Common revenue sources within the TON ecosystem include NFT sales, in-game tokens (Jettons), and in-app advertising.
Strong Alliances Among Giants are Key to the Future; the Blockchain Gaming Industry Needs More Robust Infrastructure
In the current public chain market, the combination of TON and Telegram brings new changes to the Web3 world. The strategic cooperation between Animoca Brands and TON, especially the launch of TON Play, heralds new developments in the blockchain gaming sector.
This collaboration combines Animoca's gaming resources with TON's technological advantages, promising to drive innovation and popularization in blockchain gaming. Particularly, TON Play provides game developers with the opportunity to access Telegram's vast user base while supporting multiple game engines and diverse monetization avenues.
Furthermore, Telegram and TON are learning from WeChat's model to develop a decentralized mini-program platform, which could change the user experience on Telegram and promote the global popularization of decentralized applications. Overall, this collaboration signals a new wave in the blockchain gaming sector, expected to significantly drive the growth of the TON ecosystem in the coming years.
