This gaming startup is trying to show that 'AI + cryptography' is not a fad

Image credits: Altiverse

Cryptocurrencies were popular with many investors before the world turned to artificial intelligence thanks to advances in generative AI. So when some venture capital firms began rapidly switching focus between AI and cryptocurrencies, industry onlookers scoffed at their opportunism. Meanwhile, a wave of entrepreneurs has emerged who enthusiastically support the convergence of AI and cryptocurrencies.Vitalik Buterin, the core founder of the Ethereum blockchain network, sparked a frenzy last month when he posted an article pondering his four possible applications of “AI + Crypto” Among his Twitter followers. The use case is not yet proven at scale.

A Singapore-based startup is trying to show that combining AI and cryptocurrencies is more than just a fad. Ultiverse claims to be an “AI-powered” platform for crypto game creation and publishing, and has secured support from some reputable investors. The company recently raised $4 million in a strategic funding round led by IDG Capital, a venture capital firm known for investing in Chinese tech giants Tencent, Baidu, and Xiaomi, as well as crypto startups Coinbase and Circle. did.

Other investors participating in this round include Animoca Brands, Polygon Ventures, MorningStar Ventures, Taiko, ZetaChain, Manta Network, DWF Venture, and Jacob KO. The new investment boosts Altiverse's valuation to $150 million.

How exactly is Ultiverse using AI in the cryptoverse? In an interview with TechCrunch, the company's co-founder Jimmy Liu, whose family ran a private equity firm, said: , suggested that AI could be used to “accelerate production and user adoption.”

Rather than building AI models from scratch, Ultiverse uses existing large-scale language models such as GPT-4, Llama, and Stable Diffusion to train non-player characters in the game, so each player can , you can get different experiences depending on your interaction with the player. NPCs. Players can also create their own AI agents to act on their behalf.

“In the past, this kind of production process could take days or even weeks. It required multiple people. But now, with the integration of AI, we can produce the same amount of work as before. The time and cost of creating content has been reduced,” said Liu.

Adapting AI to the game design process may not be the ultimate competitive advantage for startups. After all, LLMs are just as easily available at other studios. There are many examples of how gaming companies are leveraging generative AI in creating art assets, building level segments, and even devising game models for other developers.

Additionally, there is a constant debate surrounding crypto games, which is whether they truly create tangible value for the industry by enabling user ownership and liquidity of assets, or whether they are primarily It revolves around the question of whether they exist to profit from players like jackpots. Overall, the industry's reputation has been tarnished by “play-to-earn” titles like Axie Infinity, which have been compared to pyramid schemes.

So far, Ultiverse has published three games, including a mobile cricket game, with 200,000 unique active wallet addresses, most of which are from India and Pakistan, where the sport is extremely popular. The startup had 7.3 million registered users across all its games as of December, with an average of 830,000 monthly active users.

Liu said that by using an increasingly common cryptocurrency wallet feature called “account abstraction” that removes much of the technical complexity of self-custody wallets, the cricket game could It has been successful in attracting mainly non-cryptocurrency users who did not own a wallet until now.

“It's almost seamless until after a certain amount of time you realize this is more than just a game and you need to withdraw your rewards,” the founder said. “This approach will help us grow the so-called Web2 gamer, who has never tried Web3 before, and turn him into part of our ecosystem.”

“Ultiverse is an AI-powered one-stop solution for Web3 game creation and publishing that is poised to revolutionize the industry,” an IDG Capital spokesperson said in a rosy statement . The company has also invested in other major crypto projects such as Ripple, ImToken, and KuCoin. “This investment represents our belief that games have the potential to not only guide, but transform the way games are developed and experienced globally.”