A16z invested in 3A Champions Ascension unexpectedly suspended operations, and the team turned to new projects to focus on customer acquisition.

Author: Zen, PANews

The development team of Champions Ascension recently announced that due to strategic adjustments, the game operation will be suspended and all resources will be concentrated on the new project - REACH Labs. The suspension of service involves the Champions Ascension's primary server and its affiliate functions (including Imperial Expeditions and Dudo), which officially came into effect last Friday.

This work, which was once supported by a16z and is positioned as an "AAA"-level blockchain game, was once highly expected. However, in the face of the sluggish blockchain game market and the continued decline in user activity, the team finally made the decision to suspend operations. The development team emphasized that the discontinuation of Champions Ascension does not mean that the project has been completely abandoned. REACH Labs plans to pave the way for the future return of Champions Ascension through a new user acquisition and distribution model.

Once supported by a16z, Champions Ascension may return in the future

Champions Ascension, once positioned as the next-generation blockchain game "AAA" was first initiated by the well-known mobile game company Jam City. Due to the weak global gaming industry and the increasingly fierce competition, there was a debate within the company that it gave up the project. Ultimately, Jam City co-founder Chris DeWolfe, who has high hopes for blockchain gaming, left Jam City with several executives and developers, and established Plai Labs, a next-generation social platform that focuses on building AI and Web3 and Rough House Games, the indie gaming studio. Their first entertainment experience product is of course Champions Ascension.

Based on Chris DeWolfe and his team's rich experience in social media and game design, Plai Labs also completed a large-scale $32 million seed round in a bear market, and its leading investors are top venture capital institutions a16z Games and a16z Crypto. In addition, DeWolfe-led Rough House Games, a game development studio focused on the intersection of Web2 and Web3, is supported by a16z, Coinbase, Crush Ventures and UTA.

However, in the context of the continuous sluggishness of the blockchain game industry and the continuous loss of players, Champions Ascension, which has always been tepid, finally made the choice to suspend game services. The development team also said that this does not mean that the game has been completely abandoned. On the contrary, the team's current focus on Web3 game distribution platform REACH Labs may rejuvenate Champions Ascension in the future with its new "customer acquisition method" developed. The development team emphasized that they attach great importance to the contribution of the player community and will announce the follow-up arrangements for Champions Ascension after the launch of REACH Labs in the future.

Turn to REACH Labs: Dedicated to solving game user acquisition problems

Reach Labs is a new Web3 game publisher founded in partnership with Rough House Games and game startup Overworld. Overworld founder Jeremy Horn is also the co-founder of Web3 company Xterio. He has been deeply involved in the gaming industry for many years and has worked in companies such as FunPlus, Jam City, TinyCo and Gameloft.

Chris DeWolfe and Jeremy Horn, two veterans in the gaming industry, jointly founded Reach Labs, is committed to solving the current gaming industry's user acquisition challenges, including distracted audience attention, increasingly competitive markets and soaring marketing and user acquisition costs. According to GamesBeat, DeWolfe and Horn used to discuss together how user acquisition essentially failed, and they also believe that existing games are not social enough. After fully exchanging opinions, they decided to “build a very deep partnership to jointly develop a platform called Reach”.

The decision to suspend Champions Ascension is to devote all your energy and resources to REACH Labs. REACH Labs plans to provide a brand new infrastructure for game distribution and marketing through the Keystone protocol. The Keystone protocol is a decentralized protocol developed by Rough House Games and donated to the Keystone Foundation, aiming to create a more equitable and efficient distribution network for blockchain games.

Reach aims to enhance game distribution by integrating blockchain technology and community engagement. The unique solution they proposed is to democratize game distribution through a proprietary marketing and distribution platform, and to attract more users by rewarding players to play and share games. Reach hopes to motivate players, KOLs and guilds to promote active participation, while making user acquisition more decentralized and socialized, and reduce reliance on traditional Web2 platforms such as Facebook and Google.

Specifically, players can generate exclusive recommendation codes to promote games on social media or Twitch, attract new players to enter the game, and earn share of the revenue generated by recommendations. In this way, REACH not only improves the game's user acquisition efficiency, but also creates a new source of revenue for players.

According to previous disclosures by REACH Labs, Reach Labs will be launched in the future by developing and operating a diverse portfolio of high-quality cross-platform games, including the currently discontinued Web3 fighting game Champions Ascension, as well as the action role-playing game Conquest and the free strategy mobile game Kingdoms developed by Overworld. It is said that several other projects are also underway.

The suspension of Champions Ascension is undoubtedly a realistic compromise between Chris DeWolfe's poor performance in the game. On the other hand, its focus on exploring new game distribution and user acquisition models is also a crucial strategic transformation, which also determines whether Champions Ascension and even other chain games can usher in new development opportunities.