Loco will create esports and streaming experiences on the Avalanche blockchain

Indian game streaming platform Loco has teamed up with the Avalanche blockchain to create new kinds of fan experiences.

Loco is joining the Avalanche Multiverse incentive program and is launching a subnet, expanding Avalanche’s growing footprint in Asia.

Loco is building a suite of Web3 products that will bring fan experiences via the custom Avalanche Subnet.

oco recently raised $42 million, which was the largest Series A round in Indian and South East Asian gaming history. The platform has also partnered with other gaming publishers like Krafton, Activision Blizzard, and Riot Games.

Loco’s Avalanche subnet and ongoing product campaign mark yet another new chapter in the story of Avalanche rapidly expanding in Asia. Recently, Chinese technology giant Alibaba and Japanese gaming trailblazer Gree each announced Avalanche initiatives.

Like Gree, Loco will run its own Avalanche validators, reflecting a deep commitment to securing and building on the network.

Loco targets collectibles and fantasy sports

The fantasy sports industry generated over $22.7 billion in revenue in 2022 – a figure projected to grow to $48 billion by 2028. Digital collectibles are the fastest-growing sector of the $400 billion global collectibles industry. Despite this explosive growth, fantasy applications have largely failed to seize the Web3 opportunity.

Loco’s initial products will be designed to give back control to the user, bringing collectibles to the fantasy gaming experience. The Web3 initiatives will allow fans to express their fandom and put them in the role of talent managers and scouts, helping them leverage their knowledge and adding a new exciting layer to their watching experience.

Viewers who watch their favorite creators can now directly engage by building the best entertainment roster or esports team and competing with other fans in fantasy games on these platforms. These collectibles will be unique, scarce, and will have publicly verifiable ownership.

Why Loco chose Avalanche

The Avalanche subnet allows Loco to tailor the properties of a custom blockchain to its apps and scale to a user base of large numbers of customers, all while keeping network fees and transaction latency low.

“We are excited to begin 2023 with this partnership with Ava Labs,” said Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, cofounders of Loco, in a statement. “We are aligned with Avalanche in our vision of bringing fun games to millions of users. These skill-based games will allow fans to deepen their connection with their favorite creators and help amplify the enjoyment they derive from watching digital content. Our endeavor is to provide users with reliable and secure platforms to store, buy, and sell digital assets while ensuring that the user experience is simple yet fun.”

With the recent Avalanche upgrade to Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM), Loco’s users will also be able to freely trade Loco Legends collectibles with other assets on Avalanche. Additionally, Loco will receive support from Ava Labs through the Multiverse incentive program, helping launch its collectibles marketplaces.

“Web3 gaming is a fantastic use case for Avalanche Subnets as the only solution capable of consistently handling heavy traffic without causing user experience to suffer in the form of long wait times or high fees,” said John Wu, president of Ava Labs, in a statement. “Pioneers like Loco are breaking new ground with ways to use digital collectibles for both fan engagement and applications layered on top that was previously not possible.”

Avalanche bills itself as the fastest, most reliable smart contracts platform in the world. It lets companies deploy on the Ethereum Virtual Machine or use their own custom solution.

Loco has partnered with Krafton, Activision, Ubisoft, Riot Games, Red Bull, NBA 2K League and Logitech G. It is available on Android, iOS, and the web.