Following $4m in funding from some of the biggest names in GameFi, Classic browser game Neopets will be reimagined in the metaverse for over 150 million fans worldwide
HONG KONG, Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Neopets Metaverse is pleased to announce the successful closing of its latest investment round, where it raised $4M in funding. This round saw participation from industry leaders in the gaming and blockchain sectors, including Polygon Ventures, Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund, Hashkey Capital, IDG Capital, and gaming giant, NetDragon Websoft.
Founded in 1999, Neopets is best known for its classic browser game (www.neopets.com), which has captured the hearts and created countless core memories for more than 150 million fans across the globe. The IP’s most recent project, Neopets Metaverse, aims to bring the highly appreciated virtual pet game into the decentralized world, offering players the opportunity to own and monetize their gaming experiences on the blockchain. The game will be free-to-play and accessible to crypto natives and casual players alike.
According to Xiao Xiao, Investment Director of HashKey Capital, “We believe that GameFi plays a crucial role in the larger metaverse narrative, serving as the interactive layer in the value chain and a key driver of traffic across web 2 and web 3. The Neopets IP, in particular, has a massive fan base and we see great potential in its NFT and P2E features, which allow gamers to truly own and control their assets. We are also honored to have the opportunity to work with founders like Dominic who can always execute and deliver.”
“We’re beyond excited to helping a timeless IP like Neopets innovate and build their Metaverse,” said Ed Chang, Head of Gaming at Ava Labs, “Ava Labs is investing Neopets to support their goal of building an eco-friendly, fast, and low gas metaverse experience and will be working closely with them to bring a top notch product to gamers.”
“We are thrilled to garner such strong support from our investors,” said Neopets Meta Chief Metaverse Officer, Dominic. “This funding will allow us to provide a genuinely inclusive and immersive gaming experience that will capture the spirit of the Neopets community.”
This news comes with the successful launch of Neopets Meta Alpha: Winter Edition, which features the Neopia Central and Terror Mountain lands. The response to the game has been overwhelmingly positive, with players praising the immersive gameplay and nostalgia-infused mini-games, including “Meerca Chase,” “Ultimate Bullseye,” and “Turmac Roll.” The Alpha: Winter Edition is now available on the Neopets Metaverse website and will run until January 31, 2023.
With this round of funding, Neopets Metaverse is set to continue its growth, bringing the magic of Neopets in a positively fresh light to old-time players, as well as attracting and nurturing a new generation of Neopians. The company looks forward to working with its investors and the broader Game-Fi community to make Neopets Metaverse a reality.
About Neopets Metaverse
Neopets Metaverse is a play-and-earn, community-driven virtual pet game based on the original Neopets classic. At its core, Neopets Metaverse is a digital world where players can raise, care for, customize, and battle with their Neopets – all these while building, owning, and monetizing their gaming experiences on the blockchain. Neopets Metaverse boasts everything players have come to love about the original game while adding a whole lot more. Featuring thrilling mini-games, electric PvP battles, a unique Neopet care, and customization system, and so on, Neopets Metaverse offers a nostalgic, dynamic Web3 gameplay experience for everyone.
Neopets Metaverse will be a free-to-play game: casual, fun, and simple to navigate.
Read our litepaper for a closer look at all the features Neopets Metaverse has in store.
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About Neopets
For the past 20+ years, Neopets.com has been a notable virtual pet site worldwide. Users can create and nurture virtual pets called Neopets and earn or buy digital items using one of two virtual currencies. Accompanied by their Neopets, players can explore the vast, vibrant world of Neopia, riddled with numerous lands with their own unique themes. Along the journey, users can interact and engage with other Neopians and characters while learning about the lore and rich history of the planet. The Neopets Community, much like the game itself, is diverse, highly active, and enthusiastic about the occurrences within Neopets.com.
About Polygon Labs
Polygon Labs develops Ethereum scaling solutions for Polygon protocols. Polygon Labs engages with other ecosystem developers to help make available scalable, affordable, secure and sustainable blockchain infrastructure for Web3. Polygon Labs has initially developed a growing suite of protocols for developers to gain easy access to major scaling solutions, including layer 2s (zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups), sidechains, hybrid chains, app-specific chains, enterprise chains, and data availability protocols. Scaling solutions that Polygon Labs initially developed have seen widespread adoption with tens of thousands of decentralized apps, unique addresses exceeding 207M, over TK million smart contracts and TK total transactions processed since inception. The network is home for some of the biggest Web3 projects and well-known enterprises. Polygon Labs is carbon neutral with the goal of leading Web3 in becoming carbon negative.
About Avalanche
Avalanche is the fastest, most reliable smart contracts platform in the world. Its revolutionary consensus protocol and novel Subnets enable Web3 developers to easily launch highly-scalable solutions. Deploy on the EVM, or use your own custom VM. Build anything you want, any way you want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs.
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