Back in July, Hexacore raised $3.5 million to propel the high-quality Web3 mobile games that have potential to scale to big audiences such as the upcoming space fantasy Pocket Space.
Now the startup, whose core team is based in Warsaw, is getting to work developing its flagship Web3 mobile game. The funding round was led by Scalo Technologies, a tech venture company based in Dubai, and supported by Xsolla, Estoty, and other angel investors.
“Pocket Space is an ambitious project inspired by various titles like My Little Universe, Brawl Stars,” said Mikita Khazau, CEO of Hexacore, in an interview with GamesBeat. “The game features a universe of planets, each hosting a variety of game modes. These planets are also NFTs, owned by players. The asset ownership mechanics revolve around in-game currency and commissions for the planet owners, creating a unique economic ecosystem.”
Hexacore sees mobile Web3 games becoming the gateway for new Web3 users, driven by the growing adoption of crypto wallets on smartphones, attracting investors and fostering innovation in gaming worldwide.
“Newer generations are increasingly facing attention deficit issues, which lead to incredible user retention problems,” Khazau. “We aim to tackle this firstly by embedding our game IP across multiple platforms and media. The IP of your game should be everywhere, not just on smartphones and social networks, but also in cartoons, books, toys, clothing, on the streets, and even billboards.”
He added, “Then you have a higher likelihood that users will stick with you for the long term. In addition,
strong community engagement will be another vital tool in retaining our players, so we are focusing on community to provide a strong sense of belonging to a specific circle of people.”
Origins
Hexacore develops and publishes mobile games. At previous a previous company, Apps Hub, the team achieved over 350 million downloads with popular titles such as Sushi Roll, Blend It 3D, and Merge Animals. Their hypercasual game company generated $14 million in revenue.
And now they’re back with something new. Mikita Khazau started the new company, Hexacore, in 2022 with Dzianis Krupski and Yuri Zaytsev. Aleksandr Krivolap also helped set up the firm. They had experience with the Ukrainian mobile game developer, PandaPlay.
The investment from July will support the expansion of Hexacore’s team and drive the development of their hybrid monetization model for mobile games, incorporating in-app purchases, non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles, and rewarded ads.
The company aims to leverage blockchain technology to offer gamers a new level of ownership and control over their in-game assets. By embracing Web3 technology, Hexacore enables individuals to own and trade gaming assets, while also focusing on achieving interoperability across multiple games.
“We aim to stand out in the crowded mobile gaming market by integrating blockchain to enhance
the user experience, particularly in terms of asset ownership and transactability,” Khazau said. “These features can significantly increase the lifetime value (LTV) of a player.”
Khazau added, “We have a long road ahead of us in terms of hypothesis testing, the main direction of which is to increase LTV in comparable genres. First and foremost, we are making a good, successful game with a strong focus on IAP (In-App Purchases) and ADmon (Advertisement Monetization). We are also incorporating NFT mechanics that will allow us to create that specific difference in LTV, making us even more competitive.”
Distracted gamers
In an evolving gaming landscape, Hexacore recognizes that a major challenge for developers is how
to retain the attention of players distracted by so many diversified entertainment options, and favoring shorter gaming sessions.
Khazau said the Web3 technology enables players to own and trade gaming assets. He said his company will help game developers make those assets interopable.
Hexacore is a mobile game publisher that aims to bridge the gap between the Web2 and Web3 game space. Like other Web3 game companies like Mythical Games, the idea is to draw Web2 players into free-to-play games with traditional in-app purchases. Then it can upsell them to Web3, based on the benefits of ownership.
With a geographically distributed team, the company collaborates closely with developers and blockchain partners to create a sustainable ecosystem for the growth of web3 games. Hexacore provides resources and services designed to enable game developers to integrate blockchain technologies seamlessly and bring their innovative ideas to life.
Set up in Singapore in 2020, Scalo Technologies chose to base its operations in Dubai in view of the emirate’s high level of business activity, a growing economy, and strong government initiatives to attract entrepreneurs and professionals from across the globe. Its portfolio of investments include Voctiv, a conversational AI company, Noah, a money app for saving, spending, and earning Bitcoin, and Megarender.com, an online cloud render farm.
“With blockchain, we are being very careful. We try to combine the good things which work in Web3 and Web3 gaming,” Khazau said.
He said that when you provide true ownership for Web3 players, they can get more engaged in the game. They’re invested in the product and have greater lifetime value (LTV), which leads to better revenue from the players over time, he said.
NFT resistance?
Asked about the resistance to NFTs from players in the West, Khazau acknowledged that NFT prices have fallen and there’s a crisis, in contrast to the fast-growth year of 2021. But he thinks that as good games arrive and supply and demand return to normal, the prices will go up and players will engage more.
I also noted that Apple and Google will allow some blockchain games on the app stores, but only under restrictions that may inhibit the growth of the Web3 part of the game in the long run. Khazau believes that when a wide audience gets access to the game mechanics, they will enjoy the game and spend more time on it.
“We are still going to make a good game with good quality and good game mechanics,” he said. “We expect that our games will be successful. We believe that NFT mechanics can give us some unique propositions.”
Hexacore has 24 people working for it, mostly in Poland, and it revealed that it raised its $3.5 million in July. Khazau said he believes that the company will be able to soft launch its game, perhaps at the end of 2023. The company intends to integrate AI technology into its games over time as well.
“We will work with our communities, we will grow our communities,” he said.
A 2025 launch?
Hexacore sees blockchain technology ushering in a new era of mobile gameplay experiences, giving players ownership of their in-game assets, and the time they devote to playing.
The recent investment has allowed the company to fast-track the development and publishing of its flagship space fantasy product, Pocket Space, its which was inspired by titles like My Little Universe, Brawl Stars, and Roblox.
Pocket Space boasts multiplayer modes and asset ownership mechanics, as well as its own public marketplace, where players can trade their assets for in-game currency. The Pocket Space community launch will take place in Q4 2023, with the soft launch scheduled for the second half of 2024 and the global release to follow in 2025.
“We believe that soon, almost everyone with a smartphone will have a crypto wallet,” said Khazau. This is a huge opportunity, which motivates us to lead in mobile web3 publishing. Both traditional and Web3-focused investors are now attracted to mobile gaming. This continuous influx of funds will drive innovation, creativity, and deliver new gaming experiences that captivate audiences across the globe.”