[Xangle Digest]
Written by Bonk

Summary

• Kosdaq-listed WeMade revealed plans to develop a WEMIX mainnet, hinting at a two-track approach to platform development.
• The gaming company is claiming that an open gaming platform will benefit the company while pivoting to “Play-and-Earn” as a main narrative.
• Major Korean game developers like Netmarble Corp. and NeoWiz Corp. are entering the market, respectively, partnering with Binance and BORA.

WEMIX Mainnet On The Table

WeMade (KOSDAQ: 112040), the company behind the WEMIX token, revealed future business plans, including plans to develop its own mainnet. During an online press conference, CEO Chang Hyun-kuk stated their new venture is to develop their own blockchain. CEO Chang commented that their goal is to create an open platform.

Mainnet development may have further implications for the Klaytn network, where the WEMIX blockchain is currently built on. As the WEMIX blockchain can address bootstrapping problems with its existing user base in the case of a new mainnet launch, Klaytn may face competition arising in its sphere of influence. However, CEO Chang mentioned that "we are yet to decide if we will take a two-track approach" in terms of mainnet development since they are sitting in the BORA governance council.

Gaming The Politics

Friends Games, a subsidiary of Kakao Games, recently changed the company name to Meta Bora, reflecting its native token, BORA. Meta Bora announced future plans to integrate entertainment, gaming, and web3 development into its private chain in Klaytn. Other than WeMade, game developers like NeoWiz, Neptune, Mobirix, and Kakao Games also sit on the council.

"There might be competition in the main market," said CEO Chang. He claims there has been demand for a mainnet and that "the user base is more important than the technical aspects" and "the mainnet can be built by this summer". He also commented that the company is considering making more hires and mergers in regards to mainnet development. For now, WeMade is sending mixed signals, but some are speculating that the company will eventually tilt its focus on its mainnet.

The WEMIX Expansion

Chang stated that "we will be onboarding around 5 games until March," and "one or two of our games developed in-house will be included." His rationale is that they can maintain growth by adding more games to the platform. This comes in line with the company’s ambition to bring in 100 more games under the WeMade umbrella.

In addition to the expansion of the gaming ecosystem, the company is putting a spin on the narrative surrounding P2E games. The claim is that they are creating a "Play-and-Earn" gaming ecosystem rather than a "Play-to-Earn" one. Crypto gaming as a whole has not been welcomed by the broader gaming community as the gaming experience revolves around financial incentives. WeMade’s recent hit MIR4 was also subject to this criticism, but still managed to attract a large user base.

CEO Chang said the figures tell a rather different story, that only a fraction of users were playing for financial incentives. "Compared to MIR4’s 6 million monthly active users (MAU), the WEMIX wallet had only 1.8 million MAU in Q4 last year," and "Only 100,000 MAU made actual transactions." said Chang. "This proves that users are not playing to make money, but playing and earning.”

Blockchain Is The Way

Korean gaming companies are finding themselves in a race to blockchain supremacy, where they can lock in users to generate value and create network effects. The rumor says that Meta Bora has been in talks with the renown gaming platform Roblox. Netmarble partnered with Binance to take a global scope into its strategy while NCSoft revealed its plans to integrate NFTs to its latest release, Lineage W.

WeMade is still positioned as an underdog among the Korean gaming giants, but they are currently leading the blockchain-gaming race. A mainnet with a strong community and robust token economics may create a shift in the landscape. Yet, WeMade still has problems to sort out. For instance, the recent "WEMIX liquidation" scandal sparked much controversy. But still, the game developer has a good standing in the current environment. Will the story end with David beating Goliath?