Forte taps Hi-Rez, Netmarble as blockchain gaming partners

By Andrew Hayward

Blockchain gaming startup Forte yesterday announced partnerships with five additional video game developers, each of which has agreed to implement the technology in an upcoming game.

Forte’s platform provides the tools and services for developers to add blockchain technology to their games, allowing creators to develop player-owned economies that can potentially drive both engagement and revenue.

Hi-Rez Studios and Netmarble are arguably the biggest of the five new additions. Atlanta-based Hi-Rez is the developer behind free-to-play PC and console hits such as Smite and Paladins, and the developer’s games have amassed more than 70 million players to date. Meanwhile, Netmarble is South Korea’s largest mobile games developer, focusing in large part on licensed games based on Marvel, Star Wars, Magic: The Gathering, and K-pop giants BTS.

The other new partners are mobile game developers Magmic and Deca, as well as Power Rangers game developer nWay. All told, those five new partners have amassed hundreds of millions of downloads of their games over the years and have enviable reach. Their respective blockchain-backed projects have not yet been revealed, but if they can resonate with even a fraction of those players, it could dramatically increase the number of people actively engaging with blockchain-based game economies.

Those five studios join previously announced game developers Other Ocean, Kongregate, and Disruptor Beam as Forte partners. The startup suggested that more than a dozen total developers are working with them, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

“At Forte, we firmly believe that blockchain technology by itself is not enough,” wrote Kaiser Hwang, vice president of marketing at Forte, in a blog post announcing the news. “Engaging player experiences must accompany it and are paramount to bringing the benefits of blockchain technology to the mainstream. That’s why we’re partnering with the best game creators in the world—ones that have an intimate understanding of how to harness cutting-edge technology to create engrossing, rewarding, and innovative game experiences for their player communities.”

Last year, Forte partnered with Ripple to create a $100 million developer fund to help bring its blockchain platform into additional games. Forte is not alone in attempting to court established game makers to use its blockchain tech: Enjin recently announced a “code-free” platform for implementing Ethereum-based assets and is enlisting developers into a “multiverse” program for player-owned in-game assets that work across multiple games.

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