- Animoca has backed Axie Infinity, Gunzilla Games, Star Atlas, and is the parent company of The Sandbox.
- Astar and ASTR tokens are core pieces of Sony’s Soneium blockchain.
- Animoca recently became a strategic investor in Catizen.
Two major players in Web3 gaming are joining forces to bring Japan and Asia’s top entertainment intellectual property (IP) on-chain and further Web3 adoption.
Today, Animoca became a strategic investor in the Astar Network, just as the latter establishes itself as a key component of Sony’s blockchain, Soneium.
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Animoca Strategically Invests in Astar
According to a press release shared with CCN, the Astar Network, one of Japan’s leading blockchain projects, has secured a strategic investment from Web3 gaming behemoth Animoca Brands.
The investment comes with collaboration, which will see the duo working to bring major Japanese and Asian entertainment IPs on chain and onboard more users to Web3.
They’ll focus on deploying scalable entertainment solutions, including Animoca’s Anime ID and its Moca Network, which will become a “premier identity and reputation layer” on Sony’s Soneium.
Sota Watanabe, founder of the Astar Network, commented:
“As one of the most active investors in the Web3 space, Animoca Brands understands the direction the ecosystem is heading, and we take their support as confirmation that our efforts are contributing to the long-term success of blockchain and digital assets.”
Astar was a para chain on Polkadot in 2021. In 2025, Soneium adopted its tech as a core component of the ecosystem.
More specifically, Astar is crucial in bolstering Soneium’s security and interoperability.
In addition, its ASTR token supports in-game payments and player rewards.
Animoca Expands
As per the release, Animoca chairman and co-founder, Yat Siu, explained the investment in Astar “perfectly” aligns with its mission to evolve “digital property rights and the open metaverse.”
Indeed, Astar’s mission is to be a “gateway” for Web3 enterprise, entertainment, and gaming to enter Japan.
According to Watanabe, Animoca’s backing is confirmation that Astar is “contributing to the long-term success of blockchain and digital assets.”
Animoca has been one of the biggest players in the Web3 gaming space for a few years now.
It was one of the earliest backers of Axie Infinity and is the parent company of the long-running Web3 metaverse game The Sandbox.
Other notable investments from Animoca include:
- Gunzilla Games
- Polygon
- Superverse
- Star Atlas
Most recently, the firm announced it will be expanding deeper into Web3 mobile gaming with a strategic investment into Catizen, a play-to-win game that has since evolved into a gaming ecosystem of its own.
Evidently, this year is set to be a whirlwind for the Web3 gaming sector as it gears up for some of the biggest and most polished gaming experiences the industry has ever seen.
Conversely, we can also expect more industry layoffs and game/developer studio closures as the competition heats up in an entirely new era for Web3 gaming.
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