By
Svetlana Soroka
April 26th, 2024
The new initiative comes after Magic Eden announced its integration with Polygon.
The leading NFT marketplace on Solana, Magic Eden, has announced it hired its first chief gaming officer Chris Akhavan. As the Chief Gaming Officer, Akhavan will drive the growth of Magic Eden’s gaming partnerships and help improve game creator and collector experiences on the platform.
Before taking up the role, Akhavan was the Chief Business Officer at Forte. He also worked at Glu Mobile as the Chief Revenue Officer. Glu was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2021 for $2.1 billion. Additionally, he will continue to advise the $500 million decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Game7.
Also a gamer, Akhavan believes it is high time the industry placed ownership in the hands of the players. He said:
“Web3 technology is the perfect solution to enable game asset ownership in a scalable and connected way across an enormous universe of games and player communities.”
Chief Gaming Officer to Drive Web 3.0 Games Distribution
The new initiative comes after Magic Eden announced its integration with Polygon, the leading blockchain for Web 3.0 games development.
Zhuoxun Yin, COO of Magic Eden, noted that the firm has worked on how best to maximize its platform’s reach for the gaming industry. “Our vision to drive distribution and revenue to Web 3.0 games can now really come to life with Chris’ leadership and guidance,” Yin concluded.
Akhavan also shared plans to work on Magic Eden’s gaming infrastructure, offering on-ramps for Web 2.0 games to introduce Web 3.0 asset ownership.
The Growth of Blockchain Games
A recent DappRadar and BGA report suggested that blockchain games continue to drive web 3 activity. As much as 48% of all Web 3.0 activities in q3 were related to blockchain games.
Moreso, there’s been an influx of funds into blockchain-based game companies despite the wider market rout. In November, Web3 gaming studio Roboto Games raised $15 million. Earlier, UnCaged Studios raised $24 million in its Series A funding round.
According to the DappRadarxBGA report, the Web3 gaming industry is still at an early stage and is poised for more expansion. “Blockchain gaming’s future is bright, and it is on track to become the frontrunner for Web3,” the report concluded.