Forge hits 1 million players and reveals new set of Web3 investors

Forge, a platform for community-driven game marketing and engagement, has hit a million registered users and revealed new Web3 investors.

The company also said it has partnerships with more than 60 games and its strategic investors include Web3 game protocols Ava Labs and Sui Foundation.

Forge said the new investors are joining just as it crosses a significant milestone of over one million registered users. This marks a step forward in Forge’s mission to revolutionize how games not only connect with but reward their players.

Since its launch less than one year ago, Forge has grown into an ecosystem where players can earn rewards by playing new games and joining their communities, creating a symbiotic environment where players and developers benefit. The goal is to transform the landscape of game distribution and community engagement.

“Reaching 1 million users within our first year is an incredible milestone for Forge, and we couldn’t be more excited about the journey ahead,” said Kun Gao, CEO of Forge, in a statement. “Our platform is designed to empower game developers to harness the power of community to reach and reward players, and this milestone shows that we’re on the right path. We’re doubling down on our mission of helping our partners build thriving gaming communities.”

Gao explained Forge’s latest business strategy to me in this story. It’s a step away from the startup’s initial focus on loyalty rewards for gamers. And now it is putting marketing tools in the hands of developers so they can grow the communities around their games. These tools are increasingly important in a world where traditional marketing isn’t working as well.

New investors

The new investors in addition to Ava Labs and Sui Foundation are Chris Wang founder of ThunderCore protocol, Dingaling, James Zhang of Crypto Art House, Shan of Project Godjira and advisory firm AP Collective.

These investors join other investors including EVG, Formless, Hashkey, LiquidX, Polygon, and angels CH Kim (KRAFTON), Gabby Dizon (YGG), Kevin Lin (Metatheory/Twitch), Matt Liu (Origin Protocol), Michael Tong (Xterio), Ralf Reichart (ESL), Ray Chan (9gag/Memeland), Sebastien Borget (The Sandbox), Steve Chen (Youtube), Teck Chia (BinanceX/f.actor).

“It’s been a pleasure working with the Forge team. As Ava Labs focuses on ecosystem growth and user acquisition across our portfolio and game ecosystem, Forge has proven to be a valuable partner,” said Parker Heath, Ava Labs gaming lead, in a statement. “Their product and team are both equally impressive and we plan to continue working with them to make web3 gaming great.”

“Forge’s engagement platform provides significant value to our roster of Sui-powered games,” said Jameel Khalfan, head of ecosystem development at Sui Foundation, in a statement. “As we expand our partnership with Forge as investors, we look forward to accelerating the growth of Sui’s gaming community and overall ecosystem of web3-based gaming.”

More than 60 game partners

Forge has partnered with over 60 games that have leveraged the platform to grow their communities. From indie developers to established studios, these partners have utilized Forge’s innovative tools to drive over 25 million in-game and community engagements

“Our partners are at the heart of Forge’s success,” said Gao. “We’ve seen incredible results from the games on our platform, with millions of actions completed by players who are more engaged and committed to the communities they’re a part of. We look forward to welcoming even more partners as we continue to scale.”

Founded by gaming pioneer Dennis “Thresh” Fong, Crunchyroll founder Kun Gao, and Cyence founder George Ng, Forge originated as a project within GGWP, an AI-powered game moderation platform that the team launched in 2020. Forge’s mission is to make user acquisition and community engagement accessible and effective for all developers, enabling them to focus on creating amazing games.