EXCLUSIVE: Gaming giant Voodoo to launch cryptocurrency

It seems that it's in the hardest times that the best crypto projects are built.

At least, that's what French mobile games giant Voodoo is hoping for, as it is set to launch its own cryptocurrency in 2023. According to our information, the launch will take place in the third quarter.

This cryptocurrency - its codename for now is "Voodoo Coin" - will be available via an unprecedented operation for a group of this size: an ICO (initial coin offering) 🤔

An ICO is a fundraising in cryptocurrencies from the general public 💡

After experiencing a real boom in 2017, this type of operation, regulated in France since 2019 by the Pacte law, has gradually disappeared. But the world's leading publisher of mobile video games - more than 6 billion downloads since it was founded in 2013 - could bring it back into fashion!"

Voodoo doesn't want to launch a cryptocurrency by chance; it will allow users to access the paid sections of the blockchain games that the group and its 700 employees are developing on its future Voodoo Infinity app.

Players will also be able to earn rewards in the games that can be converted directly into "Voodoo Coins", which will be the global currency of the games ecosystem.

Several major Web3 players are said to be in the process of joining the project and acquiring "Voodoo Coins" in advance. According to our information, the ICO should take place on an exchange platform. Its name has not been revealed, but it could be Binance, which is none other than the biggest exchange platform on the planet.

The choice of Binance would make sense, insofar as Voodoo ($425m turnover in 2021) is very well known in the United States and Europe, but much less so in Asia, an area where Binance is crushing the competition 💪

In terms of technological choices, the "Voodoo Coin" should be developed on Polygon.‍

First step before the ICO: creating a community‍

To develop its project, Voodoo plans to rely on a Discord community (which will see the light of day before the end of the first half of the year, several weeks before the ICO) to preview games and provide feedback to the publisher.

"There will be an advantage to being part of this community because those who test the games in advance will be able to earn tokens in a privileged way," points out Yoni Lasry, in charge of Voodoo's blockchain activities. They will also be able to receive NFTs.

A dozen games are currently in development, but three of them are more advanced and should be part of the catalogue at launch.

As a mobile games publisher, Voodoo has historically targeted casual gamers and will have to contend with the difficulty of managing a cryptocurrency wallet. This hurdle could be overcome through partnerships with Torus and Web3auth, which enable frictionless wallet creation with a simple Google, Apple, Facebook or Twitter account. More advanced users, meanwhile, will be able to connect the wallets of their choice.

Objective: reach the mass market‍

With this project, Voodoo hopes to appeal to the widest possible audience. "Both crypto-users and the general public," stresses Yoni Lasry.

The challenge is no small one, as no blockchain game has yet managed to go beyond the insider.

Sorare currently has nearly 700,000 unique monthly users, but it's still a far cry from the big successes of traditional mobile games. For example, Candy Crush had 240 million active monthly players at the end of last year! 😝

"The first wave of blockchain games never exceeded 100,000 players at best," confirms one industry insider.

One of the keys to the success of the Voodoo Infinity app will be its eventual presence on Apple and Google's mobile app shops. At least, that's what the company is working on.

"The AppStore is an evangelism tool that remains incredible," explains Yoni Lasry, "obviously we could do without it to develop games for highly educated audiences, but it's essential to go after the mass market."