Founded by former King team leads, pnkfrg (pronounced pink frog) studios has raised $3 million to create new mobile experiences based on blockchain and UGC videos.
The money was raised in seed funding, PocketGamer.biz reported on May 16.
It is still unclear what pnkfrg’s upcoming game will look like, but the team wants to transform “user generated video content into an interactive gaming experience supported by Bitcoin and the Lightning network.”
Philipp Lanik, who previously worked as executive producer on Candy Crush Saga, will lead pnkfrg studios as its CEO. The founding team also consists of former King senior business performance manager Ferran Puñet Soriano, former King senior producer Alexander Chroust, and former Netlight Consulting manager Tanja Turunen.
“With our product we are addressing the needs of the generation of mobile natives and social creators,” Lanik said. “We want them to play our games on their daily commute or break, obtain crypto rewards for their engagement and give them the opportunity to spend, save, or donate it in real life – direct, frictionless, rewarding. The Bitcoin lightning network with its low fee microtransaction is a perfect solution to support our vision.”
Despite pnkfrg’s ambitions, blockchain, as well as NFTs, has been drawing a lot of criticism both from players and game developers. On the other hand, blockchain-related games raised a total of $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022, which accounts for 50% of private investment deal value.