Blockchain-keen Gaming Firm Snaps up Platform With 208K Active Users

Mobile gaming platform Animoca Brands has struck a deal that will see it take over digital collectibles marketplace Quidd.

The Hong Kong-based gaming company said it would be acquiring 100% of Quidd’s shares, paying an initial USD 5 million upfront to Quidd shareholders, in addition to performance-related add-ons of up to USD 3 million that will be paid in installments over the next three years.

Quidd has existing partnership deals in place with the likes of the NBA American pro basketball league, Disney (and its subsidiary Marvel), and American TV networks HBO and CBS. Quidd claims it has issued over 2.1 billion individually serialized digital collectibles to 6.8 million users. The marketplace averaged 208,000 active monthly users over the first six months of this year, and has been in operation since 2016.

Animoca Brands says it plans to take Quidd global, and has already earmarked the Asian and European markets for expansion. Most of Quidd’s current users are based in North America.

The Hong Kong-based firm says it completed a “strategic capital raise” of some USD 5.4 million from “strategic investors, Australian institutional investors and existing shareholders” ahead of the deal.

Earlier this year, Animoca Brands told Cryptonews.com that it was turning to blockchain technology as it believes the technology “will change the nature of gaming by enabling true digital ownership, thereby increasing engagement levels,” with “items that now have real value.”

In May, the company also succeeded in raising USD 100,000 for a non-fungible token (NFT) that represents a racecar in official Formula 1 racing game F1 Delta Time.

The company also has an existing deal with the Klaytn blockchain platform, which is operated by South Korean chat app giant Kakao’s Ground X subsidiary.