Twitch Co-Founder’s Fractal Launches Tools To Help Developers Build NFT Games

Gaming-centric Web3 startup and NFT marketplace Fractal has announced Fractal Studio, or FStudio, a three-part product the company says will enable video game developers to more easily add crypto integrations to their titles without having to code.

FStudio gives developers the ability to “build”, “acquire” and “monetize” their projects, according to a statement. Developers will be able to turn in-game assets into NFTs with FStudio, enable credit card payments for in-game crypto items and create your own in-game NFT stores.

“It’s been about 18 months since we started the company, and I feel like in that time we’ve been through decades of time in crypto,” said Fractal co-founder Justin Kan, who previously co-founded the streaming platform Twitch. Decrypt in an interview.

FStudio users can also add their games to Fractal’s desktop game launcher for app-based games, which already has about 150 titles. Browser-based games can appear on the Fractal web platform in the meantime.

“Fractal is kind of like an arcade,” Kan said. “We’re creating this space where all these games are coming and players can try them out.”

Over time, Fractal has evolved from being known as a gaming focused NFT marketplace on Solana and other networks to be both a Web3 gaming platform and launch for users. Now with FStudio, it’s also dipping its toes into developer software.

FStudio will allow game developers to host their own prize money tournaments, create events, run giveaways and reward players, and create a “craft” mechanic that allows players to earn prizes.

“Asking players to become investors is not a winning strategy for most people,” Fractal wrote in an announcement on the blog, regarding its approach to Web3 games.

Instead, Fractal offers a Web2-friendly approach that it believes will appeal to mainstream gamers and game developers alike – building an organic gaming economy rather than one that attracts “flippers”.

Games to make money saw a sudden surge in popularity that peaked in 2021 with NFT games like Axie Infinity, but the model has yet to see mainstream adoption following the collapse of that game’s economy. Since then, many proponents of crypto gaming have instead advocated for games that offer optional crypto elements and put gaming above all else.

“It has to go back to people having fun,” Kan said. “I think we tried the experiment where it was like, ‘Can we make an economy where everybody plays for money?’ And I don’t think that works in the long term. It’s not sustainable.”

“The games need to be fun experiences to compete with Web2 games,” he added.