Ethereum Gaming NFT Marketplace Aqua Shuts Down Citing Slow Industry Growth
The gaming NFT market Aqua is not any extra, CEO Sean Ryan introduced on Linkedin Friday. The plan was first shared final month, however as of at present, it is official.
“At Aqua, we did some issues properly and a few issues not as properly, however the Web3 gaming market is not scaling to a mass market measurement in a time-frame that made sense,” Ryan wrote. “Due to this fact, it was time to name it a day and transfer on to different alternatives, particularly for our superior workers.”
“I am nonetheless a agency believer in the concept that avid gamers will personal their gaming belongings, however it is going to take a bit longer [than] we had all hoped,” the CEO added.
Ryan, who beforehand labored as a VP at Fb, launched Aqua in 2022 and partnered with blockchain companies like Immutable and Polygon Labs. Now, after lower than two years, the “player-focused” NFT gaming startup has closed its doorways.
https://t.co/GOdYHhqYNu shall be ceasing operations as of December 1, 2023.
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In a graphic hooked up to the submit, Ryan additionally shared that the startup struggled to lift funds in a broader crypto gaming market with “slower-than-expected progress.”
“I am a powerful believer within the class, however typically one is simply too early,” Ryan informed Decrypt‘s GG when reached on Friday.
Aqua aimed to supply a gaming NFT market in addition to extra white-glove, embedded market options for recreation builders. {The marketplace} supported NFTs on Ethereum, in addition to scaling networks Polygon and Immutable X.
Earlier this 12 months, Ryan informed Decrypt in an interview that Aqua was designed for true avid gamers—not “degen” crypto merchants trying to earn cash by flipping gaming NFTs for revenue.
NFT Video games After Axie Infinity’s Fall Will Be Made for Players, Not Degens: Aqua CEO
And from his conversations with over 50 totally different blockchain recreation builders, Ryan discovered that devs overwhelmingly wished a seamless recreation market that doesn’t pull avid gamers out to a third-party web site.
Such has been mentioned once more just lately by Aqua’s rivals at Sequence, which simply launched its personal instrument for devs to make their very own in-game marketplaces.
Ubisoft-Backed Horizon Launches Sequence Builder to Make Crypto Sport Dev Simpler
For higher or worse, there’s now tons of competitors within the gaming NFT market area. Gaming key retailer G2A just lately took its leap into NFT gross sales, OpenSea has revamped its gaming choices and content material (however has laid off employees), and Magic Eden has additionally emphasised gaming as a core focus going ahead.
However Aqua isn’t the one gaming NFT platform that’s pulled again this 12 months. In August, GameStop introduced it was killing its NFT pockets, citing “regulatory uncertainty.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
