Recently, I learned that Xterio is going to issue tokens. Last time, I specifically wrote an analysis about it. To be honest, its background is quite good, backed by the gaming giant FunPlus, led by the former COO of NetEase, and it is also Binance's single largest investment in a project (up to 15 million USD). Therefore, in the eyes of most participants, the most basic expectation is at least to be on Binance.

Xterio was founded in 2022, during the peak of blockchain gaming. After seeing Animoca's success and the rising prices of SAND and GMT, they realized the potential of blockchain gaming, which is why Xterio emerged at that time.

At that time, FunPlus, the incubator of Xterio, could have completely avoided involving itself in Web3, as it was a hot time for games going abroad. The domestic government had also begun to issue game licenses, and many games that had gone abroad could return to the domestic market to continue their success. The media even reported that this was a small spring for the gaming industry.

At that time, FunPlus was consistently ranked in the top 10 among game publishing companies going abroad. It's important to note that there were thousands of game companies going abroad in the domestic market, and several hundred qualified publishers. It was quite an achievement to maintain a leading position.

So when FunPlus launched the Xterio platform, the outside world interpreted it as part of FunPlus's diversification strategy.

Accelerated transformation.

Initially, there wasn't much news about Xterio, mainly because they had not launched any new products and the platform had not announced any financing. In the industry circle, everyone only knew that it was incubated by FunPlus.

Gradually, with the arrival of many positive news and the team's activity, people began to realize that this is a relatively heavyweight project, both in terms of funding and traffic, belonging to the first tier.

Unfortunately, it was a case of being born at the wrong time. The blockchain gaming sector has encountered a chill in Web3, and many token performances over the past two years have not met our expectations. At the same time, Xterio has confirmed that it will establish its own super gaming chain, which has led it to not consider using TON to build the platform, but now there hasn't been much news from TON either.

As for FunPlus itself, due to fierce competition in going abroad, it has dropped out of the top 10 overseas rankings. Recently, it has also begun business integration and made some personnel optimizations to better concentrate on certain definitive businesses, which includes Xterio.

From the recent industry trends, exchanges generally still tend to believe that MEME and blockchain games are relatively good out-of-circle targets. Although games like STEPN, SANDBOX, and FOMO3D have too few gaming elements and feel more like trading markets or gambling platforms, it cannot be denied that they are also blockchain games.

This is also why Binance chose to invest 15 million USD in Xterio; they believe Xterio has sustained value creation capability. If one game doesn't work out, they can create more projects and try again, and eventually, one project will attract attention from outside the circle.

For FunPlus, this initial decision for diversification can be considered a lifesaver. At least if one day Web2 completely fails, Web3 can still provide some opportunities.

Recently, many projects born in the last cycle have successively issued tokens. In fact, Xterio is also on the way, and the official circulation of the token is expected to be completed by Q1 2025 at the latest. Recently, they have also made some layouts in AI, trying to position themselves not only limited to the field of blockchain games.

For example, they have established cooperation with the former Google Deepmind team RekaAI. In addition, their newly launched mini-games also integrate AI technology, allowing players to interact with AI agents and earn points, so Xterio can be said to have the label of AI.

The upcoming token issuance will be a significant test, as it is not only a verification of Binance's investment results but also a test of how major companies are performing in Web3.

Remember when the Sony Chain emerged this summer? An insider's exact words were: 'If we can be number one in Web2, then we can be the same in Web3.'

Currently, the Sony Chain has not yet launched, but the long-prepared Xterio has arrived; it is on the way.

The above is a reflection on Xterio. Thank you for reading.

AB KUAI DONG
December 19, 2024