Sony Block Solutions Labs (Sony BSL) launched the Soneium Minato public testnet and Soneium Spark incubator on Aug. 28. The layer-2 Soneium blockchain, developed by Singapore-based Startale Labs, a Sony subsidiary, debuted a week earlier as Sony’s boldest move into the Web3 space so far.

Soneium Spark will offer developers a package of benefits that include investment of up to $100,000 and other funding opportunities available through the program’s partners. Eligible developers will also receive “official support from Sony Group, Astar Network, and Startale,” Sony Block Solutions Labs director Sota Watanabe said in a statement.

Bootstrapping, the Sony way

The Astar Network is a “special partner” of the new blockchain and will provide support to Soneium Spark participants along with USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle, Ethereum layer-2 solution developer Optimism, development platform Alchemy, decentralized indexing system The Graph and oracle network Chainlink. Soneium uses Optimism’s OP Stack codebase.

Sony subsidiaries will also participate in Soneium Spark, including its music, film and educational arms, innovation fund and Inzone gaming headset division. Sony Block Solution Labs chairman Jun Watanabe said:

“We have opened our testnet as a first step to foster a fan community centered on creators that can connect diverse values through Soneium. We look forward to working with partners who share our vision and are willing to participate in collaboration with Sony Group.”

Sony on the road to Web3 

Sony began its partnership with Startale, the developer of Astar, in June 2023, when fiber optic internet service provider Sony Network Communications invested $3.5 million in it. That Sony subsidiary changed its name to Sony BSL with the launch of Soneium.

In addition to serving as Sony Block Solutions Labs’ director, Sota Watanabe is also CEO of Startale and founded Astar as a parachain operating on the Polkadot ecosystem.

Sony, which produces the PlayStation gaming console, invested in Epic Games’ metaverse push in April 2021. Meanwhile, in 2022, Sony Music invested in MakersPlace, a non-fungible token (NFT) market dedicated to digital art and patented an NFT app covering music and artists under the Columbia Records logo in September of that year.

In April, Sony Bank announced it was experimenting with its own stablecoin for payments from businesses using its intellectual property.

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