Ripple’s Xpring Helps Launch a $100 Million Fund for Game Developers

Xpring, Ripple’s grant network for developers launched last May, is stepping into the $140 billion global gaming industry.

The project has partnered with the gaming blockchain startup Forte to create a $100 million fund to support game developers, the companies announced on Tuesday.

According to a report in the Verge, all of the money will come from Ripple and Forte will manage the fund, which aims to accelerate mainstream adoption of blockchain technology in gaming.

Forte’s tech leverages “open-source solutions designed in collaboration with Ripple,” the announcement says. These solutions include the open-source Interledger Protocol, the Codius platform (created for smart contracts but described here as a “container-based hosting solution”) and the use of the cryptocurrency XRP for settlements.

“Blockchain technology has the potential to improve game designs and help developers run better and more successful game economies, but for many developers it’s difficult to develop and deploy,” the companies’ press release says. “Forte’s platform makes it easy for developers to apply blockchain technology to their games, increasing engagement and monetization with their players.”

The fund is primarily targeting “game developers operating live game economies with over 50,000 daily active users,” the release adds.

“We are thrilled to partner with such a world-class team of game industry veterans,” Ethan Beard, senior vice president of Xpring, said in a statement, referring to Forte’s founding team from such gaming companies as Kabam, Unity, and GarageGames.

“Both Forte and Ripple have a shared belief that blockchain technology will have a massive impact on games, and that providing tools that are easy-to-use, chain agnostic and interoperable is a necessary step in driving scale consumer adoption,” he added.

Founded in February 2019, San-Francisco-based Forte was supported by such investors as a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Canaan Partners, Coinbase Ventures, 1confirmation, and others, the announcement says.

“Blockchain technologies’ key innovations unlock vast potential for nearly all forms of digital interaction. Gaming is a $140 billion global industry driven predominantly by digital micro-transaction economies, which we believe will benefit immensely from the integrity and resilience of blockchain technology,” Brett Seyler, chief platform officer at Forte, said in a statement. “The industry needs solutions that can support these economies at scale with cross-chain interoperability.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, photo by Nikhilesh De for CoinDesk