Faraway: Browser-Based Crypto Gaming

As 2021 comes to a close, two of the most notable investment themes of the year have been the impressive developer momentum on Solana and blockchain-enabled gaming entering the mainstream. 

Very much in line with these core theses, Pantera recently invested in the $21M Series A of Faraway, a gaming studio building browser-based games powered by the blockchain. We’re thrilled to be joined by Lightspeed, Sequoia Capital, a16z, FTX, and other heavy-hitters across crypto and gaming in partnering with the company.

The current state of browser games

Browser-based games are typically targeted towards casual or mid-core players and are fully playable on a computer browser. There’s oftentimes no need to download software, sign up for an account, or pay money; within a few moments, players are launched into a game with other players from all over the world. 

This approachability also makes browser games uniquely social. Through link-sharing, many players can share a “room” with their friends and enjoy a synchronous multiplayer gaming experience. As a result, some of the most popular browser games—such as Krunker, Shell Shockers, and Surviv.io—have gone “viral” and amassed millions of users, particularly during the pandemic.

Krunker

Shell Shockers (YouTube)

Surviv.io (Steam)

Even though some browser games have experienced breakout success, the segment remains extremely underexplored. Many of the most successful browser games were built by amateurs as side projects, not established gaming studios. 

The main reason why legacy gaming giants, by and large, haven’t entered the space is a concern surrounding the business model. Browser games are quite difficult to monetize and have historically had trouble retaining players. For most studios, who can spend hundreds of millions on big-budget games, investing resources into developing browser games simply doesn’t make economic sense.

However, as cryptoeconomics get further integrated into gameplay, this dynamic may be due to change.

The missing piece: blockchain

The stratospheric rise of Axie Infinity this year has made one thing abundantly clear to gaming incumbents: thoughtful incentive design combined with a decentralized in-game economy can unlock an immense amount of value.

Integrating blockchain-based game elements—such as tradable NFTs or in-game currencies—could be the secret to changing browser games from their current form into sustainable, vibrant ecosystems. Through royalties from NFT secondary sales, composability with other projects, and turning games themselves into collectively-owned DAOs, crypto offers browser-based game developers numerous new ways of attracting users and monetizing their games.

Faraway sees a big opportunity in this gap. The team, which is composed of gaming veterans from all parts of the industry, sees a few advantages to building browser-based games. They:

• Meet players where their wallets are, making it simple for users to use Phantom, Metamask, or another Web3 wallet.
• Avoid distribution challenges that blockchain games have faced on the App Store, Steam, and other channels.
• Create strong network effects through link-sharing and other viral loops.
• Provide gameplay experiences that are not limited by the hardware or graphics card the player owns.

In the words of Alex Paley, Faraway’s co-founder and CEO:

“We have this belief that, at least in the short to medium term, the browser is the best place for any blockchain game. It’s outside of the control of any of these platforms. And we already saw what happens when Steam says no more NFT games. We just truly believe that the goal is to make extremely social games. There is literally no more social of a platform than the browser. I can send you a link and we could be playing together in seconds versus installing a shooter.”

Introducing Mini Royale: Nations

Mini Royale: Nations, Faraway’s first game, is a browser-based shooter. There are several different game modes, including Team Deathmatch (most popular), Battle Royale, and Capture the Flag. Players can either play as a guest or log in with an account to earn in-game items and work their way up the leaderboard.

Mini Royale: Nations (Whitepaper)

Mini Royale: Nations

In just a few months, the game has already experienced an impressive amount of traction. Mini Royale has over 2M registered accounts, over 300k monthly active users, and hundreds of thousands of daily matches. It’s clear that there’s a lot of demand for high-quality browser games; Faraway’s mission is to build them.

Where browser meets blockchain

Mini Royale: Nations is on track to be the first live multiplayer game built on Solana. 

Choosing Solana was an obvious decision for the team, according to Paley:

“We're making a real-time multiplayer, hyper-social, ultra-complex economic game, right? Solana was the only chain that could actually allow us to make that type of game. It's super fast. It's super cheap, as far as transaction costs go. There's a ton of liquidity in the protocol, and there's a ton of ecosystem momentum.”

Many of the game’s on-chain elements are still in progress, but the current architecture of the game involves several in-game “soft” and “hard” currencies (similar to Axie Infinity’s design), tradable items represented by NFTs, revenue-generating land, and more. This would make the game one of the first “play-to-earn” games in the shooter category; by building a fun game first and designing the economics second, we believe Mini Royale: Nations is well-positioned to be a category leader.

Mini Royale: Nations (Whitepaper)

Mini Royale: Nations (Whitepaper)

While some blockchain-based games require players to purchase assets prior to playing (e.g., Axie Infinity), Mini Royale: Nations is making sure that the game is accessible to non-crypto-native players. By making sure that there’s a free-to-play path and very low barriers to entry, the game will be able to reach a far wider audience and preserve the virality that many browser-based games are known for.

The path forward

The next phase of Mini Royale: Nations involves exciting changes to the current gameplay. The new game will be centered around land control and will be more social, sophisticated, and strategic. Entirely new dynamics, such as guilds and base building, will enhance the game’s functionality and, ultimately, expand the economy.

To learn more about the gameplay and the many moving pieces that are coming soon, be sure to check out the (very thorough) whitepaper here.

Mini Royale: Nations (Whitepaper)

But Mini Royale: Nations is just the beginning for Faraway. As the studio continues to expand and build out their initial offering of games, the company’s ultimate goal is to onboard millions of new users into the cryptoeconomy through the social power of gaming. 

I personally believe that they’re spot-on in their identification of the browser as being a huge opportunity for next-generation games. Through blockchain, game developers now have a way of building a thriving community of players and driving revenue that would have been impossible just a few years ago. As one of the first movers in this category, we’re thrilled to be early partners with Faraway as they bring their first games to the mass market.

- Paul Veradittakit