Party Icons Secures $9 Million in Seed Funding Led by BITKRAFT Ventures Amidst Challenging Market Conditions

BITKRAFT Ventures :

October 23, 2024 - Party Icons, a pioneering mobile-first gaming platform with three fully playable modes, today announced it has raised $9 million in a private funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, bringing its total funding to $20 million. This significant investment, secured despite current market headwinds, underscores strong institutional confidence in Party Icons’ potential to revolutionize the gaming landscape with its innovative gameplay design and open ecosystem, powered by its unique “Party-as-a-Service” live operations model and integrated Web3 infrastructure.

Check out the Party Icons gameplay trailer here.

Joining BITKRAFT in this round are other notable investors, including IDG Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, Leap Capital, Mantle Network, King River Capital, Mask Network, Yield Guild Games, Zentry, 32-Bit Ventures, Ed3n Ventures, Palm Drive Capital and individual investors Sebastien Borget, Co-Founder of Sandbox, and Cristian Manea, a prolific Web3 angel. Capital raised from this influential roster will accelerate the development of Party Icons’ diverse gaming and social experiences, expand Web3-enabled functionalities and infrastructure, and fuel its global expansion into key markets in 2025.

BITKRAFT Principal Jonathan Huang added: “Party Icons is on an ambitious mission to blend the social glue of party games with the intensity of extraction shooters, creating a next-gen, verticalized UGC platform made possible only through clever integration of Web3 technology. We have been highly impressed with the team’s masterful ability to dual wield Web2 game design with Web3 token-unlocked features, and we couldn’t be more excited to lead this round.”

“Party Icons is designed to offer more than just traditional gameplay,” said Claire Lin, Party Icons Co-Founder. “Our vision is to create a space where players can not only enjoy compelling game mechanics but also participate in a thriving, player-driven economy. This funding round will enable us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in gaming today.”

Quick Sessions, Deep Progression: Designed for the Modern Gamer
When players first enter Party Icons, they arrive on Miragio, a fully customizable interactive island that serves as the lobby of the Partyverse. Miragio is home to entertainment facilities, social hubs, marketplaces, and portals to the various game modes. Currently, three distinct modes are available, with more on the way, each offering a unique experience tailored to different styles of gameplay.

The core game mode, Party Heist, pits four teams of two against each other in whimsical maps for a high-stakes party royale experience with an extraction shooter mechanism. Extraction gameplay offers multiple paths to victory and strategic depth—whether securing treasures and extracting early, hunting down enemies and bosses for bigger rewards, or ambushing others at extraction points. “It’s important to note that our approach to Party Heist is not about competing with the heavily tactical shooters out there; the key word here is ‘party,’” Quinn Campbell, Party Icons VP of Growth explains.

Party Brawl shifts the pace to a 3v3 team deathmatch, where action and teamwork unfold rapidly across new maps, delivering intense, adrenaline-fueled shootouts. Meanwhile, Carnival Clash offers a more lighthearted experience, featuring over 25 familiar party games that are easy to pick up for quick, casual fun.

“All game modes are designed with modern gaming habits in mind, with most sessions lasting under 12 minutes, reflecting today’s ‘bite-sized’ entertainment trend,” says Campbell. Players take on the roles of Hero Icons, characters inspired by art toys and pop culture, equipped with narrative-driven combat abilities and upgradeable Party Talents and weapons. Higher-rarity Hero Icons and weapons, earned through gameplay and minted on-chain, also serve as key assets for mining within the Partyverse. This combination of fast-paced gameplay and character progression delivers both instant gratification and long-term depth for modern gamers.

God Mode: A Revolutionary Gameplay Experience
Beyond the three game modes lies a fourth, secret mode—God Mode. Accessible only to OGX̅ NFT holders, God Mode introduces a revolutionary twist never before seen in gaming. Inspired by Squid Game, Hunger Games, and the original Japanese film Battle Royale, OGX̅ holders—Partyverse’s genesis PFP collection—assume the role of all-powerful game masters who exist beyond the arena. These Gods wield immense power to alter the course of gameplay, dropping valuable loot, reshaping the battlefield, and influencing outcomes with strategic precision or reckless abandon. Their unpredictable nature keeps the competition thrilling and dynamic, giving all players—regardless of skill level—a chance at victory.

“OGX̅, or Orsus Grandis X̅, is Latin for ‘ten thousand great beginnings.’ They are up to no good and lie at the heart of Partyverse lore,” Lin shares. “With God Mode, we challenge gamers with the idea of ‘Play, or Be Played.’ This mode lends itself perfectly to interactive live-stream content, bringing a new dimension of engagement for players and spectators alike.”  

In Party Icons, players can step into the role of the Hero, the familiar protagonist in battle royale games, or embrace the power of the God. The game also introduces a third, innovative role—the Spectator. Spectators will have the ability to actively engage during live streams, interacting with both Gods and the game world itself. Using cutting-edge technology, Party Icons will enable spectators to influence gameplay in real time, adding a new layer of interactivity and immersion. This feature is expected to roll out in 2025, with testing already underway in collaboration with select streaming platforms.

“Party-as-a-Service”: Redefining Live Ops and Game Ownership
Party Icons introduces Party-as-a-Service (PaaS), a groundbreaking evolution of the traditional Game-as-a-Service model that decentralizes live operations and economic interest. Instead of developers controlling every aspect of the game, Party Icons empowers guilds, streamers, whales, and players to engage with the game in ways that best suit their needs.

Mirship NFTs, available by invitation or application, enable holders to create Mirship Clubs within Party Icons, giving them access to a dashboard that allows them to organize events and tournaments, leverage player data, and manage their club members’ in-game experiences. With built-in tools and data analytics, guilds can tailor experiences to their community’s needs, democratizing e-sports and allowing more players—not just the elite few—to engage in competitive gaming.

Gabby Dizon, Founder of YGG, highlights the potential of this system: “As we bring more users and communities on-chain, platforms like Party Icons are a great way to show how they can own part of an economy while having fun in a game with their friends. Through the YGG Mirship, the guilds in YGG can have a new meeting place in the metaverse to play together and share rewards.”

By fully integrating Web3 technology into gameplay, Party Icons creates a safe, open ecosystem where digital assets have real-world value. From in-game loot airdrops to the influence of God Mode, every player has a meaningful role in the ecosystem. This decentralized live ops model transforms players from passive consumers into active operators, empowering them to take ownership of the game’s success.

A Vision for the Future of Gaming
As the gaming industry continues to evolve, Party Icons stands at the forefront, pioneering a new era of player-driven economies and decentralized live operations. Bolstered by this recent funding round, the team will continue to innovate in both gameplay and monetization, guided by their faith in the impact of decentralized ownership. 

Investors share this confidence. IDG Capital, an early investor in Coinbase and a leading international VC firm, expressed their belief: “We fully believe in the future of gaming, and we’re confident in Party Icons’ ability to lead this revolution.” With its innovative Party-as-a-Service model, cutting-edge God Mode, and a truly open ecosystem, Party Icons is set to revolutionize how communities, streamers, players and viewers interact with gaming, turning traditional roles on their head and placing the power firmly in the hands of the players.
 

About BITKRAFT Ventures 
BITKRAFT Ventures is the global early-stage investment platform for gaming, Web3, and immersive technology, with assets under management totaling $1 billion. With a focus on Seed, Series A, and Series B investments across the spectrum of interactive media, BITKRAFT is at the forefront of the Synthetic Reality™ tech revolution, where physical and digital worlds converge. In April 2024, BITKRAFT closed its third fund at $275m. For a full list of investments made to date, view BITKRAFT’s portfolio here.  

   
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