South Korean Publisher Neowiz Launches $10M Polygon Game Accelerator

By Kate Irwin

South Korean game publisher Neowiz wants to fund the next generation of Web3 games on Ethereum scaling network Polygon through its crypto subsidiary Intella X’s new $10 million gaming accelerator.

The Intella X ecosystem currently offers a crypto wallet, decentralized exchange, and NFT marketplace. Its accelerator fund was created in partnership with Polygon Labs in an effort to bring Web3 games to the ecosystem.

Earlier this year, Neowiz raised $12 million for Intella X from investors like Polygon Labs, major metaverse investor Animoca Brands, multi-chain NFT marketplace Magic Eden, and WeMix.

“Intella X's grant program will provide game developers much-needed opportunity and means for more great games to be built in the Polygon ecosystem," Polygon Labs Vice President and Global Head of Business Development Urvit Goel told Decrypt. "Our hope is these new games will bolster Web3 gaming adoption and further solidify Polygon's position as the home of Web3 gaming.”

Prospective grant recipients can expect to wait a few weeks to a month for a response, and those selected to move forward in the grant process will have to undergo an interview and a due diligence period, according to a release. There is no typical grant amount for the accelerator, the firm said, and the amount given will vary depending on the project.

Korean game publisher Neowiz is one of many traditional game publishers exploring the possibilities of Web3 gaming. Founded in 1997, Neowiz has released a wide variety of games, from mobile titles to indies and PC games—it’s the company behind games like the DJMax series, Crossfire, Brave Nine, Sanabi, Lies of P, and Tapsonic.

While Intella X is looking to build out its roster of Web3 games, it already has a few titles in the ecosystem. It has two Web3 versions of popular mobile game Cats & Soup in development, and is also developing the RPG Brave Nine and the shooter A.V.A. in Web3. It’s also home to the Web3 spinoff of the mobile MMORPG EOS Red, which will be called EOS Gold.

Neowiz’s push into Web3 gaming via Intella X comes as other large publishers in the Asian market dive into crypto. Square Enix, Nexon, Krafton, NCSoft, Netmarble, and Com2Us are a few of the many Eastern publishers that are currently developing Web3 games—while only a few in the West have made such commitments.

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