Vietnam’s Ancient8 Gets $6M To Build Infrastructure Software for GameFi

Vietnam-based GameFi infrastructure company Ancient8 is hoping to ride on the success of major crypto gaming title Axie Infinity

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Several notable investor participated in Ancient8’s funding round including Morningstar Ventures and Pantera Capital
  • Funding will be used to further develop the company’s GameFi infrastructure software as well as grow its community, it said

Vietnam-based blockchain firm Ancient8 said it has raised millions in additional funding to further its efforts in developing infrastructure for the GameFi sector in Web3.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said it has raised $6 million in a funding round led by interactive entertainment venture capital firm Makers Fund and C² Ventures.

Participation from existing and new investors also came via Pantera Capital, 6th Man Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Folius Ventures, Morningstar Ventures, Th3ia Capital, Sky9 Capital and Play Ventures.

Funding will go toward the firm’s efforts in building out its software products as well as growing its community and gaming guild, Ancient8 said. The firm has an active user base of around 200,000 members, per the statement.

“We think Web3 games have brought a paradigm shift in the gaming industry for gamers and game developers,” Ancient8’s co-founder Howard Xu told Blockworks in an email. “Gamers get a new experience where they can earn substantial income by doing the things they love – playing games.”

GameFi – a portmanteau of gaming and decentralized finance – is a relatively new concept within the Web3 ecosystem designed to provide players with avenues of earning while they play, offering economic incentives including tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Xu said it was thanks to major crypto gaming titles such as Axie Infinity – based out of Ho Chi Minh City – that the domestic sector began picking up steam. GameFi’s daily unique active wallets surpassed 1 million unique users for the first time last year, mainly driven by Axie Infinity, Xu said.

“We see thousands of blockchain games being developed since the success of Axie,” the co-founder said. Axie is the world’s leading blockchain game by total monthly active users.

Ancient8 is attempting to ride the coattails of that success and has established the “largest blockchain gaming guild” in the country. It also said it has partnered with more than 25 leading GameFi projects. Those partnerships include Axie Infinity and Phantom Galaxies – an open-world space simulation game published by Animoca Brands.

In the coming months, Ancient8 is expected to launch a “GameFi identity product” along with a pair of tokens designed to engage users via a go-to-market strategy for Web3 gaming. The firm added it would use the products to link up with other top blockchain games.

“Blockchain is revolutionizing the way games are being made by shifting a lot of the power originally held by game publishers to the hands of the game studio and players,” Xu said. “Gamers get a new experience where they can earn substantial income by doing the things they love – playing games.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas

article-image

Players can stake ME, trade tokens and link wallets to climb the leaderboard