Quick take:
- InMobi’s Glance is diving into the world of non-fungible tokens.
- Te Google-backed short video platform has acquired India’s mobile game developer Gambit to bring NFT-based live gaming experiences to lock screens.
- Gambit’s Nostro Pro gaming platform has nearly 10 million registered users that have played the games over 100 million times.
Google-backed AI startup Glance is diving into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) after purchasing India’s mobile gaming developer Gambit. Glance is an artificial intelligence platform owned by Singapore-based InMobi. The platform offers lock-screen experiences in mobile phones globally. It also owns India-based Roposo a short video sharing platform.
Glance set up on a journey to embrace Web3 products in 2020 when it raised $145 million from Google and Mithril Capital.
The acquisition of Gambit combined Glance’s global scale in lock screen experiences with the Indian-based mobile game developer’s expertise and understanding of the gaming ecosystem.
Glance Games is Glance’s lock screen gaming ecosystem developed with NFT-based monetization in mind. It has amassed over 45 million monthly active users across Asia. On the other hand, Gambit boasts over 100 million games played on its Nostragamus (Nostra Pro) platform by nearly 10 million registered users.
Glance wants to leverage Gambit’s expertise in experiential gaming to create “highly engaging live gaming experiences including tournaments, game shows, game streaming and multi-player games on lock screens,” the startup wrote in a statement.
Glance also plans to add NFTs in the coming quarters to its live gaming, enabling enable creators, streamers and developers to monetize in-game assets and launch NFTs within the platform.
Commenting on the acquisition of Gambit, Piyush Shah, Co-founder of InMobi Group and President and COO, Glance said gaming has become the most active segment of the entertainment industry in the world, with Gen-Z spending more time playing games than any other activity online.
“Giving users live, connected, interactive gaming experiences on the lock screen is key to Glance’s vision of building the world’s largest live internet platform,” Shah said, adding that his company also plans to launch creator-led NFTs for live gaming which will generate unique ‘play-to-earn’ and ‘play-to-own’ possibilities for the entire gaming ecosystem.”
Said Yashashvi Takallapalli, Co-founder and CEO, Gambit echoed Shah’s remarks saying that his company has already witnessed great traction for live gaming on Glance.
“For instance, over 10 million users watch live game streams on Glance every week now,” Takallapalli emphasized, adding “with Glance and Gambit’s combined strengths and our belief that there is a game for every person, we envision doubling the number of monthly active gamers on Glance Games in the next year.”
Glance signed an agreement with Jio Platforms to raise $200 million in February as it targets global expansion.
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