Quick take:
- SoftBank has joined Oasys’ blockchain gaming validator network.
- The investment conglomerate is joining a list of gaming giants including Square Enix, Netmarble and SEGA that are node validators.
- Node validators verify transactions on the blockchain by staking their tokens.
Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank has joined a growing list of Asia-based companies on Oasys Network’s validator network. Japan-based gaming and entertainment giants SEGA, Square Enix and Bandai NAMCO are all node validators on Oasys, as is South Korea’s mobile game publisher Netmarble, which joined the now 25-member validator network in March last year.
Other notable validators on the network include French video game publisher, Ubisoft and a16z-backed play-to-earn games studio, Yield Guild Games.
SoftBank has been one of the most active venture investors in the web3 space backing both blockchain gaming and infrastructure projects through its Vision 2 Fund. This partnership is the beginning of a bigger collaboration with the proof-of-stake blockchain network as it seeks to expand its presence in the industry.
SoftBank lauded Oasys blockchain technology for serving both users and intellectual property holders, adding that the two companies will work together “to explore the development of blockchain-based services for the gaming industry,” Keiichi Makizono, senior vice president and CIO of SoftBank said in a press release on Thursday.
SoftBank is specifically looking to help Oasys in promoting “Web3’s social implementation and resolve social issues,” added Makizono.
A validator is a computer that verifies transactions on the blockchain keeping the network safe and secure. Entities become node validators by staking their tokens.
Oasys is a Japan-based web3 startup created by the same team behind the popular web3 games project DoubleJump.tokyo. Oasys raised $21 million via a token sale that concluded in December last year and now boasts over a dozen games after launching its blockchain mainnet protocol.
SoftBank’s decision to join the validator network is seen as a huge boost for the crypto industry following last year’s market downturn.
Oasys is taking steps to shift from a centralised private entity to adopt a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) model. A DAO grants members of the community ownership of the project by staking the project’s governance token.
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