Playful Studios has announced the formation of a new Web3 franchise, the Wildcard Alliance, and has raised $46M in a Series A led by crypto and Web3 advocate Paradigm, with additional support from Griffin Gaming Partnersand Sabrina Hahn.

Wildcard – a hybrid of MOBA, real-time strategy, and collectible card game with live audience elements – is the brainchild of CEO and co-founder Paul Bettner, who previously developed Lucky’s Tale, Age of Empires and, alongside his brother David, co-created Words with Friends.

Wildcard to use Etherium on environmental grounds

“Web3 platforms present a tremendous opportunity to build entertainment that can include, empower, and onboard millions of new players,” said Bettner. “Despite this opportunity, the current focus of Web3 game development tends to be on finance over fun, economy over engagement, currency over community. With Wildcard, we’re focused on fun first, building a next-generation ‘spectator sport’ to welcome the entire community of competitors, collectors, sponsors, and fans to play together.”

“What sets Wildcard apart is an emphasis on quality and fun,” said Dave White, research partner at Paradigm. “Paul and the team have a proven track record building fun games at the frontier of what’s possible, and they are using Web3 tech in truly innovative ways to bring openness and accessibility to proven eSports mechanisms.
Wildcard will be powered by Etherium scaling and infrastructure development platform Polygon, chosen for its purported focus on improving crypto’s carbon footprint.

Back in 2020, Playful Studios significantly reduced its full-time staff members in a bid to create “a more streamlined production”.