Champions Ascension, a AAA blockchain game backed by a16z, has unexpectedly suspended operations as the team shifts focus to a new project centered on user acquisition.
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Champions Ascension, a AAA blockchain game backed by a16z, has unexpectedly suspended operations as the team shifts focus to a new project centered on user acquisition.
Suspending operations is undoubtedly the development team's pragmatic compromise in response to the game's poor performance, while simultaneously, their focused exploration of new game distribution and user acquisition models represents a crucial strategic transformation.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Zen, PANews
The development team behind Champions Ascension recently announced a strategic shift that will see the game cease operations as they redirect all resources toward a new project—REACH Labs. This shutdown, which took effect last Friday, includes the main server of Champions Ascension and its associated features (including Imperial Expeditions and Dudo).
Once backed by a16z and positioned as a "AAA"-tier blockchain game, Champions Ascension was once highly anticipated. However, facing a sluggish blockchain gaming market and declining user engagement, the team has ultimately decided to pause operations. The developers emphasized that halting service does not mean abandoning the project altogether. REACH Labs aims to pave the way for Champions Ascension’s future return through an innovative user acquisition and distribution model.
Backed by a16z, Champions Ascension May Return in the Future
Originally initiated by renowned mobile game company Jam City, Champions Ascension was envisioned as a next-generation “AAA” blockchain game. Amid a downturn in the global gaming industry and intensifying competition, internal debates arose within Jam City about whether to abandon the project. Ultimately, Chris DeWolfe, co-founder of Jam City and a strong believer in blockchain gaming, left the company along with several executives and developers to form Plai Labs—an independent studio focused on building the next generation of social platforms leveraging AI and Web3—and the standalone game studio Rough House Games. Their first entertainment offering? None other than Champions Ascension.
Leveraging Chris DeWolfe and his team's extensive experience in social media and game design, Plai Labs secured a sizable $32 million seed round during a bear market, led by top-tier venture firms a16z Games and a16z Crypto. Additionally, DeWolfe’s game studio Rough House Games, focusing on the intersection of Web2 and Web3, has received backing from a16z, Coinbase, Crush Ventures, and UTA.
Nevertheless, amid the ongoing downturn in the blockchain gaming sector and continuous player attrition, Champions Ascension—having remained under the radar—has now paused services. The development team clarified this move doesn’t signify the end of the game. Instead, their current focus lies with REACH Labs, a Web3 game publishing platform that may breathe new life into Champions Ascension through novel user acquisition strategies. The team stressed their deep appreciation for the player community and promised to disclose further plans for Champions Ascension following the launch of REACH Labs.
Shifting to REACH Labs: Tackling Game User Acquisition Challenges
REACH Labs is a new Web3 game publisher formed through a collaboration between Rough House Games and game startup Overworld. Jeremy Horn, founder of Overworld, is also co-founder of the Web3 company Xterio and brings years of industry experience from roles at FunPlus, Jam City, TinyCo, and Gameloft.
Chris DeWolfe and Jeremy Horn—two seasoned veterans of the gaming industry—are joining forces to launch REACH Labs, aiming to solve critical challenges in game user acquisition, including fragmented audience attention, escalating market competition, and soaring marketing and customer acquisition costs. According to GamesBeat, DeWolfe and Horn frequently discussed how traditional user acquisition models have fundamentally failed and agreed that most games lack sufficient social components. After extensive dialogue, they decided to “form a deeply integrated partnership to jointly develop a platform called Reach.”
The decision to suspend Champions Ascension stems from the need to fully dedicate time and resources to REACH Labs. REACH Labs plans to leverage the Keystone protocol to build a new infrastructure for game distribution and marketing. The Keystone protocol, developed by Rough House Games and donated to the Keystone Foundation, is a decentralized protocol designed to create a fairer and more efficient distribution network for blockchain games.
Reach aims to enhance game publishing by integrating blockchain technology and community participation. Their unique approach involves democratizing game distribution via a proprietary marketing and distribution platform that rewards players for playing and sharing games, thereby attracting more users. Reach hopes to incentivize players, KOLs, and guilds to actively participate, making user acquisition more decentralized and social while reducing reliance on traditional Web2 platforms like Facebook and Google.
Specifically, players can generate personalized referral codes to promote games on social media or platforms like Twitch, invite new players, and earn revenue shares from resulting income. In this way, REACH not only improves user acquisition efficiency but also creates new income streams for players.
According to previous disclosures from REACH Labs, the company plans to launch by developing and operating a diverse portfolio of high-quality cross-platform games. This includes the now-suspended Web3 fighting game Champions Ascension, Overworld’s action RPG Conquest, and the free-to-play mobile strategy game Kingdoms. Several additional projects are reportedly in the pipeline.
The suspension of Champions Ascension undoubtedly reflects Chris DeWolfe’s pragmatic response to the game’s underperformance. At the same time, his strategic pivot toward exploring new models of game distribution and user acquisition is a crucial transformation—one that could determine whether Champions Ascension, and even the broader blockchain gaming space, can seize fresh opportunities for growth.
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