Planetarium Labs has secured $32 Million USD in a Series A funding round led by Animoca Brands to expand its network with gaming & governance tools, and increase its employee base. The funding initiative also saw the participation of other notable gaming ventures, including Krust Universe, Samsung, NeXT, Kakao and Wemade.

The South Korean company claims to be working on developing an ecosystem where game studios can use tools provided by the company to build completely decentralized and community-first games. Planetarium Labs has come into the limelight after their proprietary Libplanet technology gained massive popularity. Games based on this tech like Nine Chronicles received backing from well-known companies like Ubisoft and Binance Labs.

Planetarium Labs is planning to build a decentralized gaming ecosystem based on the Libplanet technology. This technology was initially used in Nine Chronicles, a popular RPG game, to help it operate without any centralized server. Using this, it wishes to make sure that players can freely voice their opinions by giving them a seat at the table.

Planetarium Labs plans to invest these recently received funds in creating tools for community-led gaming and player-governance. These funds will also enable gaming studios to create more such web3 and blockchain gaming projects. One of the most important things on their agenda is improving the Libplanet technology. In the coming times, Lib Planet will be at the heart of any initiative at Planetarium Labs. Apart from that, they plan to create systems for community assistance and hope to provide funds to increase participation and promote growth.

Statements from the investors

Commenting on the recent partnership, JC Kim and Kijun Seo, Co-CEOs of Planetarium Labs, said "The future of gaming is moving in a direction where the players and the community collaborate on a shared vision, and we are delighted to onboard our partners to realize together our vision of games owned and shaped by the community. We are sending our invites to creators and players to build and share their own unprecedented, decentralized gaming experiences."

On the other side, Yat Sui, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands said “We strongly believe that the future is massive decentralized worlds in an open metaverse, which is why we are delighted to support Planetarium Labs' vision of community-centric blockchain games that empower players with creative freedom and full digital rights”

With this investment, Animoca Brands have expanded its portfolio after already having a share in the Sandbox metaverse and Axie Infinity. Currently valued at $5.8 Billion USD, Animoca Brands have emerged as a leader in the blockchain-based gaming space. Earlier this year, it was also reported that Animoca Brands had invested in Yuga Labs- the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) to help it create its own metaverse known as the Otherside.