Tokyo, Japan - April 28, 2022 - KLab Inc. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Hidekatsu Morita, hereinafter "KLab"), announced that it has entered into a basic agreement between the subsidiary BLOCKSMITH&Co. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Tetsuya Sanada, hereinafter "BLOCKSMITH") that oversees the Web3-related business and Thirdverse (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Hironao Kunimitsu) primarily via the group company (hereinafter "Thirdverse Group") for Web3 / blockchain development and operation.

Blockchain games, or GameFi (Game × Blockchain × Finance, a service that adds the idea of DeFi (Decentralized Finance) to games, began to grow rapidly last year, with games appearing that have a token market capitalization exceeding 1 trillion yen. GameFi is still in its infancy and is expected to grow significantly in the future and develop into a giant industry for the Web3 area of DeFi, NFTs, etc.

By incorporating DeFi elements, GameFi is characterized by adopting game logic that differs from traditional gaming and incorporating different users. There have been many entries from industries that are not game companies, and from the standpoint of traditional games, there are still many parts that are not polished. We believe that BLOCKSMITH can create more attractive blockchain games by making use of its many years of experience and expertise in planning, developing, and operating games at KLab, while creating a completely different experience than conventional mobile games.

Blockchain games have been released one after another around the world, but good compatibility with IPs is beginning to attract attention. Even in the process of growing the market for mobile games, there has been a history of increasing popularity of games utilizing popular IPs as competition intensifies, and we assume that similar phenomena will occur in blockchain games, GameFi, etc.

Against this backdrop, the two companies signed a basic agreement on the development and operation of blockchain games.
BLOCKSMITH will cooperate with Thirdverse Group to disseminate a succession of blockchain games utilizing popular Japanese IPs worldwide.

BLOCKSMITH is a subsidiary of KLab that oversees the Web3 related business, which was established in April 2022. BLOCKSMITH will leverage the IP acquisition capabilities that KLab has cultivated up until now to provide NFT games that utilize popular IPs.
BLOCKSMITH has also devised entirely new proprietary schemes, mechanisms, and systems that are compatible with the accounting and legal systems of Japan and the United States, some of which have applied for business model patents. Based on the idea that the entrance to Web3 starts with games, those who seize the opportunity of GameFi will seize the opportunity for Web3. BLOCKSMITH will take on the challenge of creating a unique GameFi model.


Thirdverse Group is a company group whose vision is to realize world class VR × Metaverse. Since the establishment of Thirdverse in 2013, Thirdverse Group has studios in Japan and the United States that have been developing VR games. In addition to developing world class VR games, Thridverse Group is working with advisors and partners who have been successful in global markets, such as Animoca Brands, a Web3 company that participated in financing in August 2021. Thirdverse Group is also working with the most advanced know-how in the Web3 domain to realize their vision.

In the future, BLOCKSMITH and Thirdverse Group will develop blockchain games using IPs and plan to expand them overseas. Thirdverse Group will be the publisher and BLOCKSMITH will be the contracting developer, and will jointly develop and operate blockchain games using IPs. We are targeting the gradual launch of some services within 2022, and plan to conduct NFT pre-sales prior to the provision of services.

• Tetsuya Sanada (BLOCKSMITH&Co., President and CEO).

Since 2018, KLab has invested in LPs for the gumi Cryptos Fund 1 / Fund 2, led by Mr. Kunimitsu, and has witnessed together the growth of the world's largest NFT marketplace OpenSea, in which gumi Cryptos Fund invested in during the seed phase, the appearance of the world's first blockchain game guild YGG, as well as other various Web3 companies.
Together with Thirdverse, where Mr. Kunimitsu serves as President and CEO, I am now very excited about what the business can become not just as an investor, but also from the perspective of taking part in the growth.

• Hironao Kunimitsu (Thirdverse, Co., Ltd., President and CEO)

I have been involved with everyone at KLab in many ways since the Web2 era, and I am thrilled that we have joined together as a Web3 team. Personally, this is a project that I am quite looking forward to. Stay tuned for the upcoming release! Web3 is Now!

Company name: Thirdverse, Co., Ltd.
President and CEO: Hironao Kunimitsu
Establishment: April 30, 2013
Headquarters: Kanda Square 11F (WeWork), 2-2-1 Kanda Nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0054
Company website: https://www.thirdverse.io/en/

Company Name: BLOCKSMITH&Co.
President and CEO: Tetsuya Sanada
Establishment: April 1, 2022
Capital: 10 million JPY
Head office: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6122
Business: Development and distribution of Game&SocialFi services such as blockchain technology, crypto assets utilising NFTs

• Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/company/blocksmithandco-en/
• Twitter:https://twitter.com/BLOCKSMITH_EN

【Contact】
BLOCKSMITH&Co. Digital Marketing
https://www.blocksmithand.co.jp/contact/