Community Gaming Raises $16M in SoftBank-Led Round to Expand Crypto Esports

Esports Tournament Platform community gaming has closed a $16m (~£12.25m) Series A funding round, led by softbank group. The round was made through SoftBank’s SB Opportunity Fund and included participation from Animoca Brands, Binance Labs, bitcraft ventures And Griffin Gaming Partners.The competitive gaming platform is expanding into Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank launched the $5 billion fund in 2019. A $3 billion follow-up fund was launched in September.

“North America will still be our biggest market,” Chris Gonsalves, CEO of Community Gaming, told CoinDesk in an interview. “But we’re seeing the most organic growth in Latin America.”

Community Gaming is a platform that lets gamers create their own esports tournaments and gaming competitions for any game they like. Web 3 is baked into the equation through blockchain-based sign-ups and instant payments. Earlier this year, the Community Gaming platform reached 100,000 unique registered users, the company said.

Other participants in the funding round included Animoca Brands, Binance Labs, BITKRAFT Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners and CoinFund, among others.

Later this quarter, Community Gaming will launch a “Quests” feature that rewards users for time spent on the platform rather than just paying the top winners of an esports tournament. It’s a variation on this season’s “play-to-earn” trend.

“You could think of it like a loyalty system or a retention system where you’ll be able to complete quests every single day that earn you small amounts of money,” said Gonsalves, describing the new model.

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