Top Gaming Startups

The gaming world is in a continuous change towards a better experience and more complex technology to immerse players completely into the content. On that note, here are 3 gaming startups that are raising capital through crowdfunding:

GameStar

Gamestar wants to offer users a novel experience with a new generation of streaming content that the whole family can enjoy.

The Company: Gamestar is a low-cost, high-margin platform with minimal churn planning to operate worldwide. Its product, Streaming Games on Demand (SGOD), engages 2 or more players with tactical and cardboard games.

SGOD enhances users' traditional game experience by incorporating socially interactive elements of the same games through randomized streaming video on demand over any device of choice, including TV, set-top box, mobile, PC and tablet, making real-time streaming and download of the gameplay content possible.

Investment Highlights: Gamestar is at the forefront of this novel gaming movement, backed by Steve Harvey and collaborating with Disney, Imagination Games, Marvel and LucasFilm.

The company has created the first platform designed mainly for game nights, combining the convenience of streaming and Hollywood glamour with the tactile experience of a board game. Gamestar's generation of streaming gaming content is created for the whole family to enjoy together, meeting modern buyer expectations while also providing a unique social experience at home.

Gamestar's on-demand streaming repertoire is currently being built around some of the most popular games in the world, including Family Feud, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Scene It?, Deal or No Deal, The Price Is Right and others. The minimum investment required by Gamestar is $500.

Fig

Fig wants to build a diverse portfolio of games that includes everything from well-known studios to up-and-coming indies, from sequels to completely new IPs and everything in between.

The Company: Fig is a popular game finance and distribution platform currently emerging in gaming, with nearly 100 major award shows nominating its games.

The platform assists both established and upcoming indie game developers in launching their creations. In addition, Fig released its Portfolio Shares, a diverse approach where it will publish various game and game console projects, ranging from AAA IPs to well-established indie titles. 

Moreover, the company has already funded several sequels to cult classics and BAFTA award-winning games, including Kingdom and Castles, Psychonauts 2 and Wasteland 3.

Investment Highlights: Fig wants to co-publish 10 games or game console projects through the sale of Fig Portfolio Shares (Portfolio Products).

Fig will receive a share of the gross receipts from those portfolio products when they are produced and made publicly accessible for purchase. The company intends to pay out dividends to investors twice a year from these collections.

Fig also aims to allow customers to use NFTs from participating games. The company can then sell them and distribute proceeds to its Fig Portfolio investors. Even before the games would be released, this concept alone might generate a revenue stream for investors. A minimum of $1,000 is required to fund the Fig project.

Polycade

Polycade wants to bring back the high-fives in gaming with a connected arcade platform that combines the best of retro and modern mid-core gaming and the social gaming style popular in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Company: Polycade is a multiplayer gaming platform that combines arcade machines, tournaments, digital products and software, constantly updating its content with new games and features, reimagining the classic arcade experience.

The startup's titles have been selected to appeal to a wide range of mid-core gamers. For those unfamiliar with the term mid-core, these games are designed to be simple to learn but challenging to master to respect the players' time and to not penalize them too harshly.

These games are popular with both casual and hardcore gamers and, perhaps most importantly, they are available to those who say they don't have time to play anymore but would enjoy a gaming break from time to time.

Investment Highlights: Polycade aims to prove that homes and many locations such as community centers, offices, bars, restaurants and others want to add a social gaming experience by generating more than $2 million in inbound sales so far.

The company has tested and learned what different venues require throughout the years, condensing that knowledge into a single platform that can be customized to match the requirements of each of these verticals.

Polycade wants to reintroduce high-five-driven gaming to communities all across the world by launching its next phase of the business model, which will monetize individual gamers through premium tournaments, game sales and NFT-based digital goods. The startup requires a minimum investment of $1,000.