Thirdweb Appoints Atif Khan as VP of Gaming, Launches Web3 Warriors Game

Thirdweb Appoints Atif Khan as VP of Gaming, Launches Web3 Warriors Game

Thirdweb, an infrastructure startup based in San Francisco, has announced the appointment of Atif Khan, a former executive at Facebook, as its Vice President of Gaming. The company aims to accelerate the growth of the Web3 gaming industry and recently developed a game called Web3 Warriors to showcase its capabilities.

Thirdweb provides a Web3 infrastructure toolkit that enables developers to build various decentralized applications, including blockchain games, NFTs, and DAOs. In August 2022, the startup raised $24 million in a Series A funding round, valuing the company at $160 million. Investors in the round included Haun Ventures, Polygon Labs, Coinbase Ventures, and Shopify.

Khan, who spent eight years at Facebook and served as Head of Mid-Market & In-App Ads for Global Gaming, expressed his excitement about joining Thirdweb and the opportunity to offer a comprehensive solution to game developers. He emphasized the complexity involved in Web3 game development, which requires accessing multiple programs and tools from different providers. Thirdweb aims to simplify this process by providing a one-stop shop toolkit for developers.

While Thirdweb offers a full-stack solution, it also accommodates developers’ specific needs by allowing flexibility in selecting certain components of the toolkit. For example, if a studio prefers a different RPC node or index relay provider, Thirdweb can integrate those choices into their offering.

In addition to focusing on user enjoyment and gameplay familiarity, Thirdweb aims to address the challenges of the play-to-earn model that emerged in 2021 but faced criticism due to blockchain complexities and a heavy focus on monetary rewards. Khan believes that emphasizing fun and entertainment, rather than solely relying on crypto tokens, will be a key factor in the success of Web3 games.

As a demonstration of its toolkit’s capabilities, Thirdweb recently developed a survival action game called Web3 Warriors. The game, launched on the testnet for Base—an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network developed by Coinbase—attracted over 500 players and recorded 1,000 sessions in less than seven days.

Khan predicts that Web3-native casual mobile games will play a crucial role in driving mainstream adoption of the technology. He believes that these types of fun games, similar to popular casual mobile games, will help propel the Web3 gaming industry to new heights.

While Thirdweb is focused on gaming, it aims to provide its comprehensive development tools across various Web3 experiences, solidifying its position as a leading developer tool in the industry.