Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, formerly known as the Gaming Catalyst Program, has unveiled a $10 million investment round aimed at accelerating Web3 gaming on the Arbitrum Layer 2 network. This marks the initiative’s first major move since its rebranding and signals renewed confidence in blockchain-based gaming.
The initial recipients of the funding include Wildcard, Hyve Labs, Xai, T-Rex, and Proof of Play—projects that span competitive card games, social gaming platforms, blockchain infrastructure, and fully on-chain game development. Notably, Wildcard is co-created by Words With Friends and Age of Empires veteran Paul Bettner, while Proof of Play comes from FarmVille co-creator Amit Mahajan.
Launched in March 2024 with a 200 million ARB token allocation (approximately $65 million), the program faced early uncertainty due to internal DAO proposals to scale back funding. However, this new investment underscores Arbitrum’s ongoing commitment to growing its gaming ecosystem.
Web3 gaming is projected to surge globally, with the market expected to grow from $37.5 billion in 2025 to $183 billion by 2034. With strong developer incentives and platforms like Arbitrum Orbit, Arbitrum is positioning itself at the forefront of next-gen blockchain gaming.
