Arbitrum Gaming Ventures Announces $10M Investment to Power Web3 Gaming

Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, a 200 million ARB initiative (around $65 million), revealed on Thursday, May 8 its first wave of investments and grants aimed at supercharging gaming on the Arbitrum network.

Arbitrum is an Ethereum based Layer 2 (L2) scaling solution with a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $2.7 billion, according to DeFiLlama.

The first round of funding, totaling around $10 million, is going to a group of experienced founders developing everything from games to publishing platforms and infrastructure, according to a press release viewed by The Defiant.

The cohort includes projects spanning AAA titles, social and casual games, and new ways to distribute them. Among the first recipients are Wildcard, Hyve Labs, T-Rex, Xai, and Proof of Play.

the-defiant — Arbitrum's TVL, 2021-2025. Source: DeFiLlama

The investments and grants were made alongside top crypto, gaming and tech venture capital firms, including Paradigm, Framework, and BITKRAFT.

“Arbitrum Gaming Ventures is backing proven founders who aren’t just making games—they’re helping create an even more vibrant Arbitrum ecosystem,” said Rick Johanson, partner at Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, in the official release:

“This first cohort reflects our commitment to supporting high-quality experiences that are built for the long term—products that attract players, retain them, and expand meaningful engagement across Arbitrum.”

Arbitrum's gaming initiative was first launched in In March 2024, and was called the Gaming Catalyst Program, with 200 million ARB earmarked to support web3 gaming for two years. A year later, this March, members of the Arbitrum DAO submitted a proposal to wind down the initiative and claw back unused funds, arguing that the initiative's approval had come at an "exceptionally optimistic projections that, in hindsight, proved unsustainable."

The proposal also cites the fact that Treasure DAO had been a major supporter of the ecosystem's initiative, but had since left Arbitrum for ZKsync, a decision that was met with backlash from the community.

Web3 gaming growth

Despite the sense that web3 gaming — also known as GameFi — is a trend that’s seen its heyday, recent funding and partnerships point to a different story, with data to back it up.

According to data from Precedence Research, the global web3 gaming market is poised for major growth, with projections estimating it will grow from $37.5 billion in 2025 to nearly $183 billion by 2034 — a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.24%.

North America alone accounted for roughly $11.3 billion in 2024 and is expected to see similar growth rates over the next decade. The forecasts, determined by revenue estimates, underscore the rapid growth of the web3 gaming industry.