South Korea’s Kakao and Japan’s LINE are set to unveil a new blockchain platform, Kaia, in the Philippines within the coming months. This strategic move aims to capitalize on the burgeoning Web3 gaming market in the country.
Kaia is the result of a merger between Kakao’s blockchain platform Klaytn and LINE Tech Plus’s FINSCHIA. The platform represents a significant step forward in the evolution of the internet, known as Web3, which promises to give users greater ownership of their digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Speaking at the launch event on Monday, Sam Seo, the Representative Director of the Klaytn Foundation, highlighted the importance of the gaming industry in the Philippines. “The games are a big part of the Philippines in terms of Web3. We’d like to have that kind of presence here by bringing games and working with the local gaming teams,” Seo stated. He further emphasized that while the game industry will be their primary focus initially, they aim to explore other use cases for the platform in the long term.
The Philippines has emerged as a significant player in the Web3 space, ranking fourth globally in NFT gaming adoption according to the NFT Gaming Adoption Report 2022 by financial tech platform Finder. One in four Filipinos has engaged in play-to-earn (P2E) NFT games, such as Axie Infinity.
Kaia boasts over 420 decentralized applications (DApps), which are programs that run on a blockchain or peer-to-peer network of computers. In addition to its platform launch, Kaia announced the introduction of Infinite Shooting and four other games in collaboration with 3KDS, as well as Web3-powered arcade games from Another World.
Seo also expressed Kaia’s intent to collaborate with various stakeholders in the Philippines. “We want to work with the government, banks, and other game developers and other DApp developers as well,” he said. The platform has already established partnerships with Yield Guild Games, a gaming guild that coordinates players to earn crypto-based rewards in P2E games, and Coins.ph, a virtual currency provider.
Despite the promising outlook, the adoption of cryptocurrency in the Philippines faces challenges. Filip “Lloi” C. Wycoco, Senior Campaigns Manager at Coins.ph, noted that many Filipinos still perceive cryptocurrency as a scam, primarily due to a lack of education. “The cryptocurrency space in the Philippines, when compared to other Western countries, we’re on the right track, but it’s still in the infancy stage,” Wycoco explained.
Seo added that Kaia envisions mass adoption of Web3, acknowledging that while there are many crypto players and traders, the platform aims to reach regular people who have yet to engage with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
With the launch of Kaia, Kakao and LINE are poised to make a significant impact on the Philippine digital landscape, fostering growth and innovation in the rapidly expanding Web3 and blockchain sectors.