Immutable Pty Ltd (formerly Fuel Games) is an Australian
cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.
Individual coin ownership record ...
company which develops
blockchain games
Video games can include elements that use blockchain technologies, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), often as a form of monetization. These elements typically allow players to trade in-game items for cryptocurrency, or re ...
and
non-fungible token
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchai ...
s (NFTs). The company was founded in 2018 and headquartered in
Sydney, Australia
Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...
.
Overview
Robbie Ferguson, James Ferguson, and Alex Connolly founded Fuel Games in 2018.
The company's first blockchain-based game, ''Etherbots'', was released in February 2018, allowing players to own and battle digital robots on the
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-s ...
blockchain.
In July 2018, Fuel Games launched the pre-sale of ''Gods Unchained'', marketed as a blockchain-based e-sport. This followed a successful $2.4 million seed funding round led by Continue Capital and Nirvana Capital, with additional support from Sora Ventures and
Coinbase
Coinbase Global, Inc. is an American cryptocurrency exchange. It was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. Coinbase has over 100 million users, and is the largest U.S. based cryptocurrency exchange as well as the world's bigge ...
.
In 2019, Fuel Games rebranded as Immutable and expanded its focus to include an NFT exchange platform.
The company developed Immutable X, an
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-s ...
Layer-2 blockchain, in collaboration with StarkWare. Immutable X has been used to build NFT marketplaces for companies including
TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
,
GameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). The brand is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operated 3,203 stor ...
,
Illuvium
Illuvium is material displaced across a soil profile, from one layer to another one, by the action of rainwater. The removal of material from a soil layer is called eluviation. The transport of the material may be either mechanical or chemical. ...
and Bright Star Studios, the developers of ''
Ember Sword
''Ember Sword'' was a planned massively multiplayer online role-playing sandbox blockchain game developed by Bright Star Studios for macOS and Windows. Presented from a three-dimensional isometric perspective, ''Ember Sword'' had players battl ...
''.
It also supports the back-end operations of
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
and
Marvel's crypto businesses.
The company purports to offset carbon via carbon credit programs.
In 2019, Immutable offered to cover the prize money that had been withheld by another gaming company from a professional gamer who had expressed support for
Hong Kong protests against the government at the time.
In 2021, Immutable partnered with
NRG Esports
NRG Esports (or simply NRG) is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in ''League of Legends'', ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'', ''Rocket League'', ''Valorant'', ''Counter-Strike 2'', ''Apex Legen ...
to create NFT collectibles for the "Guild of Guardians" mobile RPG, raising $3 million through the sale of founders' collectible NFTs.
In February 2022, Immutable announced a $100 million fund in partnership with GameStop to offer grants for NFT gaming projects.
The following month, the company raised $200 million in Series C funding led by
Temasek
Temasek ( or , also spelt Temasik or Tumasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents ...
, with participation from
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...
and
Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd. is a Hong Kong–based game software company and venture capital company co-founded in 2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim. The company initially focused on developing mobile games, then shifted to blockchain gaming a ...
, valuing the company at $3.5 billion.
In 2022. In July, the company laid off at least 20 staff members, including core members of the ''Gods Unchained'' team. Additionally, the value of Immutable's cryptocurrency token, IMX, used for trading assets in ''Gods Unchained'', dropped from about $11 in November 2021 to just above $1 in July 2022.
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Products
''Gods Unchained''
''Gods Unchained'' is a collectible trading card game featuring NFTs for each card, available on
Android,
iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
,
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
MacOS
macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
. Launched in 2019, the production of the game was directed by Chris Clay, former game director of
Magic: The Gathering Arena.
In September 2022, Immutable and GameStop announced plans to allow GameStop PowerUp Pro subscribers to receive free expansion packs in ''Gods Unchained''.
In December 2023, the
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Soft ...
(ESRB) rated ''Gods Unchained'', along with another game, as "Adults Only 18+" (AO) due to their use of cryptocurrency. This led to a temporary removal from the
Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store is a video game digital distribution service and storefront operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as a software client, for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and online storefront. Android and iOS versions of t ...
, though it was later reinstated after Epic Games updated its content policy.
''Guild of Guardians''
''Guild of Guardians'' is a fantasy squad-based RPG developed by Immutable and Mineloader, launched in May 2024.
In the game, players assemble teams of characters called Guardians to progress through increasingly difficult dungeons, craft items, and summon new heroes.
''Guild of Guardians'' uses NFTs and a
cryptocurrency wallet
A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, program or an online service which stores the Public-key cryptography, public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. In addition to this basic function of storing the keys, a cr ...
for handling in-game transactions.
References
External links
*{{Official website
2018 establishments in Australia
Australian companies established in 2018
Companies based in Sydney
Video game companies of Australia
Blockchain entities
Blockchain games