Twitch co-founder Justin Kan is launching a new marketplace for gaming non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called Fractal. It signals a “shift to in-game assets” that he says will “unlock real ownership for players.”

Blockchain technology in gaming is driven by non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are digital assets that represent in-game content. These tokens are unique, rare, and indivisible, while the blockchain networks that underpin NFTs facilitate player ownership, provable scarcity, interoperability, and immutability.

Fractal says many gaming companies today are already generating “the bulk of their revenue” from selling digital goods that have “in-game value” to players. But it adds that it is the first marketplace to actually focus on gaming NFTs.

According to Mr Kan, “The shift to in-game assets being NFTs on a blockchain will unlock real ownership for players. He says he spent “an obscene amount of time” farming gold on massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), “and that’s before there was any sort of durable value.”

Mr Kan adds that with the “new layers of programmability and interoperability in games,” developers will be able to make all sorts of new experiences on top of NFT games: “That’s the future we are excited to build.”

The new company is founded by four industry veterans in gaming and e-commerce; Justin Kan, who is President; Robin Chan, head of business development, who founded XPD Media, later acquired by Zynga; David Wurtz, Chief Product Officer, the co-founder of Google Drive and an advisor to Shopify; and Mike Angell, Chief Technology Officer, a twenty year e-commerce veteran previously with Fast and Shopify.

Fractal says it is focused on partnering with the crypto gaming companies that are building “fun and engaging games” with “replayability”. Indeed its first partners include some of the most innovative games that have already been working on blockchain integrations.

“We’ve seen an influx of traditional developers who want to build a crypto experience, and we are excited to support them.” said Mr Chan, another Fractal co-founder.

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