Binance Labs invests in Telegram game Catizen's publisher Pluto Studio

Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of the crypto exchange Binance, has invested an undisclosed sum in Pluto Studio, the publisher of the popular Telegram game Catizen that is built on The Open Network ( TON -0.11% ) blockchain.

While Binance Labs did not disclose the size of the investment, Ricky Wong, co-founder of Pluto Studio, told The Block the venture firm solely invested in Pluto in a round structured as an equity, strategic II round. Wong said discussions with Binance Labs began recently and the round closed last week.

Pluto Studio has previously raised two rounds — a $2.2 million seed round and a $4 million strategic I round — Wong said, adding that HashKey Capital and The Open Platform (TOP) were among the investors in the strategic I round. HashKey Capital and TOP announced last week that they invested in Pluto Studio without disclosing any funding amount.

What is Pluto Studio?

Pluto Studio published Catizen in March and it has quickly grown to become one of the popular Telegram mini-games. It is a "tap-to-earn" game, offering players a chance to reap rewards by touching buttons on a screen. The primary game is a type of roulette wheel that users spin to determine what types of rewards will be granted.

Within a few months of its launch, Catizen claims to have grown to around 25 million players, around 1.5 million on-chain gamers, and over 500,000 paying users globally. Players include all individuals who engage with the game, regardless of their interaction with blockchain technologies, Wong told The Block. Meanwhile, "on-chain gamers" are defined as players who engage with the blockchain aspects of the game, such as connecting a crypto wallet, participating in staking cats, or utilizing on-chain transactions to enhance their gaming experience, he added.

Asked if those massive numbers of gamers include bots, Wong said Catizen has implemented multiple strategies to deter bots.

"We can precisely monitor the activities of bots and 'scientists' through our backend," he said. "For instance, if a user invites 5,000 other users, we can track when these users were invited, their average number of cat merges, average cat levels, the extent of their on-chain interactions, and their league rankings. If these 5,000 users remain inactive after a few weeks, the data is clearly fraudulent. Consequently, we can proactively ban accounts that compromise the integrity of the gameplay before any airdrops take place, and most of the cheating players have engaged with us to resolve the issue."

Wong went on to say that Catizen's user data is "authentic" and that the average revenue per user has increased to $30.7 per paying user this week.

Pluto Studio plans

With fresh funding in place, Hong Kong-based Pluto Studio plans to release more Telegram mini-games. Wong said the studio has already contracted 18 games, which will be released in the coming months.

"These games will cover a variety of genres and incorporate similar web3 functionalities to further engage and educate our players," he added.

Pluto Studio is also venturing beyond gaming, Wong said, adding that the studio is in the process of developing a short drama series that integrates web3 elements, providing a unique entertainment experience. Additionally, an e-commerce mini-app is being developed to allow users to further get involved in Pluto's ecosystem by purchasing merchandise and other items directly through its platforms, enhancing the community and user experience around its games, Wong added.

There are currently over 30 people working for Pluto, and Wong plans to hire more people across product management and marketing functions.

Catizen token launch schedule

Wong said Catizen's native CATI token will be launched "soon." CATI holders will benefit in "multiple ways," he said. A portion of the revenue from the mini-game center will be shared with token holders, Wong said, adding that another portion will be allocated to the treasury to buy back tokens and "stabilize the price."

"Additionally, we will allow CATI holders to stake their CATI tokens to earn tokens from other games," Wong said. "CATI holders will also be eligible for airdrops when we introduce Open Task and integrate with other projects in the future."

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