Notes 2.0 for Web3 gaming teams picking a chain. Whether it’s a hardcore or casual game, onboarding Web2 players should be one of the end goals. It’s what exchanges and VCs value the most right now. But the reality is, Web2 users neither know nor care what chain your game is on, or what tech it's built with. Most chains today already offer solid onboarding infrastructure and partners like payment channels/wallets to seamless in-game onchain interactions. So what really matters when choosing a chain in this market? 1. Financial support (Grants/Investment) When gaming sentiment is down, surviving the market becomes priority #1. Game dev and UA are expensive, we’ve seen solid teams give up because they simply ran out of funds. Chains that offer meaningful grants/investment IF your game fits their taste: @arbitrum @Mantle_Official @avax Do notice for meaningful financial support, I don’t mean ones with crazy unlock terms or unrealistic milestones... 2. Community (Web3 native) Web3 players still matter, esp when it comes to early adoption and word of mouth growth. A chain with an active, organic, and loyal Web3 community = free marketing + solid user acquisition. Web3 players also help educate and onboard Web2 players. @Ronin_Network is the one of the best candidates here without a doubt. 3. FDV The higher the FDV of your chain, the more upside potential your game might have. Chains with high market cap MUST for a reason, and it directly affects liquidity, MM interest, and overall token performance. My picks in top 50 market cap: @avax (13), @SuiNetwork (15), @Mantle_Official (37) BNB and SOL are great, but not really focused on Web3 gaming. 4. Narrative Attention is everything in Web3. When a trendy narrative emerges on a chain, deploying your game there and leveraging their marketing resources can significantly enhance your game's visibility. E.g. - @arbitrum will be making waves with their Anime campaign this year (Alpha!). Whether it's game or IP, you should reach out to Arb when it comes to Anime. - The core gaming community has been buzzing about the @avax ever since it secured two major titles, OTG and MapleStory 5. Exclusivity Most chains will ask for exclusivity (token contract, in game mechanism, game launch) if you are looking for deep marketing/fundraising support. So every team should make the decision very carefully. Sometime it looks bad for both when the team move from one chain to another. @Mantle_Official might be one of the few not too strict here, love what @0xGeezee put in his profile: "Before we compete for market share, we must first build a market worth sharing." 6. Others - Pre TGE chains always have the hype, attention, and potential, but also risk. They might not be the safest choice for many reasons. You don’t know how their token or ecosystem will perform in the long run. - Just because your game is on an exchange backed chain doesn’t mean you’ll get a listing. - Connect the right people. Never fully trust intermediaries selling “connections.” Talk to the games that actually build on these chains.

Kinda crazy how many solid teams still get wrecked post TGE just because of the wrong market maker/TGE strategry. They have zero clue how secondary trading or market making actually works. Thought it might good to drop a few notes for teams still building in this market 👊 1. CEXs Listings A lot of teams still think that getting listed is the end goal. That might work in the past, but the listing effect has weakened significantly. Unless you are an internal favorite, listings won’t magically pump your token. Most CEXs today care primarily about one thing: new user acquisition. Web2 users matter. (Except maybe Upbit which often aligned with KR regulatory trends.) Except project's own communities and connections, most post TGE buy pressure doesn't even come from organic retail anymore. It comes from: - Private deal communities affiliated with exchanges - MM's referral networks. Yet most teams don’t secure these relationships ahead of time. For many cases, launching on Tier 1.5/2 CEXs on day 1, and then going for KR/NA CEXs often performs way better than starting with a Tier 1 listing right away. DEX/HL can also be smart options for day 1. 2. Active MM vs Passive MM Most teams only know the big branded MMs which are usually passive. Here’s how they work: - Borrow your tokens and provide liquidity, which is a method that only requires low entry level of skills but done by most of the big brand market makers. This creates a counterparty situation between the projects and the MM. - Dump them high at launch - Buy back at ATL right before token return deadline All under NDA, you can’t prove a thing even if they tank your token. They're top of the food chain for a reason. Active MMs: - No token borrowing - They use your API access to trade. Some are long-term deals for better token performance. - They make money only if your token trades well - No conflict of interest, more like an in house trader squad Most don’t do branding or paid PR. They stay lowkey and work via referrals. Not all active MMs are great either. Recently Binance took action against some MMs tied to poorly performing listings. Welp... if an active MM is dumping, the project team had to know what was going on. Just a convenient excuse to accumulate or cash out. So yeah.. For projects, do your homework and chose wisely with the Active + passtive MMs. Learn the basics of trading and token dynamics before listing. Being a good builder isn’t enough, you need to be a smart trader too. For community members, support teams that not only have good heart, but also know what they’re doing.