From Game Companions to the Web3 Gaming Revolution: A16Z Leads $30 Million Investment, A Bold Bet on the Future of Gaming Platform Balance

In the gaming world, companion gaming is no longer just a simple matter of “accompaniment”—it is becoming a comprehensive service that meets the diverse needs of players, especially in multiplayer online games such as MOBA, FPS, and MMORPG. Companion gaming has gradually emerged as a huge market. Whether it’s for socializing, skill improvement, or pure entertainment, companion gaming has found its own value.

Social Needs 

What is companion gaming? Lonely gamers are like lone rangers on the street, and after a while, it inevitably feels desolate. At this time, companion gaming becomes that stranger who brightens your eyes—logging in, teaming up—a single call brings you into the game, pulling you out of loneliness. Gaming is not just about killing time; you need to find people, form alliances, to have some presence.Some people play games not to win, but to be remembered. Companion gaming becomes their ticket to fame in the gaming world.

Skill Improvement Needs 

Moreover, companion gaming is not just about company; at critical moments, it can also serve as a coach. You should know, there are many tricks in competitive games, and newcomers have no idea about those tactics. Companion gamers teach you strategy, teach you operations, help you peel back the secrets of the game layer by layer, until you are no longer a rookie but a top player standing at the peak. This is especially important for competitive games (such as League of Legends, DOTA 2, etc.), where companion gamers can help players break through “bottleneck periods” and reach higher ranks or skill levels.

Enhancing Game Engagement and Retention

From the perspective of game developers and operators, companion gaming is not just simple interaction; it is a secret weapon to enhance game engagement and retention rates. Want players to leave? No way! Through companion gaming, players not only gain the thrill of victory in the game but also establish emotional connections, fighting side by side like brothers—who would easily let go? Especially in games that require teamwork and cooperation, companion gaming is like giving you your destined teammates, avoiding the loneliness of fighting alone. Churn rate? That doesn’t exist!

Economic and Commercial Needs

Speaking of economics, the companion gaming industry is not just a pastime for players; it has become a livelihood for many—a battlefield, but also a business.Some companion gaming platforms earn steady profits through commissions and service fees, and professional companion gamers can also make a fortune with their skills and reputation. What’s more, this industry chain is getting longer and longer, from virtual goods to pay-to-win systems, and the existence of companion gaming has driven in-game spending higher and higher, step by step becoming an indispensable role in the game economy.

Companion Gaming in Web3: The Future Is Here

E-PAL is a global online companion gaming platform focused on providing companion gaming services for gamers. Users can find companion gamers on the platform, who, based on their skills and game types, help players enhance their gaming experience or provide social companionship. E-PAL not only covers various mainstream games, such as League of Legends, Apex Legends, Valorant, etc., but also includes more social services such as chatting, coaching, and community activities.

Companion gaming has already proven its value in the Web2 era, as evidenced by the rise of well-known platforms such as E-PAL, PlayV, and Bixin.

According to market research data, global companion gaming services are gradually shifting from a niche market to the mainstream, and it is expected that by 2025, the market size will reach several billions of dollars.

Especially in esports, social gaming, and live streaming interactions, the demand for companion gaming services is growing rapidly.

Now, in the wave of Web3 gaming and decentralized social networking, companion gaming services also have huge potential.

1. Stronger Interactive Experience: Web3 games emphasize decentralization and user ownership. Companion gaming can enhance player experience through social and in-game interactions. For example, in Web3 games, companion gamers can help new players quickly become familiar with decentralized game mechanisms, such as NFT trading and virtual asset management. In social games, companion gaming can promote player interaction and build stronger community ties, in line with Web3’s open social principles.
2. Deep Integration with Token Economy: Web3 games often incorporate token economies, incentivizing participants through token rewards. Companion gaming can be integrated into this economic model, where players can earn tokens by providing companion gaming services, and users can pay for companion gaming services with tokens. This mechanism creates new income models for companion gamers and players, driving economic flow within the Web3 ecosystem.
3. Decentralized Identity and Trust Mechanisms: Web3 social and gaming focus on decentralized identity management, and blockchain-based identity verification can help companion gamers build more credible reputation systems. This means that companion gamers’ historical performance and user feedback can be transparently displayed on-chain, reducing trust issues in traditional companion gaming markets and promoting a safer trading environment.

Through these mechanisms, companion gaming is no longer just simple entertainment—it has become a powerful engine driving the popularization of Web3 games, bringing new economic opportunities and more exciting user experiences to Web3 social. Today, we are talking about Balance, a comprehensive Web3 gaming platform that has emerged from the E-pal companion gaming ecosystem.

Introduction to Balance

Balance was created by the E-PAL team as a key step in establishing the Web3 gaming ecosystem. It is a Web3 platform focused on blockchain gaming. Balance leverages a pool of 2.4 million Web2 users and aims to bring revolutionary innovation and transformation to the gaming industry through blockchain and AI technology.

The core goal of Balance is to build an open, inclusive, and fair gaming ecosystem. By integrating the additional dimensions and advantages of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, developers can more easily build and promote their games, while players can enjoy a more diverse and personalized gaming experience. This combination ultimately drives the growth and progress of the entire Web3 gaming industry.

The technical framework of the Balance platform will enable cross-chain interoperability, allowing game developers and players on different blockchain networks to connect seamlessly and build a unified Web3 gaming ecosystem. It provides developers with game distribution and promotion services, enabling them to publish games on the platform for cross-chain distribution. In addition, it offers players one-stop gaming services, including game access, purchases, asset trading, social interaction, airdrops, and gaming camaraderie.

Game Access

The Balance platform will integrate all leading Web3 games and provide each user with a unified identity through Balance Passport, simplifying the registration and login process across different blockchain networks. This allows users to easily access these games, rate, and vote for them. This helps game developers understand user preferences and continuously improve game quality. We will also provide promotional services for selected outstanding games to accelerate user acquisition for developers.

Game Purchases

Games integrated into the Balance platform will accept EKP as one of the payment options for in-game or marketplace-related transactions.Users can directly use EKP on the platform to purchase games or in-game items, extending beyond Web3 games.Based on previous successful cooperation between the Balance platform and Web2 game developers, players can also use EKP to purchase virtual products in popular Web2 games, such as items and skins in League of Legends, Overwatch 2, PUBG, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Asset Trading

The Balance platform will establish a decentralized trading marketplace to simplify the trading of in-game NFT assets. The Balance platform facilitates cross-chain asset trading through cross-chain interoperability protocols, allowing users to freely exchange game assets across different blockchain networks without worrying about network restrictions. All assets in the marketplace will be priced in EKP tokens, thereby facilitating central liquidity for all game assets and bringing economic benefits to the Balance ecosystem.

Virtual Social

Through Balance Passport, each player will have a unique identity, integrating user information, game data, assets, achievement badges, social media, and more.Balance also leverages artificial intelligence technology to create virtual characters within the Balance ecosystem for social interaction, helping players build social networks, enhance social interaction, and increase the playability and fun of games.

Team Background

According to official information,all four co-founders of E-PAL have deep entrepreneurial experience in Web2 or Web3. The CEO previously founded the visual novel platform “Wuxia Dream,” and after its acquisition by Tencent, continued to demonstrate entrepreneurial talent. The COO is one of the co-founders of Oasis Pastoral. The other two co-founders have accumulated extensive experience in capital management and operations at US-listed companies, as well as in Web3 fields such as DeFi and GameFi. This team not only has a solid foundation in the traditional internet sector but has also made achievements at the forefront of Web3.

Investment Background

On September 5, E-PAL successfully completed two rounds of financing led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Galaxy Interactive.This round of financing also received support from many well-known investors, including Animoca Brands, K5, CLF Partners, MBK Capital, New Heights Fund, AMBER, MarbleX, Sky Mantra, Tuna, Aptos Labs, IOBC, Leland, Halcyon Capital, Uphonest, Taisu Ventures, Gate Labs, DWF Ventures, BING, WAGMI, as well as YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, Riot Games CEO Marc Merrill, and League of Legends director Thomas Vu.The total financing amount reached $30 million,which not only reflects investors’ strong confidence in E-PAL’s future development but also provides strong financial support for its further expansion in the Web3 field.

Roadmap

March 2020: E-PAL launched version 1.0 of its website.

September 2020: Completed $3 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

July 2021: Completed Series A financing, led by Galaxy Interactive with participation from a16z.

December 2022: Began exploring Web3 technology.

March 2023: Established Web3 team and developed Balance zkEVM.

March 2024: Launched Balance zkEVM testnet and began developing the Balance platform.

May 2024: Released Balance platform version 1.0, compatible with all EVM networks, allowing users to manage game assets through the platform.

May 2024: Released Balance platform version 1.1, introducing bounty task features. Users can earn reward points daily, which can be exchanged for EPT tokens in the future.

May 2024: Began sales and minting of Balance ID.

June 2024: Started a round of financing with key opinion leaders (KOLs).

June 2024: Launched sales of Balance nodes.

June 2024: Launched Balance Passport, providing users with unified identity authentication.

July 2024: Released Balance Wallet Chrome extension for easy access to the Web3 world.

July 2024: Launched an open marketplace on the Balance platform, providing one-stop trading for game assets.

August 2024: Balance zkEVM mainnet goes live, simplifying blockchain game development.

September 2024: Cooperate with more than 500 games.

October 2024: Integrate AI features into the Balance platform, supporting users in creating AI game partners.

November 2024: Introduce AI components into Balance zkEVM, enabling developers to generate smart contract code directly from documentation.

December 2024: Continue expanding Balance platform compatibility to include networks such as Solana, Avalanche, and Clayton.

Balance zkEVM

Balance zkEVM is a Layer 2 zk-rollup-based gaming chain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It provides a scaling solution that offers instant transactions, massive scalability, and zero gas fees.As a variant of EVM, Balance zkEVM leverages smart contracts to allow game developers to introduce customized digital ownership and Web3 mechanisms into their games.

For developers,a key benefit is that Balance zkEVM enables them to use the same programming language (Solidity) and development frameworks as Ethereum.This makes it much easier to build gaming applications on a more secure and convenient Layer 2 solution.

In addition, we have integrated AI technology into the zkEVM public chain, modeling the source code of contracts already deployed on mainstream EVM public chains (including ERC20, ERC721, ERC1155, MarketPlace, Stake, Proxy, and other smart contracts). Currently, the AI model has been trained on over 200,000 lines of smart contract-related code and can automatically generate smart contract code for assets such as Token, NFT, DEX, Marketplaces, Staking, Drops, and leveraged assets based on documentation, as well as implement automated deployment and generate SDK interfaces for user access. In this way, game developers only need to write simple rule documents to complete the coding and automatic deployment of the smart contract part, without needing to understand smart contract logic or learn to write complex contracts.This greatly lowers the threshold for Web2 game developers to enter the Web3 field and provides strong momentum for traditional game companies to seamlessly integrate into the Web3 world.

EPT Token

EPT is the sole governance token for the Balance platform and Balance zkEVM. It rewards network activities within the ecosystem, such as transactions, providing liquidity, and building applications. EPT establishes an incentive mechanism among traders, creators, and the marketplace, ensuring that all participants benefit from network activity.

EPT Token Distribution

The total supply of EPT tokens is 1 billion, distributed as follows:

Team: 15%

Investors: 15%, including institutional and individual investors.

Ecosystem Foundation: 15%, for ecosystem-building initiatives.

Reward Pool: 40%, to reward individuals and groups for their contributions to ecosystem building and community development, encouraging more active participation and contribution. Launch pool + public offering team investors ecosystem foundation incentive pool marketing.

Marketing: 3%, for project cooperation, liquidity provision, and marketing expenses.

Market Cap Management: 2%, mainly for providing liquidity to cex and dex.

EPT Use Cases:

Application Building Fees: Game developers building games on Balance zkEVM need to pay certain fees, which can be paid directly with EPT tokens. Alternatively, Balance can automatically convert purchased currencies (ETH, USDT, etc.) into EPT for payment on the open market. Users do not need to hold EPT tokens to transact on Balance zkEVM.

Staking: Users holding EPT tokens can earn returns by staking tokens. Part of the fees paid by game developers for application development is locked in a “reward staking pool” managed by the foundation. EPT tokens in the pool are distributed to staking participants monthly at a fixed ratio.

Proof of Stake and Governance: EPT token holders can participate in decentralized governance by voting on Balance-related proposals. Proposals may include topics such as how to allocate token reserves, voting on developer grants, adjusting application building fees, changes to daily rewards, and token distribution. The Balance Foundation will also continue to enrich and add other categories of proposals based on community development. We aim to improve the utility and decentralization of EPT tokens through user voting. The foundation has the right to propose projects beneficial to the entire ecosystem and facilitate the proposal process, and all token holders will vote on them. Individuals wishing to submit proposals for voting must first hold a certain amount of EPT tokens, and the foundation will review them before entering the voting process. The specific amount of EPT required will be determined later.

Maintaining Network Security: EPT tokens are used to pay for the operation and maintenance costs of network nodes. In addition, Balance incentivizes node participants to maintain network security and complete block confirmations by issuing EPT tokens as rewards.

Payment and Transaction Medium: EPT tokens are the medium for payments and gas fees on the Balance platform, playing a vital role in value transfer. Users can use EPT tokens to purchase game goods and services on the platform and pay rewards.

Priority Access: For games in Alpha or Beta testing, players who want early access need to hold a certain amount of EPT tokens as an access credential.

Social and Incentive Mechanisms: EPT tokens are also used for social participation and incentives. They encourage users to participate in community building, content creation, and social interaction, promoting project development and user engagement.

How to Participate?

Balance is currently in full swing, holding an exciting whitelist event:

Event time: September 2 - September 16

1. Visit the official website: Go directly to the Balance official website , connect your wallet, and step into this gaming world.
2. Complete tasks: Complete various tasks on the platform, earn points, and join the Pioneer Points Challenge.
3. Invite friends: Bring your friends, invite them to participate, improve your leaderboard ranking, and compete for whitelist qualification.

Special Note:

You can compete for the NFT whitelist (WL) through multiple methods such as ranking, inviting friends, and accumulating points:

1. Top 100 on the leaderboard: The top 100 users who complete tasks most outstandingly will directly secure a whitelist spot.
2. Top 100 in friend invitations: Players who rank in the top 100 for inviting friends will also win whitelist opportunities.
3. Points experts: Users who reach more than 1,000 points will have 200 lucky winners randomly drawn by the system to receive whitelist spots.

(Remember, you can participate in all three activities at the same time, but each winner can only receive one reward.)

The Pioneer Badge NFT is the VIP pass in the Balance ecosystem.If you get it, it’s like staking your claim and holding the first-mover advantage. Not only can you grab those rare assets, but you also have a say in the platform’s major decisions. Right now, this NFT is in high demand, with minting expected in early October and only 2,000 available. Once you get it, the potential benefits are considerable, but you must understand that opportunities, once missed, have to wait for the next time.

Conclusion

In summary, Balance is not just a simple Web3 user experience enhancement platform; it is more like an impending ecological innovation.

This team is rooted in Los Angeles, USA, formerly the largest companion gaming platform in North America, Epal, backed by top VCs such as a16z and Galaxy, and even YouTube co-founder Steve Chen and Riot Games CEO Marc Merrill have invested. At one time, “Epal” became synonymous with companion gaming, with 4.2 million active users and 450,000 Epals, thriving in the market.

But the story doesn’t end there. To embrace the Web3 era, Epal evolved into Balance. This is not just a name change, but a bold bet on the future. It is no longer content to be just a companion gaming platform; it aims to become the major user experience infrastructure of the Web3 world. Smart contracts, digital currencies, decentralized social experiences—what Balance wants to do is make interaction freer, more interesting, and even more profitable.

Here, monotonous interactive gameplay is a thing of the past. NFT, virtual assets, on-chain incentive mechanisms—these elements allow every user to become a builder and a driving force in this ecological revolution. Companion gaming? It has long surpassed one-way service and has become a three-dimensional social experience, giving users more control and opportunities for profit sharing.

What does the future hold? The road ahead is long and unpredictable, and no one knows the final outcome. But one thing is certain: the grand show of Balance has only just begun.