Moku, the publisher behind the AI-powered fantasy battler Grand Arena, has appointed Kathleen Osgood as Chief Business Officer to supercharge its institutional growth, capital strategy, and ecosystem partnerships. The move signals Moku’s aggressive push to scale its presence in the Ronin network and beyond — at a time when blockchain gaming is expected to reach $90 billion by 2030, according to a research by Crypto.com.
Betting Big on Leadership Amid Web3 Gaming’s Critical Inflection Point
Moku’s appointment of Osgood reflects a growing trend: experienced crypto-native executives are being tapped to bring structure, strategy, and partnerships to the next generation of blockchain games. Osgood, who previously held leadership roles at Jump Crypto and Sky Mavis, brings a unique blend of institutional insight and on-chain credibility.
Her tenure at Sky Mavis was pivotal — she joined post the infamous $620 million Ronin bridge hack in 2022, helping restore confidence through major partnerships, including the OpenSea-Ronin integration. Under her guidance, several projects she helped onboard skyrocketed to a combined valuation of over $4 billion.
Osgood now plans to bring that same playbook to Moku. “They’re not just onboarding users to crypto, they’re making them fundamentally Web3,” she said, emphasizing Moku’s unique approach to game design and player ownership.
Riding the Web3 Gaming Wave: Investment, AI, and Infrastructure
According to DappRadar and Blockchain Game Alliance’s 2024 report, blockchain games accounted for over 34% of all decentralized application activity in Q1 2024. Meanwhile, a16z’s ongoing investments via its Speedrun program — which backs Moku — are further catalyzing infrastructure development in the space.
Moku’s flagship title, Grand Arena, blends AI gameplay loops, collectible NFTs, and DeFi-style rewards. It represents a new wave of modular gaming architecture, where gameplay and economic design are inseparable. The company is now focused on developing a plug-and-play infrastructure stack to onboard more developers into its ecosystem.
“Kathleen brings an unbeatable combination of Web3-native knowledge and institutional relationships,” Moku CEO Bruce Wasicsko said. “She’ll play an instrumental role in scaling Moku and its products across the greater Web3 ecosystem.”
Case Study: From Ronin Revival to Moku Momentum
The success of Ronin following the 2022 breach offers a blueprint for Moku’s growth ambitions. As of June 2024, Ronin supports over 1.5 million daily active users — a recovery that experts credit largely to ecosystem rebuilding, community trust, and strategic partnerships. Osgood’s role in that turnaround positions her well to replicate similar growth at Moku.
Further, Moku’s alignment with Ronin — the blockchain behind Axie Infinity — places it at the heart of one of the most active and proven web3 gaming environments globally.
Institutional Capital Eyes GameFi
While crypto markets remain volatile, venture funding into web3 gaming saw $1.1 billion in Q2 2024 alone, according to PitchBook. Web3 gaming and metaverse projects attracted the largest share of crypto VC capital in Q4, comprising 20.75%
With Osgood at the helm of institutional capital and partnerships, Moku aims to tap deeper into that momentum — building the economic rails for games that are both scalable and sticky.
As Web3 gaming matures from speculative hype to product-market fit, Moku’s latest hire underscores a shift from experimentation to execution — a move that might just determine who leads the next generation of on-chain games.
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