Web3 agency Journey introduced its acquisition of software program growth studio The Devhouse Agency. For Journey, this marks the fourth acquisition made by the corporate in 2022 because it continues to determine itself as a metaverse developer. 

When requested about the price of this acquisition by Game Developer, a Journey spokesperson declined to reveal the greenback worth. 

Said Journey’s chief metaverse officer Cathy Hackl in a press launch, buying The Devhouse Agency “expands our recreation growth and engineering expertise pool” for its shoppers. “Devhouse will probably be an integral a part of Journey’s mission to ship immersive and industry-leading experiences for brand new and nascent buyer touchpoints and journeys.”

Since its founding in January 2022, Journey has primarily turn out to be recognized for serving to retail manufacturers equivalent to Walmart and Ralph Lauren construct their very own metaverse worlds. In late September, it launched a Walmart metaverse contained in the already-popular metaverse platform Roblox. 

The Devhouse Agency was based in 2008, and Journey CEO Andy Zimmerman credited the studio with being behind “among the most high-profile initiatives within the metaverse.” Those initiatives, in keeping with its web site, embody drone person manuals and the web3 recreation Chill Cowboy Country Club. 

What is Journey’s future in web3 and video games?

Speaking to Game Developer, Journey CEO Andy Zimmerman referred to his firm’s metaverse studio, which Devhouse will now be part of, as “the profitable merging of recreation growth expertise and inventive company methods.”

“We convey a balanced combine between recreation builders that perceive and know what gamers want–we can put the participant on the heart of the park experience–while nonetheless serving to the manufacturers shine and enter these areas organically due to our model constructing experience,” he continued.

Zimmerman continued by attributing video video games and the deal with in-game communities as an acceptable “onramp” to web3 engagement. “The recreation {industry} has already finished the heavy lifting and studying on seize and retain a person base in an immersive on-line social area.”

“Whether it is an NFT monetized online game or a web3 ecommerce expertise, making web3 enjoyable via delicate (or not so delicate) gamification will probably be essential.”

That Zimmerman thinks common video video games have served as basis for web3 to construct upon would maybe maintain extra weight if common recreation builders (as of a research from this previous August) weren’t extraordinarily skeptical of the expertise’s sensible functions.

In some instances, that skepticism is coming from contained in the metaverse home. Earlier within the month, builders at Meta engaged on that firm’s personal metaverse, Horizon Worlds, have been reportedly not utilizing all of it that a lot.