Party Icons, a mobile-first gaming platform with three fully playable modes, announced it has raised $9 million in a private funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, bringing its total funding to $20 million. This investment emphasizes confidence in Party Icons’ potential to revolutionize the gaming landscape with its innovative gameplay design and open ecosystem, powered by its unique “Party-as-a-Service” live operations model and integrated Web3 infrastructure. Joining BITKRAFT in this round are other notable investors, including IDG Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, Leap Capital, Mantle Network, King River Capital, Mask Network, Yield Guild Games, Zentry, 32-Bit Ventures, Ed3n Ventures, Palm Drive Capital and individual investors Sebastien Borget (Co-Founder of Sandbox), and Cristian Manea (a prolific Web3 angel).
The funding raised will accelerate the development of Party Icons’ diverse gaming and social experiences, expand Web3-enabled functionalities and infrastructure, and fuel its global expansion into key markets in 2025.
After players first enter Party Icons, they arrive on Miragio, a fully customizable interactive island that serves as the lobby of the Partyverse. And Miragio is home to entertainment facilities, social hubs, marketplaces, and portals to the various game modes. Currently, three distinct modes are available, with more on the way, each offering a unique experience tailored to different gameplay styles.
The core game mode, Party Heist, pits four teams of two against each other in interesting maps for a high-stakes party royale experience with an extraction shooter mechanism. Extraction gameplay offers multiple paths to victory and strategic depth—whether securing treasures and extracting early, hunting down enemies and bosses for bigger rewards, or ambushing others at extraction points.
Party Brawl shifts the pace to a 3v3 team deathmatch, where action and teamwork unfold rapidly across new maps, delivering intense, adrenaline-fueled shootouts. And Carnival Clash offers a more lighthearted experience, featuring over 25 familiar party games that are easy to pick up for quick, casual fun.
The game modes were designed with modern gaming habits in mind, with most sessions lasting under 12 minutes, tapping into today’s ‘bite-sized’ entertainment trend. And players take on the roles of Hero Icons, characters inspired by art toys and pop culture, equipped with narrative-driven combat abilities and upgradeable Party Talents and weapons. Higher-rarity Hero Icons and weapons, earned through gameplay and minted on-chain, also serve as key assets for mining within the Partyverse.
Beyond the three game modes lies a fourth secret mode called God Mode. Accessible only to OGX̅ NFT holders, And God Mode introduces a twist never before seen in gaming. Inspired by Squid Game, Hunger Games, and the original Japanese film Battle Royale, OGX̅ holders—Partyverse’s genesis PFP collection—assume the role of all-powerful game masters who exist beyond the arena. These Gods wield immense power to alter the course of gameplay, dropping valuable loot, reshaping the battlefield, and influencing outcomes with strategic precision or reckless abandon. Their unpredictable nature keeps the competition thrilling and dynamic, giving all players — regardless of skill level a chance at victory.
In Party Icons, players can step into the role of the Hero, the familiar protagonist in battle royale games, or embrace the power of the God. And the game also introduces a third, innovative role—the Spectator. Spectators can engage actively during live streams, interacting with both Gods and the game world. Using cutting-edge technology, Party Icons will enable spectators to influence gameplay in real-time, adding a new layer of interactivity and immersion. This feature is expected to roll out in 2025, with testing already underway in collaboration with select streaming platforms.
Party Icons introduces Party-as-a-Service (PaaS), an evolution of the traditional Game-as-a-Service model that decentralizes live operations and economic interest. Rather than developers controlling every aspect of the game, Party Icons empowers guilds, streamers, whales, and players to engage with the game in ways that best suit their needs.
Mirship NFTs – available by invitation or application – enable holders to create Mirship Clubs within Party Icons, giving them access to a dashboard to organize events and tournaments, leverage player data, and manage their club members’ in-game experiences. With built-in tools and data analytics, guilds can tailor experiences to their community’s needs, democratizing e-sports and allowing more players—not just the elite few—to engage in competitive gaming.
KEY QUOTES:
“Party Icons is on an ambitious mission to blend the social glue of party games with the intensity of extraction shooters, creating a next-gen, verticalized UGC platform made possible only through clever integration of Web3 technology. We have been highly impressed with the team’s masterful ability to dual wield Web2 game design with Web3 token-unlocked features, and we couldn’t be more excited to lead this round.”
- BITKRAFT Principal Jonathan Huang
“Party Icons is designed to offer more than just traditional gameplay. Our vision is to create a space where players can not only enjoy compelling game mechanics but also participate in a thriving, player-driven economy. This funding round will enable us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in gaming today.”
“OGX̅, or Orsus Grandis X̅, is Latin for ‘ten thousand great beginnings.’ They are up to no good and lie at the heart of Partyverse lore. With God Mode, we challenge gamers with the idea of ‘Play, or Be Played.’ This mode lends itself perfectly to interactive live-stream content, bringing a new dimension of engagement for players and spectators alike.”
- Claire Lin, Party Icons Co-Founder
“As we bring more users and communities on-chain, platforms like Party Icons are a great way to show how they can own part of an economy while having fun in a game with their friends. Through the YGG Mirship, the guilds in YGG can have a new meeting place in the metaverse to play together and share rewards.”
- Gabby Dizon, Founder of YGG
