Animoca Brands has deepened its involvement with Cross the Ages (CTA), a gaming ecosystem centered on its collectible trading card game, Cross the Ages: TCG. The expanded partnership aims to bolster the CTA ecosystem and support the studio's upcoming action role-playing game, Arise. Animoca has backed Cross the Ages since 2021 and participated in a 2024 funding round that brought in $3.5 million in equity investment. Under the new agreement, Animoca has started acquiring CTA tokens, contributing to a 61% month-over-month surge in buying volume.
Cross the Ages is Building New Games
Arise enters playtesting as Blast mode prepares to launch
Arise has been in the works for roughly two and a half years, with its official trailer dropping about nine months back. The game entered playtesting in May 2025 and sits in pre-alpha, targeting a fourth quarter 2025 PC release. Whether Arise can hold its own against established web2 titles or resonate with the web3 gaming crowd remains an open question given the competitive landscape.
Alongside Arise, Cross the Ages is preparing Blast, a revamped TCG mode designed to deepen strategy while lowering the barrier to entry. Blast launches this month and marks the game's shift from Immutable to the Solana blockchain, a move that could reshape performance and how players interact with the game.
Cross the Ages is Building New Games
Reverse project ties in-game land to real-world assets
Cross the Ages is also building Reverse, a project that connects in-game land holdings with real-world assets (RWAs), pushing the idea that virtual property can carry value beyond the game itself. The studio's ambitions stretch past pure gameplay into books, film or television, physical card releases, merchandise, and comics in an effort to build a wider entertainment brand.
In March 2024, Cross the Ages dropped a Watch Dogs x CTA card collection that wove Ubisoft's Watch Dogs characters into the game. Ubisoft and Polygon led a $12 million seed round for the studio back in 2022. Ongoing pack sales have likely provided steady revenue to fund the studio's expanding slate of projects.
Cross the Ages is Building New Games
Can Cross the Ages pull off multi-game, multi-media expansion?
The Animoca partnership signals continued investment in Cross the Ages' vision of a web3 gaming ecosystem that spans multiple formats and experiences. Arise and Blast represent major tests for CTA's ability to attract players from both traditional and blockchain gaming communities. The Solana migration and Reverse's RWA integration show the studio is experimenting with new ways to make its ecosystem more functional and appealing. Whether these bets pay off in sustained player engagement is still up in the air.
