Forge, a startup co-founded by gaming legend Dennis "Thresh" Fong alongside Kun Gao and George Ng, has closed an 11 million dollar funding round. The capital will fuel Forge's mission to connect gamers and reward them for what they actually accomplish in-game. The platform currently runs in beta, letting players start earning based on their gaming history and achievements.
Makers Fund, Bitkraft Ventures, and Animoca Brands led the round, with Hashkey Capital, Polygon Ventures, Formless Capital, and Adaverse joining in. Forge also keeps backing from investors who supported GGWP, the company's previous incarnation—Griffin Gaming Partners, Riot Games, and Sony Innovation Fund among them.
The angel investor list reads like a who's who of gaming: Riot Games founder Marc Merrill, Twitch founders Emmett Shear and Kevin Lin, TSM founder Dan Dinh, Kabam founders Kevin Chou and Holly Liu, YouTube founder Steve Chen, Krafton CEO CH Kim, former Discord CMO Eros Resmini (The Mini Fund), and ESL founder Ralf Reichart.
Forge started inside GGWP, a gaming startup founded in 2020 that used AI to fight toxicity in online games. GGWP tracked player behavior and built reputation scores, flagging repeat offenders for bans. Forge flips that concept: players voluntarily share their gaming history and achievements, then get rewarded for the positive things they do.
We wanted to create a platform that finally rewards gamers for being who they are, through their profile and history as a gamer, through their passion, engagement, and community participation.
The platform works by letting players link their gaming and social accounts into one unified Forge profile. That profile tracks accomplishments across multiple games. Forge then works with game developers to offer tailored experiences and rewards—whether that's playing specific games, hitting milestones, or just staying active in the community.
The beta launch includes a Season Pass system where players complete quests, earn XP, level up, and unlock rewards like in-game items, virtual currency, cosmetics, character unlocks, and early beta access to certain games. Launch partners are already offering exclusive incentives for players who join their communities through Forge.
The platform aggregates gamers' achievements into a single profile and rewards them based on their participation in a unique flywheel approach.
Games signed on for the beta include Genopets, Mojo Melee, Pixelmon, Portal Fantasy, Rushdown Revolt, and The Sandbox.
We like Forge because it provides game developers with an authentic way to reach real gamers with an interest in their products.
The Forge beta is live and open to everyone. If the concept works, it could change how platforms recognize and reward player engagement across the industry.
