Curio Secures $5.7 Million Funding Round to Launch Duper Season One, Co-Led by Bain Capital Crypto and SevenX Ventures

San Francisco, United States, August 6th, 2024

Duper invites players to experience high-stakes fun and strategic gameplay.

Curio, a game studio and developer, has announced it has raised an additional $5.7 million in capital. This funding round was co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and SevenX Ventures, with contributions from OKX Ventures. This latest investment builds on the $2.9 million secured in 2022, also led by Bain Capital Crypto.

Alongside this funding announcement, Curio has launched Duper, their flagship strategy game, together with the commencement of its first season. Duper is a social strategy game centered around wagering, featuring elements of collusion, deception, and teamwork, where five players compete in intense matches that last 40 minutes. The game draws inspiration from skill-based contests like Poker, merging it with a digital platform that enhances the strategy experience familiar to players.

"Our goal for Duper is to become the premier digital-native, skill-based wagering game," said Yijia Chen, CEO and Co-Founder. "The most enduring skill-based games today, like Poker and Mahjong, emerged decades ago, prior to the existence of video games. Duper represents the best of both worlds, blending the thrilling mechanics of a skill-based game with the engaging nature of video gaming."

Kevin Zhang, Co-founder, added, “While many crypto games mimic existing video games, we’ve taken inspiration from classic board and card games known for their simplicity and infinite replayability. These games integrate stakes meaningfully into the core design, making Duper highly accessible. We aspire for Duper to become a household name, akin to Catan and Poker.”

The Duper team comprises gaming veterans from prominent studios such as MiHoYo and Lilith, along with leading talent from the web3 space, all collaborating to transform the gaming landscape. Established in 2022, Curio is committed to creating innovative games and infrastructure that utilize blockchain technology for unique player experiences.

“Duper offers an unending reservoir of strategic depth. Forming alliances and negotiations are as crucial as employing deception and taking bold risks. No player should ever be underestimated, as in Duper, victory goes to those who consider all possibilities,” remarked PhyzixTeacher, a core contributor at Citadel.

Current web3 games often struggle to retain players due to a lack of engaging design. Without a strong core loop that integrates well with cryptocurrency elements, these games risk becoming either dull or repetitive versions of their web2 counterparts. Many developers lean towards hyper-casual games or MMOs, which face challenges competing with established web2 titles. Duper aims to fill this void, positioning itself as the “poker for web3” and a distinctive crypto board game built from the ground up.

“We have been collaborating with the Curio team since the beginning and continue to be impressed with their vision for how next-generation games can harness blockchain technology,” stated Stephan Cohen, Partner at Bain Capital Crypto. “By emphasizing emergent social dynamics and skill-based wagering, Curio merges the best features of classic games like Poker and Mahjong with the engaging aspects of video games. We are thrilled to support them as they develop the future of strategy gaming.”

Duper is launching its first season today, featuring a month-long tournament with substantial prize pools. Players can currently obtain loot boxes, unlocking emblems that serve as the foundational economy of the Duper ecosystem.

About Curio
Curio is an innovative crypto games studio focused on creating groundbreaking games that leverage blockchain technology to enhance player experiences. Their first game, Treaty, is a 4X strategy game that facilitates the creation of social agreements and “treaties” among players. Curio is backed by several prominent venture firms.

About Duper
Duper is a distinctive social strategy game that merges wagering with elements of collusion and team play. Launched in May 2024, Duper delivers an immersive and replayable gaming experience through high-stakes strategic battles.

For more information and updates, interested players can follow Curio and Duper on social media.

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Kayla Gill
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