Sony’s Soneium blockchain teams up with Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands and Sony's Soneium blockchain are teaming up.
Image Credit: Sony/Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands partnered with Sony’s Soneium blockchain to develop Moca Network’s identity layer and launch San FranTokyo’s anime initiatives on Soneium.
The partnership means Animoca Brands will ally with Soneium, an Ethereum Layer 2 open blockchain developed by Sony and powered by Optimism’s Superchain technology.
Through this partnership Moca Network, Animoca Brands’ flagship digital identity infrastructure platform for the open internet, will create a premier identity layer on the Soneium blockchain starting with Anime ID, a decentralized identifier (DID) and reputation layer spearheaded by San FranTokyo, a core contributor to Anime Foundation, to enhance user engagement and enable partners on Soneium to issue and verify data credentials.
Moca Network’s Account, Identity, and Reputation SDK (AIR SDK) will be integrated into Soneium blockchain, enabling users to maintain embedded accounts, unique identities, and credentials as they explore various dApps on Soneium. San FranTokyo’s Anime ID will be the first decentralized identifier (DID) and reputation layer adopting the AIR SDK to integrate into the Soneium blockchain, enhancing user engagement on anime-related experiences on Soneium.
In collaboration with Animoca Brands, San FranTokyo will also launch anime-inspired cultural campaigns on Soneium with the goal to onboard anime fans to Sony’s blockchain and connect them to new anime themed experiences.
Soneium is being developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs (SBSL), a joint initiative established by Sony Group Corporation and Startale Group, focused on transcending boundaries with the open internet. Sony Group has built a diverse range of businesses with the purpose of ‘filling the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology’. The desire to share emotion and excitement and to stay connected with someone no matter where you are is a fundamental human aspiration.
Yat Siu, executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said in a statement, “Our partnership with Soneium marks a significant step towards an interconnected Web3 future. By integrating Moca Network’s identity infrastructure, we’re not just enhancing entertainment experiences; we’re creating a seamless digital ecosystem. The partnership will empower Soneium users with unified digital identities, bridging anime, gaming, and blockchain technologies.”
Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solutions Labs of Soneium, said in a statement, “Our partnership with Animoca Brands enables us to establish an identity and reputation layer on Soneium. As one of the largest entertainment industries, anime presents immense potential. By integrating Moca Network’s AIR SDK and Anime ID into Soneium and Animoca Brands launching anime-inspired cultural campaigns, we aim to onboard global anime fans to the blockchain, enabling them to collaborate, create, and infuse the world with emotion.”
David Taing, head of San FranTokyo, said in a statement, “We’re excited to launch Anime ID on Soneium as one of Anime ID’s first major ecosystem partners. Together with Moca Network and Soneium, San FranTokyo will work with our global and industry partners to connect, onboard, and empower anime fans to new anime inspired experiences across ecosystems.”
In addition to Soneium, Moca Network’s AIR will be integrated into multiple chains like Base, Plume, and more. The vision is to enable any users on any chains to tokenize all kinds of data, unlocking cross-ecosystem rewards and access based on one universal digital identity and the corresponding credentials.
An outside view
Catalin Alexandru, a game economist, said of the announcement, “Regarding the Sony partnership, it seems to be a classic case of two drunks holding each other up. Sony itself obviously is not the “drunk” as it runs a legitimate business, but the blockchain division fits the bill. Seems a case of FOMO followed by being late to the party partnering with someone to deliver something, anything that can be shown as a win.”
He added, Like Ubisoft’s initiative, it’s more of a hedge to make sure a technology nobody high up understands internally is missed out on in case it catches fire, but Ubisoft got in early. There’s nothing new or specific about Sony’s blockchain, it seems to be the usual complete contradiction (“decentralized” chain that Sony controls, some vague handwaving about using it for player ID and Anime NFTs).”
And he said, “Sony has a history of this with platforms which are not in its DNA, see the same unfortunate adventure and hasty exit from its late entry into mobile live service games.”
