What Revolving Games does

Revolving Games is a mobile-first game studio founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, USA, with a primary engineering presence in Lahore, Pakistan and remote roles globally. The company develops and publishes IP-driven free-to-play mobile games, with a current portfolio of five titles spanning casual creature-raising (HatchPals, HatchKings), social exploration and trading RPGs (Skyborne Phoenix Flight), a Web3-enabled Skyborne variant (Skyborne Genesis), and a recently launched competitive 4X real-time MMORPG (War of Nova). Its differentiator is the integration of blockchain-based player-owned economies into mobile-game loops, supported by NFT asset ownership and decentralized marketplaces.

The studio is led by three co-founder/co-CEO siblings — Shayan Zaeem (President), Saad Zaeem (Co-CEO), and Ammar Zaeem (Co-CEO) — with Dan Houser, former Rockstar Games creative director and creator of Grand Theft Auto, serving as strategic adviser. Revolving Games makes money via a freemium model with in-app purchases for virtual goods, gameplay enhancements, and seasonal content passes; distribution is primarily through iOS and Android app stores complemented by web-based gameplay portals such as warofnova.com and hatchlings.revolvinggames.com. The primary customer segments are mobile gamers seeking high-quality strategy games and Web3-native gamers interested in true asset ownership.

The company has raised $13.2 million in disclosed funding (2022 round led by Pantera Capital with Dapper Labs, Animoca Brands, Kenetic Capital, Sarmayacar, Cypher Capital, P2V, and Dweb3 participating), alongside follow-on financings including a Pantera-led round dated 2025-05-30 and a Jets Capital investment in February 2023. Customer acquisition is community-led, leveraging Discord, Telegram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, and YouTube channels for top-of-funnel engagement. Marketing language around $5.3B+ or $2.6B in lifetime revenue refers to the founders' previous studios rather than Revolving Games' own revenue, which is not publicly disclosed.

Name

Revolving Games

Legal name

Revolving Games

Website

https://revolvinggames.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Revolving Games is a San Francisco-based mobile game studio (founded 2019) that develops and publishes freemium IP-driven titles including War of Nova and Skyborne, integrating blockchain-based player-owned economies for mobile and Web3 gamers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mobile Gaming

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Web3/Blockchain Game Studios (MPAFAAAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Blockchain Game Studios & Game Development (FSAPAGAC)

Keywords

• Blockchain gaming
• Mobile game studio
• Web3 games
• NFT game assets
• AAA strategy games

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. In-app Purchases: War of Nova features in-app purchases for game enhancements, virtual goods, and gameplay advantages
2. Freemium Model: Free-to-play games with optional premium purchases and virtual item transactions

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Revolving Games is a mobile-first game studio that develops and publishes IP-driven games across genres including 4X strategy MMORPGs, social exploration RPGs, and creature-raising casual titles. The studio is transitioning from traditional free-to-play mobile gaming to fully decentralized Web3 gaming, enabling player-owned in-game economies through NFTs and blockchain technology across its portfolio of War of Nova, Skyborne, HatchKings, and HatchPals titles.

Product overview

Revolving Games is a mobile-first game studio and publisher with three global studios that develops and publishes IP-driven games. The company offers a portfolio of five distinct game titles: War of Nova (a 4X strategy MMORPG), Skyborne Phoenix Flight (a social exploration RPG), Skyborne Genesis (Web3-enabled Skyborne variant), HatchKings (monster-raising game), and HatchPals (elemental creature-raising game). The studio, led by industry veterans who have collectively generated over $2.6B in lifetime revenue, is transitioning from mobile free-to-play gaming to fully decentralized Web3 gaming with blockchain-based titles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• War of Nova: A competitive 4X strategy game designed to test tactical skills and strategic thinking, featuring deep real-time combat, faction control, and seasonal gameplay.
• Skyborne Phoenix Flight
• HatchPals
• HatchKings
• Skyborne Genesis

Products and services

• War of Nova A competitive 4X strategy real-time MMORPG where players lead factions to control territories, acquire ships, and engage in deep real-time combat while managing resources and forging dynamic alliances each season. Targeted at mobile gamers seeking deep tactical and strategy gameplay.
• Skyborne Phoenix Flight A social world exploration and trading RPG where players explore, create, customize, and battle. Features include island decoration, seasonal activities, fishing, and new towns and communities across various biomes. Targeted at players seeking social exploration and customization gameplay.
• HatchPals An elemental creature-raising game where players nurture hatchpals, care for them, train them, and customize their habitats while assisting in research conducted by the Arcanum Exploratory Institute. Targeted at casual mobile and web gamers.
• HatchKings A monster-raising game featuring collectible creatures that players can raise, battle, and progress through gameplay. Part of the Hatch series of casual creature-collection games.
• Skyborne Genesis A blockchain-enabled iteration of the Skyborne franchise and part of the studio's Web3 gaming initiative that introduces player-owned economies via NFTs and decentralized ownership. Targeted at Web3 and blockchain gamers.

Quantifiable outcome

• $5.3B+ lifetime revenue generated by team members
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Dan HouserstrategicOthers · 9 September 2022Industry veteran and former Rockstar Games creative director (GTA creator) serves as adviser to Revolving Games, providing strategic guidance on game development.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Gala Games: Web3 gaming platform and publisher building a network of blockchain games (e.g., Spider Tanks, Town Star) with token and NFT economies. Directly comparable as a multi-title Web3 publisher pursuing player-owned digital assets.
• Sorare: NFT-based fantasy sports game blending licensed IP (real-world sports leagues) with collectible, tradeable digital cards. Comparable as a licensed-IP, blockchain-native mobile game targeting mainstream rather than crypto-native audiences.
• The Sandbox: Decentralized virtual world and user-generated content game built on blockchain with NFT-based land and assets. Operates a comparable Web3, player-owned-economy game model with token and NFT monetization, overlapping Revolving's blockchain strategy titles.
• Sky Mavis: Developer of Axie Infinity, the most prominent Web3 play-and-own game. Sky Mavis and Revolving Games both pursue blockchain-enabled, player-owned-economy mobile gaming with NFT-based assets, sharing go-to-market through crypto communities and token-incentivized onboarding.
• Dapper Labs: Creator of CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, and a blockchain game studio / consumer apps operator. Dapper Labs is also a Revolving Games investor, but its Flow-based consumer apps and NFT games are a directly comparable product category targeting mainstream Web2 gamers.
• Mythical Games: Web3 game studio behind Blankos Block Party and NFL Rivals, combining AAA-quality gameplay with player-owned NFT economies on its Mythical Chain. Closely comparable to Revolving Games in pursuing mainstream-IP, blockchain-integrated titles rather than pure crypto-native audiences.

Broad incumbents

• Animoca Brands: Hong Kong-based Web3 gaming investor, publisher, and operator with hundreds of blockchain game portfolio companies. While much larger and also an investor in Revolving Games, Animoca operates in the same blockchain game publishing space and competes for talent, IP, and player attention.
• Zynga: Established mobile and social-game publisher (FarmVille, Words With Friends) with deep free-to-play expertise. Comparable in mobile game publishing DNA; represents the incumbent model Revolving's team hails from and against which any blockchain pivot must compete for player time.
• Roblox: Massive user-generated content gaming platform with a creator-driven, virtual-economy model. Although not blockchain-native, Roblox is the dominant scaled reference point for player-owned economies and creator monetization — relevant for benchmarking the addressable opportunity Revolving's Web3 titles target.

Others

• Immutable: Provider of Immutable zkEVM and the Immutable X NFT gaming platform, supplying infrastructure for many blockchain games. Relevant as an enabling partner/competitor in the same Web3 game development stack Revolving Games builds upon.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/revolving_games
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@revolvinggames
• Facebookfacebook.com/revolvinggames
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/revolvinggames
• Instagraminstagram.com/revolving_games

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Revolving Games