NFT sneaker game maker Stepn to set up first office in Hong Kong’s government-owned Cyberport as regional headquarters

Co-founder Jerry Huang said former Cyberport chairman George Lam visited to encourage Stepn to ‘help Hong Kong create a Web3 start-up environment’

The move comes amid a crypto company exodus from Hong Kong in anticipation of a new licensing regime under the city’s anti-money-laundering ordinance

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Stepn’s mobile app seen on an iPhone on March 15, 2022. The Australia-based NFT game maker plans to open its first physical office in Hong Kong’s Cyberport after a visit from the government-owned start-up accelerator’s former chairman. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:00am, 5 Sep 2022

The maker of the hit play-to-earn game Stepn, which rewards users with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies, is setting up its first physical office at Hong Kong’s government-owned start-up accelerator Cyberport, making the city its first regional headquarters outside Australia, company co-founder Jerry Huang told the South China Morning Post

The move comes as other crypto-related companies have been retreating from Hong Kong in anticipation of a new licensing regime for crypto exchanges. Covid-19-related quarantine measures have also led to an exodus in the business community.

However, Huang said that the company was convinced to make the move after a visit from former Cyberport chairman George Lam, who travelled to Sydney to invite Stepn to set up shop in the community.

“I was honoured that he came to see me,” Huang said in a video interview during Cyberport’s Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum earlier this month. “We had dinner and Dr Lam enthusiastically invited us to go and help Hong Kong create a Web3 start-up environment together. I felt very happy and encouraged.”

Billed as a “move-to-earn” app, Stepn lets users buy and trade NFT trainers and in-game cryptocurrencies by walking or running in the real world. Players can then convert their in-game earnings to other cryptocurrencies or cash.

Launched last December by Australia-based Chinese entrepreneurs Huang and Yawn Rong, the game quickly gained traction in countries including Japan and the US.

It turned a US$20 million profit in the first quarter largely through its cut of in-game transactions, Rong told the Post in April. In January, the company received US$5 million in seed funding from investors including Sequoia Capital.

Cyberport has sought to capitalise on growing interest in Web3, a loosely defined vision for a next-generation World Wide Web that is decentralised through the use of technologies like blockchain. Hong Kong’s blockchain gaming giant Animoca Brands, which owns the metaverse platform The Sandbox, is also based in Cyberport.

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