CEO, Founder at Spekter Games
Taehoon Kim
Taehoon Kim (TK) is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years in the gaming industry. TK has raised over $100M in capital from top-tier VCs, and successfully founded and exited multiple companies, including nWay, Pixelberry, and Nurien. At nWay, he led the development of real-time, cross-play multiplayer hits like Power Rangers: Legacy Wars and Battle for the Grid, which surpassed 100 million downloads. After nWay’s acquisition by Animoca Brands in 2020, TK stayed on for three years, driving Web3 gaming initiatives and gaining firsthand exposure to hundreds of Web3 projects. With deep expertise in both Web2 and Web3 game development, he is uniquely positioned to create games that seamlessly blend the two for mainstream adoption.
Questions & Answers
What sets you apart from others in your industry?
I have a unique blend of experience spanning game development, and publishing for both free-to-play Web2 games, and Web3 games. I’ve successfully scaled games to reach hundreds of millions of players, while also leading multiple high-profile Web3 projects. As CEO of an Animoca Brands subsidiary for over three years, I collaborated closely with the Yuga Labs team on developing games using the Bored Ape IP and collaborated with Dapper Labs (NBA Topshop) on an Olympic Games NFT pins project. Beyond large-scale projects, I also explored various experimental initiatives to bridge mainstream gamers with Web3 audiences, creating synergy between traditional players and Web3 degens. My combined expertise in game development, publishing, and Web3 positions me as a rare founder capable of navigating and integrating both worlds.
Why are you excited about your company/product?
First, I’ve seen how social platforms combined with gaming can be explosive. Facebook gave rise to companies like Zynga while in Asia, messaging platforms like KakaoTalk and WeChat fueled the growth of multiple billion-dollar gaming companies. The first mobile game company to go public, SundayToz—the developer behind Anipang, which pioneered the use of Kakao for mass adoption—is a prime example. I was an advisor to SundayToz from its inception through its IPO. Second, I’ve seen how Web3 can inject deeper meaning into gaming, enhancing retention and monetization. However, Web3 games have struggled to go mainstream due to high friction and poor game design. Spekter Games is solving this by bringing fully featured, well-designed F2P games to Telegram, seamlessly integrating passive Web3 mechanics. Telegram’s massive user base, built-in wallets, and frictionless payment systems create a perfect storm for explosive growth. For these two reasons I'm super excited for this opportunity.
What problem or opportunity inspired you to start your company, and how has your vision evolved since then?
The challenge, and opportunity, lies in effectively combining the Play-to-Earn (P2E) model of Web3 games with the Free-to-Play (F2P) model of Web2 games. Web3 has the potential to supercharge retention and monetization by allowing players to own in-game assets and earn tokenized rewards based on their performance. In contrast, Web2 gamers primarily play for fun, without external incentives. The key issue with first-gen Web3 games was the imbalance—when most players are only there to earn (essentially treating the game like a job, similar to Uber drivers) the economy collapses. A sustainable model requires the right synergy between two groups: those who create, own, and earn vs. those who mainly play for fun and want to consume content because they love the game. My vision is to build games where 20% of the players are the former, and 80% the latter group who don't mind earning but love the game. No one has cracked this yet, and solving this problem is what inspired me to start Spekter.
