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Treasure

Treasure is a web3 gaming ecosystem built around the MAGIC token, launched in September 2021 out of the Loot project by John Patten and Karel Vuong. It described itself as a decentralised Nintendo, then restructured in April 2025 out of game publishing and off its own chain, and now works on AI-native interactive IP.

GamingFounded 2021treasure.lol
US$8Mannual expenses disclosed in April 2025 against US$2.4M of stablecoins in the treasury, the figures behind the restructuringThe Defiant

The people

Karel VuongCo-founder, Treasure · 1 TechTO talk
JP
John PattenCo-founderprofile coming

What they build

MAGICThe ecosystem's reserve currency and in-game token since September 2021Product page ↗
BridgeworldThe flagship trade-and-commerce strategy game, one of the four products kept in the 2025 restructuringProduct page ↗
SummonCurrent product line for AI-native collectibles and interactive IPProduct page ↗

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Working at Treasure

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Open roles on the TechTO Job Board ↗Or their own careers page: treasure.lol/careers ↗

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About

Treasure grew out of Loot, the September 2021 experiment in publishing NFT items with no game attached and letting anyone build the game around them. Its answer was an ecosystem rather than a title: MAGIC as a shared reserve currency, Bridgeworld as the flagship strategy game, the Trove marketplace, and a set of tools meant to pull independent studios in — what its founders called a decentralised game console, or 'a decentralised Nintendo'. It ran on Arbitrum, then migrated to its own chain on ZKsync in December 2024. That chain lasted months. In April 2025 co-founder John Patten disclosed that annual expenses had passed US$8 million against US$2.4 million of stablecoins in the treasury, and that without cuts the money would run out by mid-year; Treasure exited game publishing, ended grants and third-party developer support, wound down Treasure Chain by 30 May 2025, laid off at least fifteen contributors, and narrowed to four products. Co-founder Karel Vuong stepped away in the same restructuring and Patten resumed leadership. The organisation now describes itself as building AI-native collectibles and interactive IP 'designed for an agentic universe', with MAGIC still its currency.

Backers

Community-launched rather than venture-funded — it began as a DAO out of the Loot project with no venture round, and its treasury has been reported on publicly, including the April 2025 disclosure of US$2.4M in stablecoins.

Quick answers

What is Treasure?

A web3 gaming ecosystem built around the MAGIC token — games, a marketplace and developer tooling its founders described as a decentralised game console. Since 2025 it has focused on AI-native collectibles and interactive IP rather than publishing games.

Who founded Treasure?

John Patten and Karel Vuong, in September 2021, out of the Loot NFT project. Patten leads it; Vuong stepped away during the April 2025 restructuring.

What happened to Treasure in 2025?

Facing annual costs of about US$8 million against US$2.4 million in stablecoins, it cut game publishing, ended developer grants, shut down its own ZKsync chain by 30 May 2025 and laid off at least fifteen contributors, narrowing to four products.

Who from Treasure is in this directory?

Karel Vuong, its co-founder, who spoke at TechWaterloo in 2016 on community and brand building while he was the first employee at the Montreal venture builder Diagram.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Aug 28, 2026