EXCLUSIVE: Augmentors reveal launch date of AR, blockchain mobile game

Michael Deon, the founder of Augmentors — the world’s first augmented reality (AR) mobile game backed by the bitcoin blockchain — has announced that he plans next month to run an alpha launch of the game. The final version set to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year.

Deon revealed this on Thursday last week (4 July) on the sidelines of a Startup Grind event in Cape Town. The company which initially pitched on Shark Tank, raised $1-million from an initial coin offering (ICO) which ran between January and February last year.

After the August alpha launch, the final version of the Augmentors game is set to launch in Q4

“We’re going to have our alpha launch on the first of August. Anyone is welcome to sign up, its on our website Augmentorsgame.com. And the release of the game will be in quarter four this year,” Deon told Ventureburn.

He explained that the mobile game will be “available on the iOS and Android devices that are compatible with AR kits and AR core”.

“Most devices from iPhone 5S should be compatible, and then from Android, it just depends on compatibility of it (the device) with AR kits and AR core,” he added.

‘Built by Youtube’

During the fireside chat Deon, said the game had been “built by Youtube”. “What I meant by that is I didn’t go to varsity or anything like that. I literally lived on the internet and self-taught myself everything from Youtube,” he said.

“So, the demo that was presented on Shark Tank was made from a hell of a lot of learning from Youtube video tutorials and so forth to educate myself on that, from 3D animation, art assets all that kind of stuff, teaching myself to produce something beautiful to show venture capitalists, to show investors and stuff,” explained Deon.

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*Correction: The article initially quoted Augmentors founder Michael Deon as saying the alpha launch would be on the fourth of August. The correct date for the launch is 1 August. Ventureburn regrets the error.

Featured image: Startup Grind Cape Town’s Sandras Phiri in conversation with Augmentors founder Michael Deon on 4 July (Augmentors Game via Twitter)