Web3 gaming kicked off with a bang—Virtually Human Studio (VHS) launched ZED RUN in 2019, turning digital horse racing into a $400 million empire that paid players $88 million. It was a hit, with thousands racing millions of times and horses fetching $50M at peak, but blockchain’s quirks—wallets, gas fees, crypto complexity—boxed it into a niche, and the NFT winter hit hard. VHS VHS Now, VHS is back with ZED Champions, a beta launched March 1, 2025, led by CEO Nir Efrat, who helped scale Candy Crush at King. After joining 16 months ago, he saw ZED RUN’s fade as a chance to reboot “Web3’s most successful NFT game” for everyone. “ZED Champions represents our commitment to innovation, accessibility, and long-term sustainability in Web3 gaming,” he says, aiming to shed the speculative shell and go mainstream. ZED Champions ZED Champions Nir Efrat Nir Efrat Candy Crush Hiding Blockchain for the Win Efrat’s first ZED RUN play was a mess—wallets, three-currency buys, a crypto PhD just to race. ZED Champions fixes that: 24/7 automated races (twice daily, no manual fuss), $ZED Token breeding, and augments (Passive, Situational, Progressive) make it strategy-first, tech-second. “An experience accessible for anyone,” he says, echoing Candy Crush’s seamless fun—blockchain’s there, but you’d hardly know it. Candy Crush ZED Picks, a mobile app launching alongside, takes it further—spectators cheer and win prizes without touching a wallet. VHS’s $20M raise from a16z, The Chernin Group, and Greylock in 2021 fuels this pivot, with “healthy runway” to spare, per Efrat. A shift to Coinbase’s Base blockchain keeps it fast and stable—tech that hums quietly while players race, not wrestle with fees. A Proven Playbook With Room To Grow ZED RUN’s legacy isn’t just numbers—$400M in transactions, $88M to players, tie-ins with Budweiser, Netflix, and NASCAR showed Web3 could flirt with the mainstream. ZED Champions refines that with crisp graphics and a Balance System (richer horses vs. tougher foes) for fairness, plus a 40-person team retooled with Web2 and Web3 talent to slash onboarding friction—Efrat’s first play now takes minutes, not manuals. The reset’s bold—ZED RUN’s NFTs are out, swapped for a hefty $ZED Token airdrop this month to ease the six-year sunset. “We’re creating a flywheel beneficial for all,” Efrat says, eyeing a future where players stick around and spectators pile in. With a leader who’s scaled giants and a playbook that’s hit big, VHS isn’t chasing trends—it’s rewriting Web3’s odds for the masses.
