Forte Labs
Forte Labs builds blockchain rules engines and licensed payment rails for video game economies.
On the record
Checkpoint: Decision on Phoenix Labs subsidiary wind-down or sale, plus next headcount and revenue disclosure
The call
Forte holds licenses that survive the crash, but the blockchain-gaming market it built for keeps disappearing under it.
Forte Labs builds technology that lets video game makers add blockchain features to their games. The company has a government license to handle money that most rivals cannot easily get, but that license protects a dying market, not a growing one. Forte has gone from over 200 workers to roughly 11-20 people, makes no public revenue, and operates in a sector where 60+ cryptocurrency companies have failed this year alone. The real problem is not that competitors or artificial intelligence can copy what Forte does, but that the entire gaming-blockchain industry is shrinking fast. Watch whether Forte can land a major game studio customer willing to ship blockchain features, or whether the company winds down or gets sold off instead.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI could eventually automate rules-engine logic for game economies, but crypto-gaming's collapse is the bigger and faster threat here. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: None apparent. No large company is pushing Forte out. The blockchain-gaming category itself is shrinking, with 60+ crypto firms failing in 2026 so far. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Provenance Technologies holds real money-transmitter and BitLicense-equivalent licenses, a regulatory asset that can't be copied overnight.
What would change this call
Phoenix Labs is sold, shut down, or laid off further after its 2025 layoff waves. Shows Forte cannot sustain its own acquired game studio.
Forte headcount reported below 10 or the company ceases operations by end of 2026. Confirms continued contraction with no stabilization.
A future funding round or secondary sale prices Forte below the ~$0.5B TrueUp mark. Confirms investor belief in continued value collapse.
Forte headcount reported below 10 or the company ceases operations by end of 2026. Confirms continued contraction with no stabilization.
A future funding round or secondary sale prices Forte below the ~$0.5B TrueUp mark. Confirms investor belief in continued value collapse.
Key numbers
- Raised $725M Series B at scale in Nov 2021
- Valuation cut to ~$0.5B per TrueUp, down from $1.73B
- Headcount fell from 200+ in 2021 to ~11-20
Named risks
- Sector-wide crypto gaming collapse with over 60 firm failures in 2026 year to date threatens Forte's entire market category.
- Headcount contracted approximately 90 percent from 200+ in 2021 to 11 to 20 by mid 2026, signaling operational wind-down.
- No disclosed revenue, customer counts, or growth metrics since 2022 creates severe transparency and viability uncertainty.
- Phoenix Labs subsidiary underwent two rounds of mass layoffs in 2025 and may face further wind-down or sale.
- Valuation estimates conflict wildly between 1.73 billion dollars and 0.5 billion dollars, indicating unresolved distress.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Immutable (IMX) | losing to | Immutable has 680+ titles and partnerships including GameStop and Razer as of July 2026 |
| Ronin (Sky Mavis) | losing to | Ronin sustains largest historical DAU base in blockchain gaming with over 4 billion dollars lifetime NFT volume as of May 2026 |
| Yield Guild Games | contesting | YGG abandoned crypto game publishing entirely for AI data sales in July 2026, unlike Forte which remains in-category |
| Coinbase, PayPal, Square | losing to | These incumbents already hold comparable money-transmitter licenses at far greater scale than Forte's Provenance Technologies unit, obtained 2022 |
Questions people ask
- Is Forte Labs profitable in 2026?
- No revenue figures have been disclosed by Forte since 2022, and no profitability data exists. Third-party trackers show headcount collapsed to roughly 11 to 20 employees by mid 2026 from over 200 in November 2021, consistent with a company generating little to no active revenue.
- Has Forte Labs had layoffs?
- Yes. Forte's headcount fell from over 200 employees claimed in November 2021 to just 11 to 20 by mid 2026 per TrueUp and Clay trackers. Its acquired studio Phoenix Labs laid off a majority of staff in January 2025 and cut most remaining employees again in June 2025.
- Who is Forte Labs' biggest competitor?
- Immutable (IMX) is described in July 2026 industry coverage as the largest gaming-specific blockchain ecosystem with over 680 titles and partnerships including GameStop and Razer, far outpacing Forte's shrunken operation. Ronin (Sky Mavis) also leads with over $4 billion in lifetime NFT volume.
- Could AI replace what Forte Labs does?
- Forte's core product, rules-based KYC/AML and compliance logic for blockchain transactions, is exactly the kind of narrow software logic AI can commoditize. Forte itself open-sourced its Rules Engine in December 2024, reducing its own proprietary lock-in and making replication easier for AI-assisted developers.
- Who owns Forte Labs and who runs it?
- Forte was founded by Kabam founder Kevin Chou and Josh Williams around February 2019. Williams served as CEO through at least 2022; by December 2024, Bela Pandya is identified as CEO in company press materials announcing the open-source Rules Engine release.
- What is Forte Labs actually worth in 2026?
- Valuation estimates conflict sharply. Caplight listed Forte at 1.73 billion dollars as of December 2025, while TrueUp's secondary-market tracker showed roughly 0.5 billion dollars as of June 2026, a 71% markdown from its last primary funding round, reflecting steep erosion in investor confidence.
Timeline
- 2026-07-06Peer Yield Guild Games shuts crypto game publishing arm, cuts 35 jobs, pivots to AI gamer data sales
- 2026-06-30TrueUp shows Forte core staffing at 11 to 20 employees and secondary valuation near 0.5 billion dollars
- 2025-12-24Decrypt names crypto gaming collapse its Story of the Year for 2025
- 2025-12-22Caplight lists Forte valuation at 1.73 billion dollars
- 2025-06-18Phoenix Labs cuts most remaining staff in second layoff wave, over 160 total post-acquisition
- 2025-01-27Phoenix Labs lays off majority of studio; no blockchain features ever shipped in Dauntless or Fae Farm
- 2024-12-16Forte open-sources its Rules Engine on GitHub; Bela Pandya identified as CEO
- 2023-01-01Forte quietly acquires game studio Phoenix Labs without public disclosure
- 2022-02-11Provenance Technologies subsidiary obtains U.S. money-transmitter and BitLicense-equivalent licenses
- 2021-11-12Series B closes at 725 million dollars led by Sea Capital and Kora Management
Revision history
29 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Forte Raises $185M Series A at $1B Valuation (2021-05-20)
- Forte Closes Additional $725 Million in Funding (2021-11-12)
- CB Insights Forte profile
- Caplight Forte (2025-12-22)
- Forte Company Profile (2026-06-30)
- Phoenix Labs lays off 'majority of studio' (2025-01-27)
- Forte Unveils Open-Source Rules Engine (2024-12-16)
- Forte raises $185M at $1B valuation (2021-05-21)
- Forte's PTI gets financial transaction licenses (2022-02-11)
- Kabam and esports veteran Kevin Chou turns to blockchain games with Forte (2019-02-21)
- Forte raises $725M for compliant blockchain gaming platform (2021-11-12)
- Forte 2026 Company Profile