Safety and Fairness in Gaming: PlaySafe ID Secures €1M
PlaySafe ID, a platform designed to safeguard gaming communities by blocking cheaters, bots, and predators, has raised €1 million ($1.12M) in pre-seed funding. The startup’s mission is to bring accountability and fairness to gaming without compromising user privacy.
The funding round was led by Early Game Ventures, joined by Hartmann Capital and Overwolf. The investment will support PlaySafe ID’s expansion efforts and integrations with major gaming platforms, with a goal of reaching over 250,000 users in the near term.
“This funding allows us to scale quickly, grow our elite team, and work with developers committed to creating safer game environments,” said CEO Andrew Wailes. He noted the urgency of tackling cheating and child safety, especially as new regulations like the Online Safety Act come into play.
PlaySafe ID provides an anonymous, verified digital identity to gamers, ensuring they haven’t engaged in cheating or abusive behavior. The system lets developers enforce fair play across titles without collecting sensitive data or compromising anonymity.
According to Cristian Munteanu of Early Game Ventures, “PlaySafe ID is building the identity and trust layer the gaming world urgently needs. As AI and anonymity challenge fairness, PlaySafe ID delivers transparency and accountability across games.”
Felix Hartmann of Hartmann Capital added, “Gaming has become a global social hub, yet it lacks consistent accountability. PlaySafe acts like a digital justice system—upholding safety across fragmented multiplayer environments.”
The idea for PlaySafe ID began with Wailes’ own frustrations as a gamer. Cheaters were increasingly ruining online matches, and no amount of in-game bans solved the issue—bad actors simply created new accounts. Then, after becoming a father, Wailes learned about the alarming scale of child exploitation in games, leading him to realize both problems stemmed from a lack of persistent accountability.
Encouraged by friends and motivated by his love of gaming, Wailes began building a prototype in early 2023 from Cambridge, UK. By mid-2024, he committed full-time to the project and began assembling a team, including veterans from Google and Jagex.
How It Works
Players register for a PlaySafe ID through a one-time verification powered by Onfido, a UK-based identity verification firm. Using zero-knowledge proofs, Onfido confirms a user’s identity without sharing or storing personal data. The result: a single, privacy-first digital ID that cannot be duplicated or sold.
Game developers then use PlaySafe ID’s API to check a player’s eligibility. If a user has a clean record, access is granted. Violations such as cheating or child safety infractions are reported by developers and reviewed through a trust-based system that issues penalties accordingly.
Security is built-in: suspicious account activity can trigger temporary suspensions, resolved through biometric re-verification to prevent account theft or misuse.
What’s Next
PlaySafe ID is already in talks with top gaming platforms and will announce its first partnerships later this year.
Wailes summed it up: “Gaming should be fair, safe, and fun. I built PlaySafe ID to protect the communities I care about—and now we’re ready to scale that mission globally.”
