Remember the gold old days of dashing to the mall after school to go play in the arcade? Well, Israeli startup Gigantic decided to take the concept of claw games, and classic arcade machines, and digitize them onto your smartphone. And if you’re thinking it’s just another virtual casino game, then think again. Users will be able to control real machines located in Israel, and if you win something - they send you the prize.

Gigantic’s flagship game app is called Clawee, where gamers can play real claw games and win real prizes at the same cost as if you were playing in real-life. However, as the prizes get better so does the cost of each game.

Going to the arcade from home

In a conversation with Geektime, CEO and Founder Ron Brightman explains that the company builds the machines in-house, and adds specific sensors and transmitters to the machine so gamers can have complete remote control and real-time view of the machine. Brightman adds that the company holds a patent on the component that monitors each gamer’s video streaming performance.

Gigantic’s game offering is not limited to Clawee, there are basketball, soccer, golf, and shooting games all available as well. Every game offers prizes to winners, sent from warehouses in China and the U.S.

Brightman, who notes that the company prefers to classify these games as “skill”, also added that the company plans on releasing another app at the beginning of next year. This game will combine other live lever-claw and arcade games “with one of the most popular game genres today,” and promises to take the genre one massive step forward into new territories.

According to Sensortower data, the game was downloaded just during the month of October over 100,000 times, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. Gigantic reports sending around 100,000 prizes each month to a global audience of gamers. Prizes vary from stuffed toys to home appliances, games, gadgets, and more.

Gigantic, which was founded in 2017 by CEO Ron Brightman and Director Oded Frommer, announced the closing of a $7 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by NFX Capital Fund and Union Tech Ventures, with participation from VGames. The company has raised $9 million to date.