Japanese technology firm GMO Internet Group has developed a new mobile app that lets users earn bitcoin simply by playing games, the company said on Thursday.

According to an announcement, the new app – called CryptoChips – will initially be integrated with a real-time territorial battle game also developed by GMO called "Whimsical War."

By playing the game on an iOS or Android device starting from August of this year, users can be rewarded with bitcoin based on their ranking and missions achieved inside the game.

Rather than using on-device mining to earn the cryptocurrency, players will receive their bitcoin rewards directly from GMO. The firm kicked off its own bitcoin mining operations in December 2017, and has also slated in August as the deadline for the launch of its cloud mining service.

The tech giant said in the announcement that the hope is to encourage the public to become familiar with cryptocurrencies via the new app, since users will need to use their own digital wallets to receive and use the bitcoin.

GMO indicated that, moving forward, it may include support for more cryptocurrencies within the app and also expand its integrations across other mobile games.

The new service comes just a week after GMO announced that it is launching the world's first 7nm bitcoin mining chip, with a target shipment deadline set for the end of October 2018.

Mobile game image via Shutterstock