It’s been clear for six months that PFP NFT collections have been lacking the next step.
And ironically — given that even rare Axie Infinity NFTs never became valuable PFPs because of their perceived utility and mainstream P2E audience — it looks like the game industry is about to offer that opportunity in spades.
US tech outfit Manticore Games has announced that its Unreal Engine-based Core platform — now rebranded Core Metaverse — will support Ethereum NFTs via Metamask and OpenSea API integration.
This means creators will be able to use Core’s simple and robust creation tools to build everything from deep interactive 3D games to simple social experiences and private chat rooms, and integrate NFTs.
Launching a year ago as a F2P PC gaming platform (iOS coming soon) to rival the likes of Roblox, I think it’s fair to say Core hasn’t yet fulfilled its potential — it quotes 3 million users, 30,000 creators and 50,000 built environments — and that despite raising $161 million in funding.
In that sense, adding support for web3 projects — offering what it jokingly calls ‘Metaverse as a service’ — is win-win for the NFT community and Manticore, which is why it’s pivoting so aggressively into the space.
It’s free, anyone can sign up to build and it’s providing special tools and services to help onboarding. There’s also a special Collab service that’s already being used by the likes of the MekaVerse and 0N1 collections. The Loot community also appears to be heavily involved with the launch.
It’s worth noting that the level of immediacy Core now provides means creators have the option of creating environments prior to minting so their NFTs will launch with immediate playability.
And beyond building environments for specific NFT collections, creators also get interoperability out of the box for free as they can support any NFTs, also making areas open for those without any NFTs and gated locations for specific collections.
The stretch goal for Core will be to see how much it can impact the big metaverse plays such as The Sandbox and Otherdeeds, which have attracted plenty of attention and resources but have uncertain and/or delayed roadmaps.
Indeed, without falling too far down the rabbithole, it could be postulated Core will become the overaching metaverse for metaverses, probably launching its own platform token in the process.
But that’s the future.
In the meantime, it will be fascinating to see the community — and market — reaction from the launch of Loot, 0N1, and MekaVerse, which has been heavily teasing the launch.
Another interesting aspect to observe will be how well Core’s monetization layer is used.
With the focus for blockchain games to get P2E players to pay into an economy to stop all activity being extractive, the opportunity to monetize F2P players whether they own a NFT or not will provide another lever for the best creators to optimize.
Either way, the blockchain gaming world just got a lot more interesting.
Hiro Capital Abides.
Product news
Mythical Games has formally announced full details of two thirdparty games it will be publishing in 2023.
First up is the web3 version of Creative Mobile’s highly successful Nitro Nation mobile drag racing series, which is called Nitro Nation — World Tour.
This is a mobile game in which players customize and race their cars, with the potential for pink slip races in which the winner gets the loser’s car. The game will feature hundreds of fully licensed car brands.
Second is Epic Spell Wars: Magic Fight, a TCG based on Cryptozoic’s Epic Spell Wars physical card game. Developed by CCG Lab, this will be a PC title.
These games will be released on Mythical’s platform alongside the previously announced NFL Rivals, and the already live Blankos Block Party, which itself is going more meta thanks to a hook up with fashion label Burberry.
This will see the second Burberry x Blankos NFT collaboration — Minny B dropping on 2nd June — combined with a new branded social space — a cabana-style resort named The Oasis — in the Blankos hub.
Having dropped ‘The King of NFTs’ moniker, WAX is getting serious about gaming with WAX Studios announcing its second inhouse game — Music Mogul.
Labelled “a strategy-driven, play-and-own” game with PvP elements, it’s been designed “for music lovers to discover, manage and earn with a roster of talented musicians”.
The first NFT packs will drop on 28th June, with 25 NFTs per pack. Progression will come as players upgrade their NFT musicians by burning lower level cards and increasing their position on the Power Score Leaderboard.
Partnership news
Already partnered up with The Sandbox, CyberKongz is also working with developer Battlebound to integrate its NFTs into Battlebound’s PC hoverboard racer Evaverse.
The Sandbox (company) has announced a partnership with TIME via its TimePieces NFT community initiative, to build NYC landmark Time Square within The Sandbox (game).
However, rather than replicating the physical location, the companies have issued an open call for designers to reimagine the space for the metaverse.
You can find out more here.
Not A Good Time To Launch Your Tokens news
Solana game Genopets has launched its KI token via the Strata platform. The price started at $0.50 and falls when tokens aren’t bought, rising when they are. The current price is under $0.10, with the vast majority of supply remaining. The drop has 2 days still to go.
KI tokens are earned by owning Genopets habitat NFTs and can be used for crafting NFTs, minting more habitats and levelling up.
Genopets’ main GENE token launched during November 2021 and is down 73% from its all-time high but up 97% from its all-time low in February — which given market conditions is not too shabby.
Ads In The Metaverse news
Game ad network Admix has merged with metaverse builder LandVault, with the resulting 175-strong company rebranding as LandVault.
CEO Sam Huber says the result will be the go-to provider for big brands that want to enter the metaverse. Previously Admix launched ad-based NFTs in Somnium Space, while LandVault has built locations particularly in The Sandbox but also Decentraland.
Admix raised $25 million in a Series A in October 2021. Following the merger LandVault is valued at $300 million.
I spoke to Huber back in December 2021 about how NFTs would change in-game advertising.
Bored Ape Yacht Club A Neo-Nazi Dog Whistle (Or Worse?) News
I did not see this one coming.