Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most successful non-fungible token (NFT) collections, is joining hands with Animoca Brands — a Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming, metaverse and NFT company — to develop a play-to-earn game utilizing BAYC’s popular avatar NFTs, according to a company statement.
Fast facts
- The new game, which will feature play-to-earn mechanics, is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2022.
- Yuga Labs, BAYC’s creators, have built one of the most dedicated communities in the OpenSea NFT market. The Bored Ape NFTs have gained traction and in September even set a US$26 million sale record for crypto art sold on Sotheby’s.
- Notably, in November alone, the BAYC collection recorded US$199.3 million in sales volume from all marketplaces, according to data from CryptoSlam.
- Meanwhile, Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca, said Monday in a tweet that The Sandbox, Animoca’s unit for virtual gaming, in September bought the Bored Ape #3749 “The Captain” for 740 ETH, demonstrating “why we not only collaborate in productions but also invest to enhance cross metaverses to understand more about this approach.”
- “We’re excited to work with Animoca Brands to grow the BAYC universe and expand the utility and benefits offered to all Bored Ape NFT holders,” a Yuga Labs spokesperson said in the statement. “Animoca Brands is a trailblazer in the blockchain gaming space with a proven track record of delivering. We can’t wait to share more with the community about what we’re building.”
- Animoca has been actively forming partnerships to further expand its metaverse presence. Just last week, it announced a collaboration with a Hong Kong-based racehorse-breeding business to bring equestrian activities into the metaverse. It has also teamed up with K-pop agency Cube Entertainment to develop NFT and music metaverse projects.
- At the end of November, Animoca held US$15.87 billion worth of digital assets, reflecting robust growth in its metaverse business units.