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Google Play Store officially allows NFT games, but not gambling ones

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Google Play Store officially allows NFT games, but not gambling ones
App Store

The store’s team said games can offer NFTs for sale or to earn, but developers must declare this feature in their game's descriptions and must not allow gambling.

The Google Play store now allows video game publishers to sell nonfungible token (NFT) games in its store, according to a July 12 blog post from the store’s group product manager, Joseph Mills. In the post, Mills states that Google Play is “pleased to share that we’re updating our policy to open new ways to transact blockchain-based digital content within apps and games on Google Play,” including “boosting user loyalty through unique NFT rewards.”

Google Play banned crypto mining apps from its store in 2018 and removed the Bitcoin Blast video game for “deceptive practices” in 2020. Apple’s App Store stated in October that NFTs purchased outside of the App Store cannot offer any special benefits to users in a game, or else the game will be banned. In addition, NFTs sold through Apple’s App Store version of a game must pay a 30% fee to Apple.

These actions and statements caused many industry experts to believe that mobile NFT games were under attack. However, the new policy from Google Play makes clear that these games are welcome on Android devices, as long as they follow a few rules.

Related: Uniswap says its mobile app is “out of Apple jail” and live in most countries

According to the post, developers must clearly state if a game allows users to earn or buy NFTs or cryptocurrencies. In addition, game developers are not allowed to “glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities,” nor can they sell loot boxes or otherwise allow players to gamble.

As long as they abide by these rules, games can offer tokenized assets as part of the gaming experience, including by “reimagining traditional games with user-owned content,” the post said. Google Play indicated that it set these guidelines in cooperation with Web3 gaming leaders and will “continue to engage with developers to understand their challenges and opportunities.”

Web3 games have also been banned by the world’s largest PC game distributor, Steam. However, Steam’s competitor, Epic Games, launched NFT card game Gods Unchained in its store on June 22.

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Nifty News: Pixel Penguin accused of ‘charity rug,’ Epic adds new NFT games and more

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Nifty News: Pixel Penguin accused of ‘charity rug,’ Epic adds new NFT games and more
3AC

Epic Games is planning to list NFT games on its store, while the second 3AC NFT auction is slated to take place this month at Sotheby’s.

The Pixel Penguin alleged ‘charity project rug’

Nonfungible-token (NFT) project Pixel Penguin has caused a stir this week in what a blockchain investigator ZachXBT has alleged is a “charity project rug.”

The project quietly launched in February, but drew a lot of attention on May 31 following a Twitter thread from Web3 influencer Andrew Wang.

Wang claimed his friend Sarah, known as Hopeexist1 online, was the creator of Pixel Penguins, and noted that she had “made a collection to help herself battle cancer.”

At a $13 mint price, Wang claimed that 20% of the profits would go to charity, while the other 80% would go to Hopeexist1’s supposed cancer treatment.

“I'll put my rep on the line to say this is for real amidst all the scams in our space,” said Wang, adding:“I speak with her art teacher often when she's gone for treatment and he says she's the best student he's ever had, that her talent is too precious, that she must survive.”

Following this, Pixel Penguins NFTs promptly sold out, with the floor price shooting up from 0.0099 Ether (ETH) to around 0.0126 ETH worth roughly $130.However, members of the NFT community then did some digging and alleged that the creator had been profiting from selling stolen art in the past, and was potentially lying about having cancer.

ZachXBT then found the Pixel Penguin smart contract containing more than $117,000 worth of ETH, and followed that funds as it was siphoned off to two new wallet addresses.

In the aftermath, Hopeexist1 then deleted their Twitter account and went AWOL. The floor price of the NFTs has since plummeted to 0.004 ETH, or $7.

Epic Games Store to add more blockchain games

Fortnite developers Epic Games will soon release two new blockchain-games on its store, adding to the five that are already up and available to play.

One of the upcoming games is called Defimons, a free-to-play Pokemon-inspired multiplayer RPG with turn-based combat.

The game will have an in-game currency and NFT battle monster characters bearing the same name as the title. The Epic Games Store doesn’t list a release date.

The other blockchain game is called Project Red, which appears to have open-world elements inspired by games such as Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, alongside a first-person-shooter game mode as well.

The early snippets of the game reveal people will need to buy Mobster NFTs to navigate through the higher levels and engage with the play-to-earn elements of the game.

Epic Games initially listed Blankos Block Party as the first Web3 game on its store back in September 2022, and while these types of games still receive strong scepticism from many traditional gamers, the firm isn’t backing away from this space.

Epic Games recently indicated to Axios in March that it plans to add roughly 20 new blockchain games over the course of 2023 and early 2024.

Related: Japan’s largest airline launches NFT marketplace

Three Arrows NFT garage sale part two

Following on from the first $2.5 million auction of NFTs belonging to defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the second round is set to take place this month.

3AC’s collection of NFTs is dubbed the Grails, and features a long list of tokens from top projects such as CrytoPunks, Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenzas and Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers.

In the second round set for June 15, Sotheby’s will auction off 37 of 3AC’s NFTs in what it describes as the "largest ever live auction of digital art."

NFTs sold in auction part one. Source: Sotheby's

Kellogg’s sifts into the Metaverse

Kellogg’s has reportedly filed for a long list of trademarks for a number of its food brands relating to the Metaverse, NFTs, collectibles and crypto tokens.

Some of the brands include Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Special K and Pop-Tarts.

According to United States Patent and Trademark Office licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis, the firm has indicated an interest in launching anything from NFT avatars to crypto collectibles, virtual environments and VR-gaming revolving around crypto.

Other Nifty News

Some of the most sought-after NFTs collections of 2022 have taken a massive hit in value over the past year, with Investments in top projects such as Doodles, Invisible Friends, Moonbirds and Goblintown all losing up to 95% of their value in ETH.

On May 31, Web3 wallet-as-a-service provider Magic announced that it had successfully raised $52 million in a strategic funding round led by PayPal Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from venture firms Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone and Volt Capital, bringing Magic’s total funds raised to over $80 million.

Magazine: NFT Creator, 0xDEAFBEEF: Mad scientist’s NFTs degrade when they’re traded

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Logan Paul unveils $1.3M CryptoZoo recovery plan

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Logan Paul unveils .3M CryptoZoo recovery plan
Coffeezilla

As part of the plan, Logan Paul stated that he will commit 1,000 ETH to repay disgruntled investors that want to make an exit via burning their CryptoZOO NFTs.

YouTuber Logan Paul has unveiled a $1.5 million recovery plan for the people who invested in his beleaguered NFT project CryptoZoo.

Announcing the move in a video shared via Twitter on Jan. 13, Paul reiterated that he is no longer looking to sue fellow YouTuber Coffeezilla for defamation over accusations he made in a critical series of videos on Paul’s NFT project.

As such, Paul emphasized that he is instead focused on fixing CryptoZoo, delivering on the roadmap and making things right with fans and investors:

“The fact is, suing Coffeezilla is not going to help Cryptozoo holders so I do need to focus my attention where it should be, which is on fans and supporters of me.”

Paul outlined that his recovery plan consists of three stages. Firstly, he and his manager /CryptoZOO co-founder Jeff Levin will burn their ZOO token holdings so that they “have no financial upside” in the game, and so that the token supposedly has more value.

Secondly, he claimed that he will personally commit 1,000 Ether (ETH) as part of a rewards program that enables “disappointed” investors to burn their NFTs to get the initial 0.1 ETH ($150) mint price back.

Reaction tweet from @CryptoKingBob: Twitter

It is worth noting that at the time of Paul’s tweet, 1,000 ETH was worth around $1.3 million, however the price of ETH — among a host of other top assets — has since been on a hefty pump that has seen its price gain 10.2% over the past 24 hours to sit at roughly $1,548.

Finally, Paul noted that the third stage is to “obviously finish and deliver the game as outlined in the whitepaper,” which was initially touted as a play-to-earn game that involved breeding animal NFTs to receive ZOO token rewards.

“To say I am disappointed in how this was handled internally is an understatement, there’s a full internal investigation going on along with an audit and we are going to pursue full legal action for whoever needs to be held accountable.”

“If any money is recovered in the process, it’ll go right to the community,” he added.

The community reaction to Paul’s Twitter post was mixed, with some tipping their hats to Paul’s efforts, while others continued to pile on with further criticism.

Related: NFTs have a brighter future on Instagram than on Twitter

Users such as @tharaxis noted that while criticism of Paul and CryptoZOO was valid, “all of this seems very positive and while it took a while this definitely deserves a ‘good job’. Hopefully it stays that way.”

While the founder and CEO of Genius Group Roger Hamilton added: “‘i’m sorry’ and compensation to those who lost money. How great if all CoffeeZilla investigations would end up this way.”

On the other end of the spectrum, popular NFT and crypto trader @crypto_bitlord7 stated: “But let’s be honest. You didn’t care until it started to impact your reputation.”

“You then threatened to sue. And when you realized it backfired, you started this to try to please people. You are as fake as it gets. A true Larp,” they wrote.

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Nifty News: Square Enix invests into NFT gaming firm, Beeple speaks on NFT art future and more…

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Nifty News: Square Enix invests into NFT gaming firm, Beeple speaks on NFT art future and more…
beeple

Pokémon Company International has taken an Australian company to court over advertising an unlicensed NFT-based Pokémon game and HSBC has filed for a host of NFT and Metaverse trademarks.

NFT-friendly Japanese gaming giant Square Enix has invested 7 billion yen ($52.7 million) into game developer Gumi to create “high-quality” mobile games, blockchain games and a Metaverse initiative, among other things.

Gumi mobile games: Gumi

According to a translation of the press release, the partnership will help Gumi tap certain intellectual property from Square Enix, while it has also teased that the duo could be teaming up for a game-NFT-focused marketplace.

“We are already considering the establishment of a platform dedicated to blockchain games and an NFT marketplace, etc. Through collaboration between the two companies, we will provide a one-stop service from the development and distribution of blockchain games to the sale and distribution of tokens and NFTs.”

The company also outlined plans to work on a host of NFT games that will likely have Metaverse integrations. The Japanese company has outlined a quirky new term called “Wow and Earn” which essentially refers to games built off of world-famous IP that is integrated with blockchain-based Play-to-Earn (P2E) features.

“In the future, while considering the use of powerful content that everyone recognizes, we will break away from the highly speculative blockchain games of the past and create value while enjoying fun and excitement. We strongly recognize that it is necessary for game users all over the world to create a blockchain game that realizes ‘Wow and Earn,'" the release reads.

Gumi also stated that its “working day and night” to develop its Metaverse-focused arm of the business, as it looks to add another source of revenue outside of mobile games.

Gumi has previously worked with Square Enix on a couple of mobile games as part of the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius series, and both firms are partners of the Oasys blockchain-gaming project, which is building its own network designed purely for P2E gaming.

Beeple outlines future of NFTs and art

Michael Winkelmann, the widely successful digital artist also known as Beeple, believes that all physical art in the future will one day have an NFT attached to it.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 23, Beeple suggested that NFTs will massively help the art industry by providing superior methods for tracking provenance and storing verifiably authentic data.

“I think all paintings will eventually have NFTs attached just because again, it's a better system than just handing you a piece of paper,” he said, adding that:

“If you had a standardization around ‘this is a painting,’ you could have all the provenance in the metadata of that NFT. You could have [that data on] where that painting was shown. So it’s all there and it's searchable in a database.”

As such, he thinks that NFTs will eventually help build a standardized art database that “everyone relies on.”

Beeple: Wall Street Journal

Pokemon takes NFT company to court

Pokémon Company International has taken an Australian company to court over advertising an unlicensed NFT-based Pokémon game, according to documents lodged with the Federal Court of Australia.

The company in question is called “Pokémon Pty Ltd” and it has been advertising an unlicensed “metauniverse” P2E game on Ethereum called Pokeworld.

Pokeworld: Pokémon Pty Ltd

On its website, it also claims to work on a host of official Pokemon games in the past, while it also claims to have an official partnership with Pokémon Company International.

However in the court documents, the Pokemon IP holders are seeking to restrain Pokémon Pty Ltd from representing that they hold any license, partnership or rights to sell Pokemon NFTs.

It has also called for the company to halt the launch of the game, promote it using Pokemon trademarks on its website and social media.

HSBC trademarks

British multinational mega bank HSBC has filed virtual trademarks for its name and logo, outlining potential plans for a host of NFT, blockchain and Metaverse products.

In its filing, highlighted by licensed trademark attorney, Mike Kondoudis via Twitter on Dec. 23, the HSBC lists a host of products and services including downloadable NFT virtual goods and files, virtual world friendly debit cards, NFT music and video content files.

The Metaverse appears to be a keen focus in the filing, as it also states that it is looking at providing financial advisory and entertainment services in the Metaverse and other virtual worlds.

Other Nifty News:

Hackers linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group are reportedly behind a massive phishing campaign targeting NFT investors — utilizing nearly 500 phishing domains to dupe victims.

NFT marketplace OpenSea has been banning artists and collectors from Cuba, citing United States sanctions as the key reason behind its action.

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

NFT games are ‘only scratching the surface’ of what’s possible — Animoca’s Yat Siu

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<div>NFT games are ‘only scratching the surface' of what's possible — Animoca's Yat Siu</div>
Animoca Brands

Yat Siu thinks it's only a matter of time until more advanced models of NFT gaming are created, designed around the ideas of digital ownership, interoperability and economic utility.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu believes nonfungible token (NFT) games are only scratching the surface of what's possible and predicts completely new models of gaming will be developed as a result of digital ownership.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Siu likened the potential growth of NFT gaming to mobile phone gaming, which started out relatively niche and clunky in its formative stages before rocketing to become the most popular method of gaming across the globe.

“Mobile gaming brought a form factor of a type of game that we've never seen before, you know, one-hand play and that kind of stuff, and innovations around how you play with AI [artificial intelligence]. Because of the fact that you have this limited form factor, it became the most popular form factor in gaming,” he said.

Siu commented that while many blockchain games themselves also have a clunky experience at this stage, the whole sector is still quite new. As such, it is only a matter of time until more advanced models are created that are designed around the ideas of digital ownership, interoperability and economic utility for the user.

“With NFT games, we’ve only really scratched the surface. Everyone's very focused on ownership. [...] I think it's going to mushroom into everything and we're going to see new kinds of game formats emerge because of the ownership that we weren't able to do before.”

In the interim period, Siu pointed to metaverse gaming platforms and massively multiplayer online games as models that fit well with NFTs, as you “can trade items and you have deep levels of economic design” that make sense.

The Animoca co-founder also argued that many current users are willing to accept that the blockchain gaming experience is not necessarily smooth at this stage.

He suggested that this was because they are aware of the significance of being able to own a stake in the games, as opposed to the traditional model in which people sink capital into games that they can never retrieve.

“I mean, when you think of this [blockchain games], you could say it's a UX [user experience] nightmare. But because of ownership, people put up with it not just because it's valuable, but because it's meaningful because this is my land, this is my car.”

Asked when NFT technology will get to a point of seamlessness that even a grandmother can use it without being aware of it, Siu emphasized this would likely be through the widespread tokenization of physical things, NFT integration with commonly used services and how people interact with each other.

Related: Blockchain games and metaverse projects raised $1.3B in Q3: DappRadar

He outlined that as the world continues to become more digitally focused, children will of course want digital things.

“Grandma is probably going to buy a digital item for their grandchildren as a way to not just as a gift that's relevant to them, but also as a way to interact,” he said, adding that vice versa, a grandchild could even gift their grandmother a digital illustration that they drew.

“We're going to have a digital world. These digital artifacts and art and creativity and games and utility that's going to be mushrooming in the thousands and thousands and thousands of small medium enterprises that are going to be doing this.”
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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Yat Siu: Asia GameFi opportunity huge as gamers don’t hate NFTs

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Yat Siu: Asia GameFi opportunity huge as gamers don’t hate NFTs
Animoca Brands

The Animoca Brands co-founder suggested that Asian gaming companies don’t have to deal with the same amount of pushback against NFTs that U.S companies have faced.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu thinks that GameFi has the biggest opportunity for growth in Asia, as gamers there don’t hold the same vitriol towards nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as they do in the West.

Sitting down with Cointelegraph during Asia Crypto Week, Siu argued that Asia generally has more of a welcoming culture towards gaming and advancements in tech such as NFTs, digital property and Play-to-Earn (P2E).

“I think that Asia has the potential to really lead in blockchain gaming, at least in the short term. And there's a couple of reasons why I think that's the case. Not just because, you know, there's the most gamers in this region of the world. [...] but it's also because gamers in Asia are welcoming NFTs.”

“Gaming companies in the West have to deal with consumer resistance that gaming companies in Asia do not have to,” he added.

The Animoca co-founder attributed this acceptance of NFTs to a broader Asian viewpoint on capitalism, which he suggested is viewed more favorably in the region — barring China — than in the U.S., as people see it as a path out of poverty.

He pointed to examples such as South Korea, which “only four decades ago” had the same size economy as North Korea but has swiftly climbed the global rankings through innovation, “creativity, legal frameworks, and property rights” despite lacking natural resources.

“The consumer in Asia looks at capitalism as a net-good fight. In other words, okay, there is inequity. There's a guy who made a lot of money, but [people] think ‘I can get there too, or I have an opportunity,’” he said.

Drawing a contrast to the United States, Siu highlighted that capitalism draws a more demonized view by some people there, and rightly so as many people haven’t seen capitalism “work for them.”

He argued that this type of thinking ultimately bleeds into gamers pushing back on NFTs, as people worry about being priced out of the market with expensive NFTs that are seen as a “rich man’s tool.”

“When the headline news isn't a $5 or $10 in-game NFT item, but a $300,000 Bored Ape well, then, you know it's a little bit like saying the entire car industry is just Lamborghinis. That's not true either. But that's what we see. And so the rejection in the West comes from that lens.”

Expanding on the Asian context, Siu also emphasized that blockchain gaming is opening up access to venture capital from Silicon valley that hasn’t really been tapped before, especially in the context of countries like the Philippines where P2E gaming guilds have become quite popular.

Related: Gamers want fun, not a grind fest for tokens — Animoca subsidiary

He again highlighted that this is due to a vibrant ecosystem that is growing in Asia as many gamers are adopting the tech while many projects are actively innovating in the space.

“Now you have companies like a16z, not just ourselves investing but also Silicon Valley money moving into Vietnam and Philippines. I think that's unheard of. So that's kind of exciting as well. I do think Asia is pointing towards a web three blockchain gaming future. Broadly speaking,” he said.

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Final Fantasy creators join Oasys blockchain, gamers whine about it

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Final Fantasy creators join Oasys blockchain, gamers whine about it
Coin Telegraph

As part of the deal, Square Enix will develop games on Oasys’ PoS network, joining the likes of Sega, Double Jump, Bandai Namco and Ubisoft.

Square Enix, the Japanese game developer behind the beloved Final Fantasy franchise has signed on as a node validator for blockchain gaming project Oasys, with the duo also teaming up to create blockchain games.

The move has predictably been met with criticism from some crypto and NFT hating members of the gaming community, irritated that the firm is continuing to double down its focus on blockchain tech.

In a Sept. 12 announcement, Oasys revealed that Square Enix had jumped on board to be the project’s 21st node validator, taking up the final slot of initial validators.

Moving forward the duo will also team up to develop new games on Oasys’ EVM compatible Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain, which hopes to become a hub for Triple A quality games with Play-to-Earn (P2E) integrations.

Square Enix joins a host of big names in gaming to partner with Oasys such as Sega, Double Jump, Bandai Namco and Ubisoft — with the latter also having a troubled history with gamers who have pushed back against the firm’s NFT gaming initiative Quartz.

The pitchforks are out

While the prospect of having reputable gaming giants jumping behind a blockchain project is welcome news in the blockchain world, the traditional gaming community has not received Square Enix’s move well.

The Gamer reported the news, with the headline: “Square Enix Sets Its Dreaded NFT Plans In Motion By Partnering With Crypto Company.”

 Square Enix article: The Gamer

“Unlike most video game developers who decided to announce their ventures into the jpeg-filled world of NFTs, Square Enix has only been doubling down on it,” the article notes, as it questions Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda’s previous statements about introducing P2E elements into games:

“He probably ignored the fact that so many NFT games aren't just scams, but also look like they were made by an actual bored ape.”

On Twitter gamer @ShyVortex said the partnership was “truly disgusting. Never buying a Square Enix game again,” while @eramaster12 questioned “what does it take to f#ckin force them to stop?.”

@Pilnok also chimed in that this “has become tiresome and embarrassing” and @ManuelRomer2 added “what about just don’t entirely?”

Square Enix and blockchain

Square Enix has been gradually ramping up its blockchain related plans in 2022, despite pushback.

Matsuda stated in a New Year’s Letter in January that he was particularly interested in the idea of introducing blockchain-enabled “token economies” into games to incentivize both players and users that generate content to add to the games.

“With advances in token economies, users will be provided with explicit incentives, thereby resulting not only in greater consistency in their motivation, but also creating a tangible upside to their creative efforts,” he wrote.

Related: Ubisoft cools off on NFTs and blockchain, says it’s in ‘research mode’

While blockchain is yet to creep into Square Enix’s games, the firm kicked things off in July by releasing tokenized character figures for $129.99 featuring characters such as Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy.

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Ubisoft cools off on NFTs and blockchain, says it’s in ‘research mode’

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<div>Ubisoft cools off on NFTs and blockchain, says it's in 'research mode'</div>
Coin Telegraph

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot appears to be walking back some of the company's enthusiasm for NFTs, months after receiving strong pushback for its NFT project Quartz.

Yves Guillemot, the CEO of French gaming giant Ubisoft appears to have cooled the rhetoric behind the company’s NFT gaming project Quartz, noting in a recent interview that it was merely in “research mode” concerning Web3 tech integrations.

It’s a relatively different take from other Ubisoft execs in the past, including chief financial officer Frédérick Duguet who in October stated that blockchain integrations will enable users to own and earn content and the firm wants to “be one of the key players here.”

During a Sept. 10 interview with gamesindustry.biz, Guillemot appears to be walking some of those comments back, emphasizing that at this stage, Ubisoft is primarily looking to discover how NFTs can be applied to games and whether they will benefit gamers or not.

"We are very much on cloud, on the new generation of voxels, and we're looking at all the Web3 capabilities. We tested a few things recently that are giving us more information on how it can be used and what we should do in the universe of video games,” he said, adding that:

“So we are testing ground with some games, and we'll see if they really answer the players' needs. But we are still in research mode, I would say."

Ubisoft announced its first foray into NFTs in December, after launching a beta version of Ubisoft Quartz, aimed at offering gamers playable NFTs that could be utilized in games such as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

The move was met with strong pushback from some members of the NFT-hating gamer community, with some accusing the firm of “milking” every cent possible out of its popular game franchises by introducing NFTs into the mix.

Nicolas Pouard, the vice president at Ubisoft's Strategic Innovations Lab defended the company’s NFT efforts in January, stating: "I think gamers don't get what a digital secondary market can bring to them."

Reflecting on Ubisoft’s NFT rollout, Guillemot says the firm ultimately didn’t communicate the company’s approach to the project effectively enough.

"We probably were not good at saying we are researching," he said, adding that "we should have said we were working on it, and when we have something that gives you a real benefit, we'll bring it to you.”

The Ubisoft CEO was also questioned about the environmental impacts of blockchain tech, something which is often highlighted by gamers who generally confuse energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) chains as the industry standard for all projects.

Related: GameFi fundraising jumps 135% in August, but is still down from June: Report

Guillemot noted that while he’s “very cautious” about the environmental impacts of the sector, he’s optimistic that these issues will be ironed out over time.

"Like so many things, at the beginning it's not as good as it could be, but like other new technologies they will find the right way."
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Axie Infinity looking to ‘double-down’ on Korean market: KBW

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<div>Axie Infinity looking to 'double-down' on Korean market: KBW</div>
Axie Infinity

Sky Mavis co-founder and growth lead Jeffrey Zirlin says Axie Infinity wants to double down in South Korea, which they see as one of the most important gaming markets in the world.

Sky Mavis, the firm behind Play-to-Earn (P2E) heavyweight Axie Infinity is looking to “double down” in South Korea and ramp up adoption despite the regulatory hurdles.

Speaking with Cointelegraph at the Korea Blockchain Week on Aug. 9 (local time), Sky Mavis co-founder and growth lead Jeffrey Zirlin stated that despite the domestic ban on P2E games still being in place, the “Korean market is one of the most important gaming markets in the world, and we have tons of players in South Korea.”

Zirlin added that the company is currently looking at ways to tailor the Axie Infinity game to its cohort of Korean gamers:

“I think you know, we want to double down. We want to localize for example, Koreans don't speak much English, right? So there are actually a lot of barriers to actually getting the game into the hands of Korean players.”

“But a lot of our top players on the leaderboard are Korean [...] Koreans are some of the best gamers in the world,” he added.

South Korea Game Rating and Administration Committee prohibits the release of domestic blockchain P2E games as a result of strict anti-gambling policies. In December, the government also moved to prohibit Google Play and the Apple Store from listing such games in Korea.

“In terms of the regulation, it's still quite early. It's similar to the app stores where you know, it's gonna be a process of negotiation and education,” Zirlin noted, adding that he hopes P2E adoption is enough to sway the government to walk back its hawkish regulation in the future:

“It's really Uber as an approach right? They just launched, they got it into the hands of as many people as possible and once they had a critical mass the regulators had to go with it.”

Related: Vitalik Buterin proposes stealth addresses for anonymous NFT ownership

The Axie Infinity project is still in its early access stage and is yet to roll out an app via Google Play or the Apple Store. According to Active Player, the game had roughly 766,000 people that logged in to play the game last month, a far cry from the heights of 2.7 million recorded in January this year.

As it stands, Axie Infinity is looking to ramp up adoption — in Korea and globally — by improving the gaming experience and expanding out its ecosystem via new battle modes such as Origin, which topped more than 600,000 sign ups as of mid-June.

“Origin is our main focus right now. So building that out and making it more immersive, adding in vertical progression, like runes and charms and body part upgrades to act as sustainable sinks [burning mechanisms] for tokens and making it more fun.”

“Origin crucially comes with three free starter Axies (NFT characters) so that people can fall in love with the game [without having] to make any economic or financial decisions,” he added.

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The Rise of Hugewin: New Face of Crypto Casino

Nifty News: Dr Disrespect unveils NFT game to mixed reaction, FC Barcelona’s first NFT sells for $700K and more…

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<div>Nifty News: Dr Disrespect unveils NFT game to mixed reaction, FC Barcelona's first NFT sells for 0K and more…</div>
Coin Telegraph

Shib Eternity unveiled as the name of Shiba Inu’s upcoming mobile NFT game, and Funko will launch sets of NFT packs depicting Avatar character collectibles.

Gaming YouTube streamer "Dr Disrespect" unveiled the first sneak peek of his upcoming NFT shooter game dubbed Deadrop on July 30.

The initial reaction has been mixed, however, with some underwhelmed by the game’s lack of polish given that Dr Disrepect boasted in a now-deleted Tweet from June that it “already blows out anything” from the Call of Duty game engine.

User @Jonesy_Actual stated the game currently looks “like an arcade shooter at Chuck E Cheese” while @MemeCyptum sarcastically chimed in with: “Dr Disrespect tried making an NFT shooter and it looks like a**? I’m shocked I tell you, absolutely shocked.”

Others have called for patience, however, as the game is still in the early stages of its development and is likely to undergo many changes before the final version is complete.

“Lol this is so early in development yet people still need to hate? At least he is being clear about development, showing each stage as it comes. Just hating on the game for the sake of it clearly,” wrote @L1GHTNING96.

Dr Disrespect has more than four million subscribers on YouTube and 2.4 million followers on Twitter. He recently launched what he's dubbed a triple-A gaming studio called Midnight Society which has partnered with Polygon Studios to develop gaming NFTs via Polygon’s Ethereum scaling network.

The early footage shows a simplistic first-person shooter-style game with a player running and shooting targets at a gun range.

The new game is expected to use NFTs to give users digital ownership of in-game items and rewards.

According to Midnight Society’s website, it recently sold out all 10,000 tokenized Founders Passes which included playable avatars for Deadrop. The NFTs also offer early access to the game, along with voting rights on game-features integrations and a host of other benefits. The Polygon-based NFTs went for $50 a pop and were used as a way to fund the game’s development.

Shiba Eternity

The team behind the Shiba Inu (SHIB) memecoin have revealed the name of the project’s upcoming mobile NFT game in partnership with PlaySide Studios.

The game is titled Shiba Eternity, and the SHIB team revealed that it will be available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. It is being developed as part of the project’s broader goal of building a Metaverse ecosystem and will be compatible with its Shiboshi NFTs.

The game will come in two modes, a regular free-to-play mobile game and a version that incorporates NFTs and play-to-earn features.

FC Barcelona sells NFT artwork for $700k

Spanish soccer giant FC Barcelona (Barca) has sold an NFT art piece featuring club legend Johan Cruyff for $693,000 via Sotheby’s auction house in New York on July 29.

In a Way, Immortal NFT: FC Barcelona

The audio and visual art piece “In a Way, Immortal” depicts a golden Cruyff scoring an iconic goal against Atletico Madrid in 1973, and was created by a team of 40 computer graphics and visual effects artists. The piece is backed by an original soundtrack that features a 30-piece orchestra.

As part of the sale, the NFT owner will now become a Barça Digital Ambassador and gain exclusive access to VIP events with the club.

Cruyff played for Barca between 1973 and 1978 and went back to coach the team for a widely successful spell between 1988 and 1996. He passed away in 2016, and is seen as one of the most important figures in the club’s history.

Barca also announced this week that it has partnered with fan token platform Socios to further the team’s blockchain, NFT and Web3 initiatives. As part of the agreement, Socios’ owner Chiliz will invest $100 million into Barca Studios and acquire a 24.5% stake in the team’s digital content creation and distribution hub.

Related: Tiffany & Co turning CryptoPunk NFTs into $50K custom pendants

Digital Avatar Funko Pops, of the air-bending variety

Funko and Paramount have teamed up to launch a series of Digital Funko Pop NFTs depicting characters from Nickelodeon's beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra series.

The collection will be available for purchase via Dropp.io starting on August 9 and it will include 625,000 NFTs of different rarity levels spread across standard packs of five tokens for $9.99 and premium packs of 15 tokens $29.99.

Funko X Paramount Avatar NFTs: Dropp.io

Funko are the creators of the widely successful collectibles which depict licensed content from an endless list of famous pop culture characters and people. If collectors are lucky enough to score a rare Avatar Digital Funko Pop NFT, they will be able to redeem it for a limited edition physical Funko Pop collectible figure.

Other Nifty News:

On Monday, the trading volume for CryptoPunks NFTs surged by 1,847% over 24 hours. Over 1,226.68 Ether (ETH) worth of Punk NFTs was traded during that time. The surge in interest appears to be tied to luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. launch of its own NFT collection, which has a special perk for Punk holders.

The upcoming Muse NFT album “Will of the People” will be the latest chart-eligible album format since 2015. Prior to this album concept, the last format to be accepted by international charts was album streams. NFT albums are now eligible for both United Kingdom and Australian charts.

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