Animoca Brands wrestles its way towards blockchain gaming commerciality
Animoca Brands’ double auction has generated over A$400,000 with Antanas Guoga, better known as “Tony G”, acquiring an NFT car for A$104,000.
Blockchain-powered gaming company Animoca Brands came to the market with a flurry of news last week, announcing the conclusion of two significant non-fungible token auctions and the launch of a new mobile game.
On Wednesday last week, the company said it raised US$223,000 (A$300,499) through the sale of a digital representation of a track segment of the Circuit de Monaco track, in what is otherwise known as a non-fungible token (NFT), representing fractional ownership of a digital track.
The winning bid for the Monaco Grand Prix track segment was 9,081,752 REVV tokens, equivalent to 375.56 Ethereum or approximately US$223,000.
The winning bid bought the user a 5% stake in the company’s blockchain game F1 Delta Time, thereby providing the owner with a form of digital real estate for use in-game, and potentially, sale for a higher price at a later date due to rising demand for the digital property.
According to Animoca Brands, the Circuit de Monaco track auction broke “all previous records”, including the sale of a CryptoKitties’ Dragon which generated around US$170,000 (A$229,095) at the time of sale, a five-piece collection of Batman digital art that sold for US$202,000 (A$272,220), and a Decentraland parcel that sold for around US$215,000 (A$289,737).
The recent auction “potentially makes the “Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2020 1A the most expensive NFT ever sold”, Animoca Brands said. The gaming company also declared the sale set “the highest price ever paid for a game-based NFT, branded game NFT, and, potentially, any NFT”.
Further auction
Separately, Animoca Brands completed an auction for an F1 Delta Time Bahrain Edition apex car for US$77,414 (A$104,324) last week and said the item was a “unique non-fungible token in the highest rarity and power tier for the blockchain game F1 Delta Time”.
Importantly for Animoca Brands, each race car produced for F1 Delta Time is officially licensed by the operators of Formula 1 with every car representing an NFT digital collectable that can be used in the game’s multiplayer racing modes. Moreover, all car NFTs can be staked to generate passive REVV cryptocurrency earnings over time.
Prominent politician and championship poker player Antanas Guoga pipped all other bidders to acquire the Bahrain edition NFT car for his Super Fast racing eSports team with a final bid of 2,650,000 REVV, equivalent to 138.72 Ethereum or approximately US$77,414 (A$104,324) at sale.
“I’m extremely happy with the first Apex car on our team. The Bahrain Edition 2020 is a most welcome addition to Super Fast and it will make us even more competitive,” Super Fast racing team president Luca Lamberti said.
“F1 Delta Time is a great game with a fantastic ecosystem and a wonderful community. We believe in a bright future for the NFT industry, especially for the play-to-earn model being pioneered by companies like Animoca Brands,” he added.
New WWE game launch
Amid the two NFT auctions last week, Animoca rands also launched WWE Undefeated for iOS and Android devices, in tandem with its gaming subsidiary nWay. The studio is also responsible for other multiplayer classic titles such as Power Rangers: Legacy Wars and Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid.
The newly launched WWE game continues the studio’s focus on multiplayer combat and serves as a new addition to the broader WWE content universe, featuring real-time head-to-head gameplay and online matchmaking.
The official game features several WWE celebrities and “blends real-time gameplay, over-the-top action, and customisable moves that turn every match into a battle for the ages”, Animoca Brands said.
Animoca Brands’ subsidiary nWay has set up a direct portal to play the new game and declared the skill-based mobile game allows players to compete in real-time against live opponents globally in quick-session matches.
The game offers a strategic role-playing game (RPG) element as players collect and upgrade wrestling-move cards to find an optimal configuration that’s most suitable for every character and their playstyle.
“WWE Undefeated features outrageous attacks and exaggerated character designs, all set against exotic arena locations from around the globe,” nWay said.