Autor Cointelegraph By Brian Quarmby

FarmVille developer Zynga set to release first NFT game this year

FarmVille developer Zynga set to release first NFT game this year

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 10, 2022 |

San Francisco-based game developer Zynga, best known for the FarmVille and CSR Racing series, has announced plans to release its first blockchain and NFT-based games this year. The billion-dollar game studio first made waves in the crypto world last year after appointing 30-year gaming industry veteran Matt Wolf as Vice President of Blockchain Gaming to lead the company’s charge into the burgeoning industry.Zynga has also announced plans to increase the current blockchain gaming team from 15 employees to anywhere up to 100 by the end of this year. The company may also soon fall under the umbrella of video-game colossus Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Grand Theft Auto which publicly announced a $12.7 billion dollar acquisition move set to close in the first quarter of 2023. Speaking on the firm’s NFT based gaming plans with Axios, Wolf said that forthcoming blockchain-based games will be brand new titles, as it “doesn’t make sense” to start adding NFTs into existing games such as FarmVille straight away. He said that players can expect the new games to look something like Mafia Wars, a now-discontinued social media game where players assumed the role of gangsters and worked to build up their crime family. Zynga has been taking more aggressive steps into the sometimes-controversial blockchain-based gaming sector than many other traditional gaming companies. Hesitancy has been the common denominator from gaming studios as cryptocurrency-related features have often provoked a backlash from angry gamers. Some players who’ve had NFTs added to their gaming experience feel that companies are just looking for new ways to squeeze money out of their customers. Wolf has made it clear that the company’s game developers will always have the option to opt in or out of any NFT plans, a lesson he seems to have learned from witnessing internal protests against the technology at fellow gaming companies: EA and Ubisoft.Despite the criticisms, Wolf sees NFTs and blockchain technology as the obvious next step in Zynga’s evolution with tokenized systems creating new and more realistic forms of value, ownership and wealth creation for gamers. “By creating an integrated experience that enables players to become owners in their gaming journey, our goal is to expand Zynga’s audience reach and drive stronger engagement and retention,” he added.Speaking to the New York Times, Wolf said that he’s acutely aware of the difficulties that NFT-based games stand to come up against: “It really is all about community… we believe in giving people the opportunity to Play-to-Earn.”Related: NFTs and play-to-earn are the future of gaming industry, says EA boss

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AssangeDAO concludes raise with $53M to help Julian fight for freedom

AssangeDAO concludes raise with $53M to help Julian fight for freedom

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 9, 2022 |

The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) supporting Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s legal plight has concluded its raise, generating a whooping 17,422 Ether (ETH) worth roughly $53.7 million. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the AssangeDAO intends to use the fund to bid on a one-of-one NFT from a drop called “Censored” by digital artist Pak in collaboration with Assange. The proceeds of the sale will go towards Assange’s defense fund and additional awareness campaigns as he fights extradition to the U.S. this month. Assange has been languishing in a U.K. jail for the past three years, with U.S. prosecutors seeking to try him on espionage charges. Supporters say that Assange is a whistleblower, journalist and publisher.BREAKING: Almost US $55m ($54.2m/ 17,422 ETH) raised by over 10,000 @AssangeDAO contributors in defense of #WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange at end of funding cycleFund now available for bidding on the @muratpak’Clock’ auction:https://t.co/d0vHsPWhkA— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 8, 2022At the time of writing, Pak and Assange’s “One Thousand Thirty Four” one-of-one NFT has a current top bid of 4,242.42 Ether ($13 million) with the auction set to close later today. The NFT collection was launched on Feb. 7, which was also the deadline for Assange’s lawyers to plead their case against his extradition. The Assange DAO’s $53.7 million figure marks the largest ever raise from a DAO using the community funding hosting platform Juicebox, ousting the widely popular ConstitutionDAO which raised $49 million from the community in late 2021 to bid on a copy of the 1st edition print copy of the United States Constitution.More than 10,000 people backed the fundraiser, showing strong support for Assange and the values around transparency that he and Wikileaks stands for. Just contributed 10 ETH to @AssangeDAO.It is a disgrace for our society that exposing war crimes condemns you to rot in prison. pic.twitter.com/ZNWUTVuRFe— Martin Köppelmann (@koeppelmann) February 4, 2022

Pak spoke to Artnet earlier this week, and outlined that Assange’s cause was precisely what they were looking for as the message behind their latest drop: “I am in love with creating different mechanisms to communicate my messages. For ‘Censored,’ the drop needed a good reason to exist and Julian was just the perfect fit.”“The biggest message is censored as usual,” they added.Related: Wonderland’s treasury saga exposes the fragility of DAO projects todayThe Censored drop also includes an open edition with unlimited mints within a specific time frame, and Pak stated that the proceeds will be donated to “information freedom, digital privacy, education, health, and human and animal rights” organizations. “In other words, everything that is censored eventually returns to the people,” they said.

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GameStop stock up on rumors of Microsoft NFT game partnership

GameStop stock up on rumors of Microsoft NFT game partnership

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 9, 2022 |

The stock price of popular video game store chain GameStop (GME) surged roughly 13% in one day amid rumors circulating online regarding a partnership with Microsoft to work on NFT gaming. At the time of writing, GME sits at $115.60 as of market close on Feb. 8 and has also held around that level in after-hours trading according to data from TradingView. GME started February at around the $100 region and has been pumping this month on the back of GameStop’s partnership with NFT focused Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution Immutable X to develop its upcoming NFT marketplace. As part of the deal, GameStop is also rolling out a $100 million grant program denominated in IMX tokens for NFT content creators and tech developers.The latest rumors circulating via channels such as Reddit and Twitter suggest that GameStop may team up with Microsoft to launch NFT integrations into existing games, along with creating new NFT focused games. Microsoft partnering with GameStop for #NFT and #Metaverse ?? big companies behind the curve will scoop up the existing industry leaders that have been building the space already.— AF (@OmniFurukawa) February 8, 2022Twitter user “P_MackD” shared a photo earlier today that contained compiled screenshots of tweets from Immutable X and Microsoft execs cryptically posting the “probably nothing” meme regarding the major partnership with GameStop. Yorke Rhodes III in particular, the director of Microsoft’s blockchain department tagged Xbox, Microsoft and GameStop in his tweet, potentially hinting that the tech giant may have a role to play in the Immutable X and GameStop partnership behind the scenes. Best graphic I’ve seen about all this nothingness so passing it on. Probably nothing though…#GameStop #gme #Microsoft #must#immutableX #loopring #Apple #lrc pic.twitter.com/9vCZn33O5a— moonape.nft (@P_MackD) February 8, 2022

While it is unclear what the exact connection between the three parties is, a Feb. 6 post on the r/Superstonk Reddit community outlined a notable hypothesis of what the partnership could entail. Commenting on Microsoft’s major $69 billion acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, bamfcoco1 pointed to the firm’s turn-based player vs player collectible card game Hearthstone as something ripe for NFT integrations via Immutable X and GameStop.Related: 3 things every NFT investor should know to avoid a tax nightmareThe Redditor argued that Hearthstone’s declining user base from a peak of roughly 23.5 million to 3.5 million was partly due to the hefty costs of card collecting and lack of true ownership over the user’s assets, something which could be solved via NFT integrations: “With the ability to freely mint and trade NFTs on Immutable X’s platform, it’s a no brainer. GameStop could launch Hearthstone on their brand new Web3 platform by simply making an NFT for every card and then distributing them accordingly to users’ existing card collections. It’s about as easy as it would get.”It appears that Web3 and NFT related announcements have a strong impact on the price of GameStops shares. Cointelegraph reported in early January that the price of GME gained a whopping 26% in after hours trading after the unveiling of the firm’s new NFT division.

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A metaphor? NYC 'solid gold cube' crypto promo turns out to be hollow

A metaphor? NYC 'solid gold cube' crypto promo turns out to be hollow

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 4, 2022 |

The “solid gold cube” crypto promo that surfaced in New York this week has turned out to be hollow on the inside, with onlookers online lampooning the stunt as an appropriate critique of the extravagant promises of crypto and blockchain tech. On Feb. 2, Artnet reported that a 24-carat 410 pound gold cube worth $11.7 million had been placed in Central Park surrounded by a “heavy security detail” as part of a promo for German artist Niclas Castello’s crypto project dubbed Castello Coin (CAST). New in NYC: A cube made from $11.7 million worth of solid gold is sitting in Central Park—and has its own security detail: https://t.co/DTsqhgCcbc pic.twitter.com/5kXUDSVnS9— Artnet (@artnet) February 2, 2022According to the project’s website, CAST will be the first crypto coin in history to “achieve its level of recognition through a unique, physical artwork” in a bid to combine the worlds of traditional finance, art and crypto. It also includes an NFT project that will be launched later this month. “The Coin acts as a bridge between the traditional financial world of finance, the world of traditional forms of investment and traditional art, and the new world, the world of cryptocurrencies and the digital age,” the website reads. Despite Artnet noting in its article that the “cube measures over a foot and a half on all sides and has a wall thickness of about a quarter-inch,” the publication described it as “solid gold” on Twitter and it was widely reported as such. Related: All the world’s Bitcoin can only pay 2.43% of $30T US national debtFollowing the bombshell discovery from New York’s investigative park goers, the “solid gold cube” stunt has been clowned on by many people online, with some suggesting the hollow golden cube summarizes the common complaint that the technology promises grandiose use cases but doesn’t actually deliver anything. the gold cube is not solid but hollow by the way, and is of course the centerpiece of an accompanying crypto/NFT grift. you decide which of those thing is a metaphor for the other— Chris Mohney (@chrismohney) February 3, 2022

Other critics have taken aim at the project’s lack of taste in relation to erecting a golden object worth many millions of dollars amongst the local homeless community, with GBH reporter Tori Bedford stating that: “To bring attention to the upcoming launch of his new cryptocurrency, German artist Niclas Castello erected this cube in Central Park, where 125 people are living, per the last census. Four days ago, a man was found dead in a tent just half a mile from the site of the installation.” pic.twitter.com/EgSD98bD4v— Anarchist Federation ❤ (@AnarchistFed) February 3, 2022

Artnet stated that the golden cube was only on display for one day, and was set to be moved to a private dinner function on Wall Street in which celebrities were said to be attending.

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Rise of Web3: Metaverse tokens surge as Meta’s share price plunges

Rise of Web3: Metaverse tokens surge as Meta’s share price plunges

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 4, 2022 |

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, saw the largest single-day slide in market value for a U.S. company ever with a 26% fall in share prices on Thursday after the tech giant revealed disappointing earnings and a decline in daily active users. Meta famously changed its name from Facebook in late 2021, to signal its plans to focus on the Metaverse, and its struggles have coincided with double-digit percentage gains for its decentralized competitors The Sandbox and Decentraland.Meta reported $33.67 billion worth of total revenue for Q4 2021, compared to $28 billion the year prior. However, its net income decreased to $10.28 billion, down from $11.2 billion 12 months ago. For the first time, Meta broke out a segment in its earnings report for its virtual and augmented reality research and development business, Reality Labs. It saw losses which topped over US$10 billion, up from US$6.6 billion in 2020. However it’s only in the early stages of laying the groundwork for Metaverse technology, including developing a haptic glove, allowing users to “touch” objects in the metaverse.Speaking with Cointelegraph, Animoca Brands chairman and co-founder Yat Siu, suggested that the sharp drop of Meta’s share price may represent a broader trend in which users are beginning to question the centralized Web2 model: “It’s a system that does not share any meaningful part of the ownership or value of the network, which will eventually lead to a decline as users look for better options.”“As people are still likely to spend even more time online, the question is where and how? This is an early indicator that they are moving away from Web 2.0 and the logical conclusion on where to go for a growing number is Web 3,” he added.Siu argued that Web2 companies like Meta and Apple are also “losing their best people” to Web3 companies and projects:“Web 3 and the open Metaverse is more than just another product cycle, it’s a movement, and it’s hard to fight something like that as a single corporation.”Crypto-backed metaversesDecentraland, a Metaverse platform built on Ethereum, has seen the price of its token MANA increase by over 20% the past seven days, surging from a seven-day low of US$2.19 to recent support levels around the US$2.60 mark.Likewise, SAND tokens for The Sandbox, one of Decentraland’s main Metaverse competitors, has seen a seven-day gain of 17.5%, entering the weekend at a low of US$3.31 before surging to a high of over US$4, now seeing support levels around US$3.60.Related: Bitcoin bounces at $36.6K as Meta adds 20% losses to US tech stock routApart from Meta, other factors are affecting prices for MANA and SAND this week. Decentraland released it’s 2022 Manifesto, announcing a prototype mobile app, improvements to its play experience, greater utility of NFTs, and protocol enhancements.The Sandbox team announced a partnership with UniX Gaming, a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), and a release of more “land” in its metaverse slated for February 10th. Animoca Brands owns The Sandbox, and there were unconfirmed rumors earlier this week that Meta would be acquiring the Metaverse platform. However Siu promptly shut those rumors down on Feb. 3. There is an unconfirmed rumor that Facebook is about to acquire @TheSandboxGame. It looks like regulation is coming sooner than later to this space… https://t.co/XiAelDoBac— NFT Ethics (@NFTethics) February 2, 2022Outside of Meta, other big tech companies including Apple and Microsoft are getting into the space. Entertainment giant Disney also seems to be gearing up for a move into the Metaverse with a recent job advertisement for a Business Development Manger seeks looking for someone to “help lead Disney’s efforts in the NFT space”.It’s not immediately clear if Disney’s efforts could relate to it’s planned headset-free augmented reality Metaverse project uncovered by patent filings.

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