created by @themikesteez

Issue #5 | October 6, 2021

Gm frens…I have a confession to make.

Instead of researching crypto gaming projects this past week…

I fell so far down the non-gaming NFT rabbit hole that I’m only just now coming up for air and realizing it’s newsletter day.

I have been a naughty little NFT degen this week (shoutout to the RECESS community for feeding my addiction), so today’s newsletter will be a little light on the news and heavier on the deep dives.

To warm up those big ass brains of yours, here's a realization I had from my recent foray into NFTs.

Almost any NFT art project can be considered a gaming project simply because of the potential to develop games ON TOP of it.

(Related: Nabeel Hyatt explores the "great upside down" of game dev)

For example, one of the projects I bought was a Super Yeti:

On their roadmap is something called the Yetiverse, which is described as a “multiplayer, play-to-earn game where SuperYetis own land, breed and compete with one another to protect the Yetiverse. Set to release early 2022.”

(The devs bought 36 parcels of land inside The Sandbox to make this happen).

I didn’t actually know about this until AFTER I bought my Yeti.

Same thing happened with the Boneworld Skelly I bought:

The day after I got my Skelly, the team announced an integration with an upcoming gaming metaverse called Rumble Worlds.

I'm particularly fascinated with this bottom-up style of game creation because it makes it very possible that the next great crypto game may not even be born as a gaming-first project.

This excites me because it allows me to expand the scope of what I cover in this newsletter.

I also hope it gets you thinking differently about the NFT space as a whole and the NFT gaming space in particular.

I’m still very much a beginner and learning as much as I can, but please know I’m trying really fucking hard to make sure WAGMI 🚀

🔥This week’s lineup:

🍬MicroBites

💰VC Land & Money Talk

🕳Down the Rabbit Hole

🐦Random Tweet

– Michael

ICYMI: The Bankless team chats with a16z partner Arianna Simpson about the Crypto Gaming Revolution

👾

MicroBites: Top Stories of the Week

Solana Game Eyes the Big Leagues: Esports giant TSM FTX announced a collaboration with Solana-based NFT game Aurory, which shares some investors as Axie Infinity.

Minecraft Meets Crypto: NFT Worlds, a collection of explorable and buildable virtual worlds, opened their minting period and sold out within 45 minutes. According to their whitepaper, the devs built NFT Worlds "to be compatible with Minecraft - using Minecraft specifically as a 3rd-party building and exploration tool to develop your world and play in it with others".

The creator of SIMS partnered with blockchain gaming platform Forte Labs to develop new game called Proxi, where players create content based on their own subconscious minds and memories.

Get schooled in a new metaverse called Bloktopia, which aims to "teach people about blockchain and crypto, while also allowing users to play games and earn some tokens".

Animoca Brands announced plans to launch a space-based action RPG called Phantom Galaxies on PC and major consoles in 2022, using NFTs for mechs, ships, avatars and equipment.

Potential Gig Alert: Yield Guild Games co-founder Gabby Dizon tweeted that they're looking to hire a Global Head of Impact who can help "identify communities in need to gain access to the economic benefits of play-to-earn and implement these projects worldwide". 

👾

VC Land & Money Talk

💰💰💰Arguably the biggest story in crypto gaming this week is that SkyMavis raised a $152 million Series B round led by a16z, valuing the Axie Infinity developer at nearly $3 billion. According to the Axie team, the funds will "fuel the growth and development of Axie Infinity and Ronin, our scaling solution for digital nations."

🚀Yield Guild Games commits to purchase $1 million of Star Atlas NFT gaming assets as part of a long-term partnership between the two projects.

👾

Down the Rabbit Hole

🎧 LISTEN: The Blockchain Games Opportunity & The Rise of the Creator Economy

Friend of Crypto GameBites and host of the Metacast podcast Nico Vereecke chats with Matej Lancaric, Aaron Bush and David Amor about the rise of the creator economy and why everyone seems to be so bullish on blockchain gaming right now.

Listen to it here.

Jackson Dahl shares insights on crypto adoption by the gaming community

The former VC and current Big Brain at 100 Thieves tweets:

"I’m bummed to continue to see many gaming and esports communities reject crypto projects. They’re not all created equally, but there is rarely nuance, curiosity, or thoughtful critique. A reminder that adoption takes time."

Tap here to read the full Twitter thread.

An in-depth look at the flywheels of 3 major NFT games: Axie Infinity, Sorare and Zed Run

Justin Seeley, another Big Brain studying the crypto gaming space (who I met in RECESS), breaks down the flywheels for each of these projects, grades them, and posits ideas of how to each project can improve upon their current system.

Read it here dive here.

Axie Infinity co-founder believes gaming is the key to crypto adoption

What have I been saying since issue 1??

GAMING WILL UNLOCK MASS CRYPTO ADOPTION.

According to Axie cofounder Jeff Zirlin, "crypto is far from mainstream adoption. But gaming can get us there."

In a talk at this year's Mainnet Conference, Zirlin shared Axie's plans for continued growth.

"Axie is only maybe 6% complete," Zirlin said. "We're looking at upgrading our battle system in the next six months. We also have a DEX on the way that I think our community is super excited about."

Read more here.

Bored Apes Versus Punks...Literally

During my NFT binge, I spent countless hours on Twitter and Discord.

Along the way, I came across a project called Galaxy Fight Club, which claims to be a "Super Smash Bros. for the NFT world."

From their Twitter:

"Imagine BAYC ape battling a Cryptopunk to win eth. In other words, a cross-IP, cross-platform (PC+Mobile) PvP P2E fighting game."

There's even a gameplay trailer featuring a Bored Ape.

It looks like a lot of fun ( I just hope I can use my Yeti).

Read the whitepaper here.

👾

Random Tweet:

👾

Before we part ways today, I want to share some news.

I HAVE A BABY ON THE WAY!

Our due date is Friday, Oct 8., but we're told it can arrive any moment now...or up to a week after.

(I say "it" because we don't know the gender yet).

I'm only sharing this because there's a small chance the newsletter might experience a disruption since I'm the only one working on it.

If that's the case, I'll make sure to send an email.

See ya next week frens!

👋

– Michael, editor of Crypto GameBites

PS – Can you forward this email to someone you think would enjoy it?

PPS – If someone forwarded this to you, and you want your own, sign up here.

🏴‍☠️

Disclosure: From time-to-time I might add links in this newsletter to products I use and I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Also, I hold crypto assets (shocking right?). See my investment disclosures here.

Disclaimer to protect my a$$: All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss. Nothing contained in this magical newsletter should be construed as financial or investment advice. We’re just two brains connecting through cyberspace and shooting the shit about the wild world of blockchain gaming, where buzzwords like “crypto” and “NFTs” roam freely. Any reference to an investment's past or potential performance is not, and should not be construed as, a recommendation or as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit. Remember to do your own damn research and don’t just ape into things like I did with all those shitcoins from the Spring 2021 bull run.