The creation of smart contracts and Web3 interfaces has led to an entirely new play-to-earn or nonfungible token (NFT) genre of video games. But during the 2021 crypto bull market and subsequent crash of 2022, many of the games in this niche went through incredible ups and downs in terms of player count and transaction volume. Despite this volatility, one Web3 gaming executive who spoke to Cointelegraph says that new innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) will make the genre better than it has ever been. Alex Connelly is the chief technology officer of Immutable, developer of the Gods Unchained digital …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in the Magic Eden marketplace showed “unsavory images.” Read about Final Fantasy developer Square Enix’s aggressive investments in blockchain gaming and how play-to-earn (P2E) will transition from the growth phase to maturation. In other news, check out metaverse developments throughout 2022. And don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring Solana NFTs’ surge in trading volume. ‘WTH did I just witness?’ Magic Eden shows porn after hosting service hacked Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden had recently assured its users that their NFTs are safe after pornographic images were spotted in its …

DNP3, a streamer and founder of several crypto projects like The charity-focused crypto CluCoin, The Goobers NFT and the metaverse platform Gridcraft Network has admitted to losing investor funds through gambling. In a tweet, the nonfungible token (NFT) project founder talked about his gambling addiction and issued a public apology. I’m sorry. Read: https://t.co/RKM1wYggnC — DNP3 (@DNPthree) January 3, 2023 The Twitch streamer said that he got "incredibly addicted" to gambling in the last year. Eventually, the Twitch streamer claimed that he lost everything. He wrote: “In addition to my own life savings, I also irresponsibly used investor funds to …

Final Fantasy creator Square Enix is set to double down on blockchain game development despite turbulence in the crypto market, according to a Jan. 1 letter from the company's president, Yosuke Matsuda. The letter, titled “A New Year’s Letter from the President,” aimed to recap the company’s major accomplishments in 2022 and explain its plans for 2023. Out of 15 paragraphs, seven were about blockchain gaming, showing that blockchain gaming is a major focus of the company’s investing strategy going forward. ⚔An introduction to SYMBIOGENESIS ①⚔ Starting from today we'll begin introducing Symbiogenesis, starting from the concept✨ Symbiogenesis is a …

Play-to-earn gaming enabled by blockchain technology has grown exponentially over the few years. Gamers have embraced the opportunity to collect cryptocurrencies or nonfungible tokens ( NFTs ) that have been produced in blockchain-based games. Through the advent of this new technology, players have been able to generate income by selling in-game NFTs or earning cryptocurrency rewards, both of which can be exchanged for fiat cash. Because of this , according to data from Absolute Reports , the estimated value of the GameFi industry will grow to $2.8 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.4% over the …

In this week’s newsletter, read about investment giant Fidelity planning to enter the nonfungible token (NFT) space and how Italy’s NFT market will grow. Check out how North Korean hackers use phishing websites to target NFT holders and listen to a conversation with Crypto Raiders in the NFT Steez podcast. And, don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring Japanese gaming firm Square Enix investing millions in an NFT game developer. Fidelity plans NFT marketplace and financial services in the metaverse On Dec. 21, investment firm Fidelity filed three trademark applications to the United States Patent Trademark Office. The trademark filings …

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. According to a translated 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 …

After a sell-out launch that pocketed roughly $4.45 million from primary sales, former United States president Donald Trump’s NFT collection is already on a crash course towards earth. Trump rolled out his odd-ball self-themed 45,000 NFT trading card collection on Dec. 16 for $99 a pop. The NFTs were all gobbled up within a couple hours of launch, and within the next two days the floor price shot up to an all-time-high of around 0.83 Ether (ETH), or $1,006 on OpenSea. Since then however, the floor price has been volatile, while some in the community have highlighted that the NFT …

Developers behind popular video games such as Far Cry and Diablo Immortal are making use of blockchain technology to build a new Web3 MMORPG. Independent gaming developer Metaverse Game Studios, which boasts a host of developers that have worked on various AAA titles, has announced a partnership with Web3 development platform ImmutableX to continue building Angelic. The upcoming title is powered by Unreal Engine 5 and is touted as a dark science fiction-themed narrative strategy RPG featuring turn-based combat. A story-driven single player campaign and a free-to-play multiplayer metaverse suggest a broad offering for gamers that are looking for a …

As blockchain gaming gains broader adoption, 3 out of 4 game developers are expecting to work on Web3 game projects in the future, according to a recent survey. Blockchain entertainment firm Coda Labs commissioned a survey, targeting game developers to have a peek at their thoughts about Web3. After conducting the survey, the researchers found that a majority of the respondents believe that Web3 gaming is on its way to their firms. 75% of the participants expect to work on Web3 projects in the future. Apart from this, more than half of the survey participants believe that Web3 will revolutionize …

The appointment of one of Activision Blizzard's highest-ranking executives to a leadership position at Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) parent Yuga Labs has been seen as a boon for its metaverse efforts and another sign of validation of the crypto industry. On Dec. 19, Yuga Labs confirmed it has appointed Daniel Alegre, the current president and chief operating officer of Activision Blizzard as its new CEO, who will take the helm of the company in the first half of 2023, succeeding the current CEO Nicole Muniz. Activision Blizzard, a gaming giant with a market cap of around $60 billion, according …

As the GameFi space continues its journey to attract gamers to a new gaming paradigm, community members shared their takes on what they think a mature GameFi project needs to succeed. From creating e-sports competitions with huge prize pools to making the game tokens more relevant for the token holders, GameFi community members shared their takes on what the space needs. One Reddit user suggested that GameFi projects need to appeal to several target audiences. This includes whales who will provide funding, earners who are mostly kids and people from developing countries and those who play for fun that will …