Digital motorsports hub Motorverse is joining forces with DeLorean Motor Company to bring the DeLorean sports cars to the gaming and motorsports ecosystem.

Owned by Animoca Brands, Motorverse continues to enhance its blockchain-powered network of motorsports and digital vehicles, with the latest addition being DeLorean’s iconic DMC-12 sports car. Although not yet revealed what games will be supported, the car is set to be integrated as a limited edition NFT collection in “select Motorverse web3 gaming titles”.

Current games in its cross-chain ecosystem include Torque Drift 2, High Voltage, Revv Racing, recently launched Cosmic Royale, and more.

“We could not be more excited to have partnered with Motorverse, a cutting-edge web3 innovator that will revolutionise digital racing games and motorsports through a community-building approach. There is tremendous symmetry between Animoca Brands’ model and the paradigm-shifting initiatives we are pursuing at DeLorean.  Our partnership with Motorverse will be an important part of our new digital ecosystem,” commented DeLorean Labs president Evan Kuhn.

“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with DeLorean Motor Company. Its commitment to precision engineering and luxury aligns perfectly with our mission to offer the Motorverse community the best possible gaming and motorsport experiences powered by web3 technology,” said Motorverse GM Will Griffiths.

DeLorean’s web3 arm, DeLorean Labs, has recently also unveiled a collaboration with Mysten Labs.

As part of that deal, DeLorean will build its forthcoming marketplace and other blockchain protocols on Mysten’s L1 blockchain Sui. In an initial joint initiative, the companies have kicked off a prize draw campaign featuring a DeLorean EV, among other prizes. 

The company had previously announced hookups with the Karate Combat project and battle royale game Open.

Following a deal between Square Enix and Animoca Brands Japan earlier in 2024, the two are further strengthening their ties as Animoca Brands’ Mocaverse project has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Square Enix’s Symbiogenesis. 

More particularly, Symbiogenesis will tap into Mocaverse’s Moca Network, giving over 1.8 million Moca holders access to Symbiogenesis content.

Previously having a strong game focus, the project is now mainly labelled an art collection with additional “browser-based experiences”. Created by Japanese game publisher Square Enix, the collection contains 10,000 NFTs, which are integrated with its “browser-oriented content”.

Notably, ahead of the release of its second chapter in June 2024, Symbiogenesis minted out 1,500 NFT characters during a three-day auction on Arbitrum One.

As for Mocaverse, it will enable existing Symbiogenesis players to access its partner games and experiences, including Animoca’s more than 540 portfolio companies, in a quest to accelerate web3 onboarding.

Mocaverse project lead, Kenneth Shek, commented, “Mocaverse’s partnership with Symbiogenesis represents an exciting opportunity to simplify the path to web3 for a crypto-curious audience.”

Producer of Symbiogenesis at Square Enix, Naoyuki Tamate, said “We are thrilled to start our collaborative partnership with Mocaverse. Together, we will leverage our respective strengths to onboard users to the next iteration of the Internet.“

To support the global expansion of Japanese IP and blockchain, Animoca Brands Japan has partnered with Japanese game discovery platform and marketplace Tokyo Stupid Games. 

As for Tokyo Stupid Games, it’s working on a platform where physical assets can be tokenized on the blockchain – in this case Solana – linking real-world assets with NFTs. Spearheading Japanese brands and IPs, it aims to promote the use of web3 to help companies find new market fit and provide new user experiences within gaming, art, and more.

In its quest to support Japanese brands integrate with web3 and reach global recognition, Animoca Brands Japan will use its network – including parent company Animoca Brands’ over 540 portfolio companies – to assist Tokyo Stupid Games in terms of marketing and tokenomics. 

“We are excited to be working with Animoca Brands, a leading global player, to take on the challenges of the future with the vision of building a new economic sphere by bridging web3 and Japanese culture,” said Tokyo Stupid Games founder and CEO Rock No.6.

“Tokyo Stupid Games is working to promote Japanese brands and IPs both domestically and internationally through real-world assets in web3 games, an approach that is highly compatible with Animoca Brands Japan’s mission,” said Animoca Brands Japan COO Kensuke Amo.

“Through the activities of both companies, we will continue to promote Japanese culture to the wider world.”

Japanese mobile game developer Gumi is partnering up with Sui Foundation for its forthcoming game Brave Frontier Versus, which is expected to launch in 2025. Leveraging Gumi’s popular web2 IP Brave Frontiers, the game will take inspiration from card games and features a battle system including classic pixel art characters from the Brave Frontier series.

Development will be funded and carried out by Gumi’s subsidiary gC Games with contributions from the Sui Foundation. In addition, the game will be published by OSHI3, which is Gumi’s web3 fan activity platform that’s powered by the OSHI token. The token is currently undergoing a partial migration from Polygon to Sui.

On the heels of the Gumi and Sui announcement, Animoca Brands’ game studio Blowfish also unveiled its new web3 game Darktimes will deploy to Mysten Labs’ L1 blockchain.

Described as a multiplayer brawler royale, Darktimes is inspired by Nordic medieval dark-fantasy. Leveraging Sui, it hopes to create a seamless onboarding and user experience that allows players to focus on fun instead of tech. 

Not one of the biggest gaming blockchains in terms of number of games, Sui joined forces with web3 tech provider Stardust earlier this year, followed by the announcement of web3 native handheld gaming console SuiPlay0X1.

Furthermore, South Korean developer NDUS Interactive also announced its high-end third-person shooter Xociety is launching on Sui.

As for Sui Foundation’s SUI token, it’s up 55% in the past year and currently ranks 45 of all cryptocurrencies.

UK-based web3 game outfit Nexus Interactive has announced it’s raised $2 million in seed funding from a long list of investors including Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, Maven Capital, GameFi Ventures, Sky Vision Capital, Avocado Guild, Good Games Guild and RR2 Capital.

As for Nexus, the company was founded 3 years ago and consists of in-house game dev studio Nexus Play, publisher and accelerator Nexus Build, as well as its AI-based UGC initiative Nexus Share.

Previously known as Aradena Battlegrounds, Nexus’ flagship TCG Everdawn Champions is preparing for launch in September 2024, and is part of a wider “medieval strategy gaming universe”. Nexus says it has two other games in development – Snap Royale and Kingdoms of Conquest – while in terms of publishing, it’s also looking to release games developed by thirdparty partner studios.

Additionally, Nexus’ ecosystem token NXI is set to launch later in 2024.

“Legacy gaming institutions make it difficult for developers to bring games to market with successful launch campaigns and monetisation models. Nexus Interactive offers studios and developers the perfect solution to this. We’ve gone through this journey ourselves in the last 3 years building out our own web3 game development studio, and can offer immense value to other builders and creators looking to launch in web3,” said Nexus founder Liam Bacon.

Animoca Brands chairman and co-founder Yat Siu added, “We’re excited to support Nexus Interactive as it builds a scalable ecosystem for users, builders and creators. We believe these efforts will help to enhance network effects throughout our broader network and we look forward to the impact that the ecosystem of Nexus Interactive will have on the web3 gaming space.”

Find out more at Nexus’ website.

While much of the blockchain games industry is enduring a season of drought, there’s no lack of momentum for the TON network. Indeed, with 285 games currently listed on TON, the blockchain – originally founded by Telegram – is thriving. 

Recently, it announced it’s setting up a $40 million venture fund – TON Ventures – which will be helmed by ex-director of TON Accelerator Ian Wittkopp, and ex-gaming lead at TON Foundation Inal Kardan. Managed by a DAO, the venture has a mandate to invest in projects building on TON. 

Among the first projects announced to receive funding from TON Ventures is Animoca Brands subsidiary Gamee. The amount raised was not disclosed. As one of the original companies launching its mobile games on Telegram back in 2016, Gamee launched its meme-based WAT Protocol earlier in 2024.

Originally a simple point mining experience, it’s since built out more functionality, including the Watbird Racer, as well as the ability for holders of the GMEE token and various NFTs including Pudgy Penguins and Mocaverse to soft-stake them to also build up their Wat points, which will be converted into an allocation of the WAT token when it launches later in 2024.

Boosted by new funding, Gamee will expand its TON integration including tokens and NFTs, both part of Gamee’s mini app, in order to enhance user engagement. To-date Gamee claims over 4 million players have connected their TON wallets to the WatBird app.

Gamee co-founder Bozena Rezab commented, “We are thrilled to deepen our relationship with The Open Network (TON). We plan to enrich the gaming experience we have built for Telegram with new viral and community-focused mechanics centered around the meme character WatBird. This is another milestone in welcoming our community of 90 million Telegram gamers into the TON ecosystem.”

Find out more about Rezab’s vision of games on TON/Telegram in our recent interview.

Ahead of its first node pre-sale on 15th August, Revolving Games has announced a partnership with Animoca Brands. The latter will offer support in the shape of knowledge and resources to help Revolving Games expand its forthcoming web3 games ecosystem Rcade.

“Collaborating with Animoca Brands allows us to tap into the experience of a major web3 pioneer. Early adoption can offer a buffer in a rapidly changing industry, allowing us to learn and execute as the market matures and becomes more data driven,” commented Revolving Games co-founder and co-CEO Saad Zaeem.

In collaboration with Rcade Foundation, Revolving Games is building web3 gaming infrastructure Rcade chain, which it will leverage for its four internal games set to launch in the next 36 months. Among the first to release in early access is Revolving Games’ flagship mobile game Phoenix Flight, which is based on its inaugural Skyborne IP. The ecosystem will also be open to thirdparty partners, with Revolving Games hoping to attract double digit numbers of titles in the coming years.

In addition, the Rcade ecosystem contains a Node Network and RCADE token powering its games’ economies.

Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman Yat Siu said, “While the majority of web3 games remain largely excluded from mainstream distribution channels, the team behind Revolving Games has a proven track record in designing, developing, and launching games that have captivated mass audiences.”

Launched in 2020, first as a mobile free-to-play game company, Revolving Games raised $25 million to support the development of BattleStar Galactica in partnership with Gala Games and NBCUniversal – a game that has likely since been canned – and its flagship title social RPG Skyborne Legacy. 

Discover more about Revolving Games and the upcoming node sale via its X account and website.

LayerZero Labs and Animoca Brands have announced a partnership to simplify blockchain integration in games.

LayerZero Labs and its interoperability protocol LayerZero connects over 80 blockchains, aiming to make NFT ownership and cross-chain interactions more seamless, and allowing players to focus on gameplay as opposed to the underlying technology. 

As part of the deal, Animoca Brands’ will leverage LayerZero across its portfolio games and subsidiaries as a default choice of interoperability solution. Notably, Animoca’s own interoperable network project Mocaverse has already adopted LayerZero Labs’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard. 

The companies will also invest resources to organize joint community events such as hackathons, content creation and other initiatives, to promote more awareness of interoperability and LayerZero’s technologies. 

“We are thrilled to partner with Animoca Brands as the preferred interoperability provider of their portfolio projects. This collaboration will create seamless omnichain interactions and enhance the digital experiences for our respective communities,” commented LayerZero Labs CEO Bryan Pellegrino.

“We are extremely excited about this unique partnership. We envision an omnichain future for digital content and gaming. At a time when the games industry faces new and old challenges, it’s more important than ever to signal our dedication to and support for mission-aligned builders like Bryan and the LayerZero team, who are developing battle-tested infrastructure for the future of the internet,” added Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu.

Adding utility to its portfolio of TOWER ecosystem games, Animoca Brands has launched Telegram-based mini-game Crazy Rush Heroes.

While it’s the 7th game within the TOWER ecosystem – other titles include Crazy Defense Heroes, Snaky Cat, The Old Castle Defense, GangWars, The Chaos Kingdom, and Crazy Kings – it’s the first game deployed on TON and exclusively accessible via Telegram. 

However, in addition to being live on Polygon, BNB, and Base, the TOWER token has been live and available to stake on TON for a while. As part of making payments easier, the TOWER ecosystem also recently integrated Animoca-backed payment system Transak.

In terms of Crazy Rush Heroes, it’s a casual mini-RPG with roguelike elements, where players deal damage to nearby enemies using their upgradable avatars. Its leaderboards-based scoring system lets players accumulate points through each played game, which then increase the further players advance.

The current alpha version doesn’t appear to have any blockchain elements at present. Presumably they will follow at a later date.

More significantly than the game itself though is Animoca Brands‘ strategic decision to leverage the explosive growth of Telegram’s TON blockchain.

In a recent statement on his Telegram channel, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said that the platform now has exceeded 950 million users, of which over half are claimed to play Telegram-based mini-games. Earlier this week, Animoca announced a strategic collaboration between its MOCA Foundation and the TON Foundation. Its casual game platform Gamee also leverages TON and Telegram.

Users can access the game via Crazy Rush Heroes‘ Telegram bot or via the TOWER ecosystem Telegram channel.

Leveraging the explosive growth of Telegram’s TON blockchain, Animoca Brands has announced a strategic partnership between the MOCA Foundation and the TON Foundation.

This will see TON creating an identity and reputation-based system called the TON Society ID framework that will be integrated within Telegram’s Mini App Platform.

It will use Mocaverse’s Realm Network SDK, which launched via the Moca ID network. A similar deal was announced in June 2024 with One Football, which is creating a Football ID layer. Mocaverse is also launching its own Anime ID network alongside San FranTokyo and MyAnimeList.

All these networks will share account, identity, reputation, and points systems allowing users to “express their identity and values on-chain, thereby promoting seamless interaction and engagement within and between the respective ecosystems”. 

The collaboration will be supported and developed by a steering committee, which will oversee co-branded hackathons and an accelerator program, plus ecosystem incentives in the foundation’s respective tokens worth up to $20 million.

Finally, the strategic partnership will be incentivized via a token swap that will see TON acquiring the newly-launched MOCA token at a price of 0.113, a 32% premium on its current market price of $0.085.

Animoca Brands already has exposure to the TON ecosystem via its hypercasual gaming platform Gamee. In addition, one of Animoca’s key investors is Kingsway Capital, which is also heavily involved in the TON Foundation.

Motorsport game developer Grease Monkey Games has released the latest early access iteration of its PC drift racing simulator, Torque Drift 2.

Still in early access, the update features new game modes like Lead and Chase, the new Japanese Daikoku track, and performance parts tuning. It also introduces new vehicles such as the Toyota AE86 and the Mazda RX3. Additionally, players will be able to purchase Pro Car Bundles, which include vehicles driven by professional drifters. These packs feature fully equipped cars, parts, custom keychains, and bobbleheads.

“The new Lead and Chase challenges and the addition of the iconic Daikoku track will bring an even more realistic and authentic racing environment and give gamers new ways to drive and customize their cars. Our mission is to provide the most authentic and engaging drifting experience possible,” said Grease Monkey CEO Arran Potter.

A series of new events have also been introduced to make the game more interactive. Notably, this includes an events tab and scheduler where new events and challenges surface daily, allowing players to choose which events they want to participate in. With a set score target, track, and car to drive for each event, players can mix up their gameplay between freestyle events.

Update 10 also offers deeper customization options with the introduction of performance parts tuning. These allow players to boost their vehicles with turbos, engines, gearboxes, angle kits, and ECU modifications. New body kits will also be available, enabling players to personalize their vehicles aesthetically.

Part of Animoca Brands’ Motorverse games ecosystem, Torque Drift 2 has seen over 400,000 downloads via Epic Games Store.

Also an Animoca subsidiary, Grease Monkey Games collaborated with the US-based motorsport drifting series Formula DRIFT in 2022. Building on this partnership, the RTR Mustang Team car bundles are being integrated into Torque Drift 2‘s latest update, allowing players to drive the same cars as the RTR Mustang Team in Formula DRIFT.

French game developer Eden Games has launched its debut web3 title Cosmic Royale, as part of Animoca Brands’ Motorverse ecosystem.

An Animoca subsidiary, Eden Games is previously known for titles like Test Drive Unlimited 1/2, Gear.Club and F1 Mobile Racing. PC-based Cosmic Royale is the studio’s first native web3 game – described as a party royale kart racer – that is also part of Animoca’s broader motor gaming network Motorverse. 

Revolving around the head-to-head multiplayer event Cosmic Tournament, the game features 40-player matches of multiple rounds mixing racing with obstacle navigation, which is finally won by one contestant.

For this beta version, Mocaverse’s Moca ID holders are granted exclusive access to the game, as well as Realm Points for high-scoring players. Earned RP can be deposited to and multiplied on the Mocaverse platform, and later be converted into MOCA tokens.

Although there’s no requirement to own a Mocaverse PFP, those who do can use it as their in-game driver. 

“We’re tremendously excited to finally unveil Cosmic Royale and welcome hundreds of thousands of players to participate in the Cosmic Tournament and earn exciting rewards,” commented Eden Games’ creative director David Nadal.

“Better yet, each player can truly personalize their experience by importing their custom drivers and karts thanks to our collaboration with various PFP collections, making each racer’s story unique and memorable.”

The full launch of Cosmic Royale is scheduled for Q4 2024, and will be available on Epic Games Store.

Alongside Animoca Brands’ interoperable network project Mocaverse launching its MOCA token on 11th July, Animoca chairman Yat Siu has compiled a deep-dive into the purpose such tokens fulfil in the realm of web3.

So while Moca NFT holders weigh the pros and cons of whether to sell now or stake their MOCA for a greater future reward, Siu’s intellectual discussion on Mocaverse as a long-term investment project could be seen as an encouragement to do the latter.

He argues that digital tokens – such as MOCA – create a “novel way to own a piece of the network effect”. More specifically in the case of Mocaverse, he says it’s creating “an interoperable infrastructure stack” that will enhance networks effects, in part through its Moca ID reputation system that allows everyone to see how much value a user contributes to the overall network.

How Mocaverse’s MOCA token launch will sit in a sector that’s been beaten down by around 50% in terms of price over the past couple of months remains to be seen, however.

Still, in terms of its performance to-date, the price is up 225% from its pre-sale price of $0.04 to $0.13 at time of writing (12 pm BST).

And with a current market cap of 144 million, the token already ranks within the top 300 cryptos.

At present 14% of the token’s total supply of 8.9 billion is live, with community allocations granted in two ways that are not mutually exclusive.

The first was via ownership of the 8,888 Mocaverse NFTs that were originally minted for free in March 2023. The other is in terms of how many Realm Points Moca ID account owners have earned by completing social farming and partner missions over the past months.

Those claiming their MOCA tokens can choose not to take their entire allocation, instead choosing to ‘Claim Extra’. This means a smaller claim now, with further claims on 11th October and then more tokens vesting weekly until 10th October 2025.

In addition, MOCA holders are also able to stake their tokens and NFTs to gain points, which will unlock additional benefits such as access to future token sales and staking pool rewards from some of the 450 partner companies in Animoca’s network.

You even get a 50% points boost for the next two weeks.

As the number of mini-games listed on the TON blockchain have gone from 120 to 160 in less than a fortnight, Telegram has released a new feature making playing games on the platform even easier.

While clunky tech has long been seen as a stumbling block towards the mass adoption of web3 applications, Telegram has introduced a simple bar at the bottom of the screen which lets players switch seamlessly between multiple gaming and messenger apps. 

Notably, the company claims that over 500 million of its users now play games within the platform.

No wonder then that Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu predicts the next mass wave of web3 users will come from gaming on platforms such as Telegram. He recently said, “I believe that over the next 12 to 18 months, we’re going to see over 100 million users join web3 because of gaming that’s happening on distribution outlets like Telegram”, in an interview with The Cryptonomist.

Siu also thanked the platform for the 3 million daily active users Animoca’s web3 gaming platform Gamee has gained via its Telegram group. 

While he emphasised that web3 adoption will mainly come from gaming and other entertainment content, the distribution layer also plays a vital role. Siu explained that’s the reason Animoca has made such a significant ecosystem investment into TON, also becoming its largest validator.

But while the simplistic nature of most mini-games on TON clearly appeals to a large audience, it also has a strong tendency to attract bot activity. If deeper games such as social RPG Pixels and TCG Splinterlands – with teams that actively design rewards systems against bots – contain a playerbase of ⅔ bots – then how high is the bot rate within TON games likely to be?

For that reason, we should take the surging player numbers of simple tap-to-earn games such as Hamster Kombat and Notcoin with a large pinch of salt. That isn’t the same as denying the power of gaming on large distribution platforms, just that it’s unlikely to appeal to every kind of game, developer or player. 

Indeed, with an increase of new initiatives such as Goat Gaming unveiling plans to build on Telegram, it wouldn’t be surprising to see TON become the largest blockchain in terms of number of games in the next few months. 

Whether it’s just a bubble or more long-lasting remains to be seen. But it’s worth pointing out that so far, the value of most tokens integrated with these tap-to-earn games are highly speculative and currently have no utility. 

Even to that, Siu would argue that similar to other meme coins, their value lies within the context of their culture, though.

Check out our previous interview with Siu, covering everything from John Locke and meme coins, to how Mocaverse helped the growth of Pixels, Animoca’s investment thesis, and much more.