Weekly Roundup: What Happened in Play2Earn Games and NFTs This Week? [Jan. 14, 2022]
GameFi

Weekly Roundup: What Happened in Play2Earn Games and NFTs This Week? [Jan. 14, 2022]

9m
Created 2yr ago, last updated 2yr ago

CoinMarketCap takes a look at some of the most prominent play-to-earn and NFT events — from World of Women price surge after expansion plan, to LooksRare aiming to take top spot from OpenSea.

Weekly Roundup: What Happened in Play2Earn Games and NFTs This Week? [Jan. 14, 2022]

Table of Contents

OpenSea might have to do more to retain its position as the king of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. A new project has staged a rather bold uprising with a ‘vampire attack.’ Meanwhile, the impact of celebrities on an NFT project can never be ignored. Here’s a rundown of some of the hottest NFT news over the past week.

Join us in showcasing the cryptocurrency revolution, one newsletter at a time. Subscribe now to get daily news and market updates right to your inbox, along with our millions of other subscribers (that’s right, millions love us!) — what are you waiting for?

Rarible Launches New Order Management Tool to Block ‘Risky’ Orders on OpenSea

NFT marketplace Rarible has launched a new order management tool that will help its users identify and cancel questionable sale orders on OpenSea.

The last Tuesday announcement trails news of an exploit on leading NFT marketplace OpenSea. Apparently, an NFT can be sold for far less than it is actually worth or the actual price the owner intended.

Rarible revealed that it had received multiple complaints about irregularities with the prices of NFTs displayed on its platform that were aggregated from OpenSea. For instance, some customers complained that while some NFTs would show up as “available” on Rarible, they were not up for sale on OpenSea.

The NFT marketplace began aggregating sale orders from OpenSea early last year to boost the liquidity on its multi-chain platform. According to co-founder Alex Salnikov, customers were able to access OpenSea data through Rarible’s activity tab.
The company explained its latest fix in a Twitter thread. NFT traders can go to orders.rarible.com, where they can cancel what has been described as “risky sale orders.”

Associated Press to Launch NFT Marketplace to Support Journalism

Associated Press (AP), an American non-profit news agency, has announced its plans to launch its own NFT marketplace for photo NFTs from its award-winning photojournalists.

Set to go live by the end of January, the NFT marketplace will feature a wide array of photos, including some Pulitzer Prize-winning shots. It will also include “digitally enhanced depictions” of photographers’ work.

AP is tapping on the Polygon sidechain scaling solution to launch its marketplace and its initial NFT drops will be spread out over a series of weeks beginning from January 31. Images will focus on subjects such as climate change, space, and war. Shots from the likes of Emilio Morenatti and Oded Balilty are expected to be included in the initial drop.

Dwayne Desaulniers, AP’s director of blockchain and data licensing, said in a release:

“For 175 years, AP’s photographers have recorded the world’s biggest stories through gripping and poignant images that continue to resonate today. With Xooa’s technology, we are proud to offer these tokenized pieces to a fast-growing global audience of photography NFT collectors.”

Each NFT will contain detailed metadata about the shot, including the date, time, and location of each photo, as well as the equipment and setting used to capture the image.

Steph Curry Purchases LinksDAO NFT, Pushes Price to New Highs

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that has set its sight on creating one of the world’s greatest golf clubs has received the needed push from Golden State Warriors Stephen “Steph” Curry.
Curry purchased "Leisure Membership" and " Global Membership" LinksDAO NFTs on Monday for 0.29 ETH ($892.13) and 1.12 ETH ($3,442.89), respectively. Following his involvement with the project, the price of the Leisure Membership tier jumped to 0.72 ETH ($2,209.81).

LinksDAO is looking to finance the creation of a physical golf course and club by issuing NFTs. The NFTs will represent the right to purchase actual memberships to the club in the future. Holders will be able to participate in the proposal, approval, and execution of non-financial LinksDAO matters, such as voting on committee members, physical club selection, club rules, partnerships, and sales.

OpenSea Rival LooksRare Attempts to Topple Leading NFT Marketplace

OpenSea may be the undisputed king of the NFT marketplace. However, more competitors are beginning to nip at its market share. A new rival has come out of nowhere to challenge the supremacy of OpenSea.

Launched on Monday, LooksRare describes itself as a community-focused marketplace that will develop new features based on what its users want. The upstart NFT platform began with a “vampire attack” on OpenSea, poaching pre-existing customers of its rivals with free airdrops.

LooksRare offered free airdrop of its LOOKS tokens to OpenSea users who transacted at least 3 ETH (about $9,500) on the marketplace between June 16 and December 16. The initiative appears to be yielding impressive results.

In the first 24 hours, LooksRare saw more than $110 million worth of Ethereum NFT transactions, according to data collated by Dune Analytics. On the flip side, OpenSea’s trading volume dropped within the same period. OpenSea generated under $170 million worth of ETH trading volume on Monday, a drop from over $261 million on Sunday.
In addition to poaching users with free airdrops, LooksRare also revealed that all the fees generated from its marketplace will be paid out as rewards to LOOKS holders who stake their tokens. LooksRare charges a 2% fee on transactions, 0.5% lower than OpenSea’s figure. The company pledged to disburse 100% of the fees to LOOKS stakers in Wrapped Ethereum (WETH).
As for its airdrop, Dune Analytics reports that over 185,000 Ethereum wallets are eligible. Meanwhile, over 74 million LOOKS tokens had already been claimed.

LooksRare may have had an impressive start but the question remains whether it will be able to sustain the momentum.

The Gap Enters NFTs on Tezos, Launches Digital Collectible With Extra Physical Perks

Many fashion brands have found a new home in the NFT space. From athletic apparel brand Adidas launching a wear-to-earn model in December to Gucci’s wide campaign to design and sell digital apparel and accessories for avatars and games, NFTs have been described as the next advertising opportunity for fashion brands. The Gap appears to be the latest to jump on the train. The troubled fashion brand is rolling out its own series of NFTs, including exclusive apparel.
From January 13, the company began releasing a series of digital collectibles on the Tezos blockchain. The hoodie-themed Gap Thread collectibles were designed in collaboration with Tezos-focused production studio InterPop. It features the artwork of Brandon Sines, the creator of the “Frank Ape” character, “a sasquatch-like creature who “lives in New York City amongst the humans but without human restrictions.”

Commenting on the move, Chris Goble, Gap's chief product officer and general manager, said:

"Gap has always been at the intersection of music, art and culture, so we are excited about this growth opportunity in the digital space with artists like Brandon Sines."

The NFTs have four levels of rarity — common, rare, epic and one of a kind. The common rarity level is priced at under $9, while the rare level, which will go up for sale on January 15, has a price tag of 6 XTZ ($26). Epic level NFTs will be available on January 19 for 100 XTZ ($436), and the single-edition one-of-a-kind piece will be placed on auction from January 24.

Buyers of the epic-level NFT will receive an exclusive physical Gap x Frank Ape hoodie. Meanwhile common and rare holders will be able to unlock the ability to purchase an Epic rarity NFT through a gamified model.

From the look of things, The Gap has other plans to continue with its NFT push. The company wrote in a press release that it “plans to learn more about how their customers want to engage in a digitally-led world.”

Canadian Actor ‘Aleks Paunovic’ Set to Star in an NFT Sci-Fi Series ‘GenZeroes’

NFTs are going beyond profile picture jpegs and virtual apparel. A live-action NFT show is adding a new twist to the frenzy.

GenZeroes is a new sci-fi NFT series that is set to air in early March. The show will consist of ten episodes in addition to motion graphic comic books. Hawkeye and Van Helsing actor, Aleks Paunovic, is scheduled to feature in the series. According to Paunovic, who also doubles as the executive director, “there is nothing more thrilling than being an artist on an artist-driven platform. This initiative is dedicated to sci-fi fans and provides them with several opportunities to become involved. It is a new era in entertainment, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”

Deadline reports that the theme of the show is set 200 years after aliens invaded and decimated the Earth. Ten groups are left to battle to control the future of humanity.

The show will be directed by Kimani Ray Smith. Matt Venables and Jeremy Smith, who wrote Van Helsing, have also been brought on board as showrunners. Meanwhile, House of Kibaa is producing the film, with additional casting currently taking place.

NFT holders will have exclusive access to the live-action series, toys and comic books of the “GenZeroes Universe.”

World of Women NFT Collection Moons Following Expansion Plans

It’s a no-brainer that the NFT space is currently male-dominated. As such, collections like the “World of Women” are bound to stand out. Following its plans to expand into TV, film, as well as grant full IP rights to its holders, the trading volume and price of the Ethereum NFTs have spiked.

On Wednesday, the NFT project announced that it had signed veteran music executive Guy Oseary to represent it across other media formats, such as film, television, music, consumer products and video games.

For some context, Oseary also represented the now-popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT in similar endeavors. He has also managed the likes of Madonna and U2.

The music executive will work with Aaron Berndtson and Eben Smith of DCA to bring World of Women into other formats.

Apart from welcoming a new face to push its so-called Hollywood efforts, World of Women has amended its commercialization rights. Holders of its 10,000 NFTs now have the freedom to do what they want with their images. Before now, the project held a “master” right to commercialize its collection. Comparatively, the World of Women IP rights is now similar to that of the Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Following the announcement, the trading volume of World of Women NFTs surged by more than 1,100% within 24 hours to over $21 million. On Wednesday, the NFT collection recorded $17.7 million worth of trading volume, besting its $5.9 million high in August 2021.

The price of the NFTs in the collection also skyrocketed in the rally. The floor price for the project jumped by 89% to over 7.5 ETH ($24,700) within 24 hours. The project is up by 305% from 30 days ago.

Looking at the caliber of celebrities on the project, the latest rally does not come as a surprise. Actress Eva Longoria and “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes have all purchased a World of Women NFT. Since its launch in July 2021, the collection has traded more than $128 million in the secondary market.

This article contains links to third-party websites or other content for information purposes only (“Third-Party Sites”). The Third-Party Sites are not under the control of CoinMarketCap, and CoinMarketCap is not responsible for the content of any Third-Party Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Third-Party Site, or any changes or updates to a Third-Party Site. CoinMarketCap is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by CoinMarketCap of the site or any association with its operators. This article is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any material decisions related to any of the products or services described. This article is not intended as, and shall not be construed as, financial advice. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s [company’s] own and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinMarketCap.
12 people liked this article