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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.