A blockchain project that's building an ecosystem for the future of NFTs, gaming and the Metaverse has unveiled an exciting new partnership. Funganomics has signed a marketing partnership agreement with Polygon Studios — and plan to work together closely in the coming years. It's being described as a perfect fit. While Polygon has over 39,000 projects in its ecosystem, Funganomics boasts a wide array of exciting technologies. Work is currently taking place on a new Layer 2 solution for Funganomics that's set to deliver scalability, sustainability and reduced infrastructure costs. At the beating heart of this crypto project is Fungatopia, …

The metaverse is a futuristic iteration of the internet, featuring a digital economy and an immersive virtual environment alongside other interactive features. This relatively nascent space has gained so much traction in recent years that conservative estimates suggest that by 2024, its total valuation could top $800 billion. Meta (the parent body behind Facebook and Instagram), Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Nike and others have made Fortune-100-sized metaverse splashes. But with great valuations comes great scrutiny from increasingly tech-savvy financial regulators. Unlike traditional tech products, which often spend years putting growth over revenue, some metaverse projects push questionable monetization schemes on their …

User activity on blockchain gaming decentralized applications (DApps) surged in September, with a host of games posting significant increases in the number of active users. According to data from DappRadar, seven out of the top 10 games in terms of the number of “unique wallet addresses interacting with dapp’s smart contracts” increased over the past 30 days, with all of the top five games being in the green during that time frame. At the time of writing, the DApps registering growth in the period include Web3 gaming platform Gameta, and blockchain-based games Alien Worlds, Solitaire Blitz, Benji Bananas, and Splinterlands, …

Kieran Warwick, co-founder of the blockchain role-playing game Illuvium has lifted the curtain on a gaming concept he says has never been done before — the interoperable blockchain game (IBG). Speaking to Cointelegraph during Token2049 in Singapore, Warwick said Illuvium has three games currently being built which will be underpinned by the same economy, governed by a single token (ILV), and connected by the blockchain — making it an interoperable experience. “We're building something that has never been done before not in the mainstream and not in Web3.” IBG, a term coined by Illuvium, is a series of blockchain games …

Karate Combat, a prominent full-contact martial arts league, announced the decision to form a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to transition its governance to fans and athletes. Karate Combat’s DAO will be launched as part of a three-year sponsorship deal with Hedera’s HBAR Foundation, expected to go live in December 2022. Holders of Karate Combat’s in-house governance token, KARATE, will get to vote on various decisions, which include determining the league’s budget, resource allocation, supplier selection, marketing strategy and rule changes. In addition, the DAO will enable fans to vote on athlete-related decisions such as fighter contracts and fight match-up selections …

The main cast from the cult-classic film Napoleon Dynamite are reuniting for an animated series which will be released through blockchain technology. According to a Sept. 27 report from Hollywood news outlet Deadline, the stars from Napoleon Dynamite have all signed on to voice characters in CyKo KO, an animated rendition of Rob Feldman’s comic book bearing the same name, with a 12-minute pilot to launch on Web3 streaming service Rewarded.TV. Napoleon Dynamite is an indie-comedy from 2004 that developed a cult following across the globe despite being shot in just 22 days and having a limited budget of $400,000. …

Kevin Shao, Executive President of the Asia Blockchain Gaming Alliance (ABGA) says he’s holding out hope for three “triple-A” blockchain gaming titles that could help propel GameFi into the mainstream and rescue it from the bear market. Speaking to Cointelegraph during Asia Crypto Week, the Executive President said one obstacle preventing mainstream adoption is current GameFi titles often have a focus on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and play-to-earn (P2E) features without caring about “game performance,” and users' enjoyment. In a P2E model, gamers typically buy an NFT in order to play the game and can win gaming tokens which can then …

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu thinks that GameFi has the biggest opportunity for growth in Asia, as gamers there don’t hold the same vitriol towards nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as they do in the West. Sitting down with Cointelegraph during Asia Crypto Week, Siu argued that Asia generally has more of a welcoming culture towards gaming and advancements in tech such as NFTs, digital property and Play-to-Earn (P2E). “I think that Asia has the potential to really lead in blockchain gaming, at least in the short term. And there's a couple of reasons why I think that's the case. Not just …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the gaming world by storm. Whether it’s through limited edition collectibles, avatar enhancement or play-to-earn incentivization, digital assets have given in-game ownership a new meaning. The ways in which NFTs are available to players are becoming increasingly tangible. In the case of Blockxer, the latest blockchain game from Blokhaus Inc., every component of the game has been NFT-ized and available for modification by users. Mark Soares, the founder of Blokhaus Inc., told Cointelegraph that when every aspect of the game is an NFT, users can create completely “bespoke” game experiences. Everywhere a user turns in …

What we have today in terms of Web3 gaming is not working. Play-to-earn has not worked and neither will play-to-earn or any X-to/and-earn. On top of that, traditional gamers view nonfungible tokens (NFTs) with suspicion. They dunk on expensive apes and are skeptical of large game publishers applying the lipstick of NFTs for further monetization. Nobody knows what a successful Web3 game will look like yet. To get there, we need more developers to experiment with more models. We need infrastructure that will lower the barriers to Web3 game development and make it easy for developers to experiment. That’s why …

Some may argue that the Metaverse has been around for years, as demonstrated by early gaming platforms, yet virtual ecosystems are now being embraced by almost every industry. A recent report from consulting firm McKinsey & Company believes that the Metaverse has the potential to generate at least $5 billion in value by 2030. McKinsey also found that investments exceeding $120 billion have been put toward Metaverse platforms this year, indicating that major growth is underway. While notable, there is still the perception that most metaverse platforms are lacking when it comes to graphic quality. For example, Mark Zuckerberg was …

So, is blockchain ready to take on the Metaverse journey? In essence, the ideal metaverse must be on blockchain rails, which mandates inclusive incentives centered around creators and users while still offering immersive and seamless virtual experiences. The Metaverse is not just about the experiential elements; it is also about the economic aspects. The financial incentives must be centered around the real value creators. Those who create content, and regularly interact and transact on the platform are the ones who are creating value. While the economic model possibilities are exciting, and several hopeful glimpses of these possibilities have emerged, there …