Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, is among the high-profile individuals investing in NFTs. Last month, the millionaire investor and Polygon announced that they will be investing $200 million to fund projects that focus on gaming properties and social media platforms built on Web 3. Ohanian, whose venture firm's portfolio includes DroneSeed, Better Brand, and Axie Infinity maker Sky Mavis, said "the most obvious opportunities right now are in gaming and social" and predicts play-to-earn crypto will be the only games people play in five years. Companies like Good Gamer Entertainment Inc. (TSXV:GOOD) (OTCQB:GGAMF), Funko (NASDAQ:FNKO), DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), Take Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO), and Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) are taking gaming into the future with NFTs and play-to-earn models that will very soon become the norm for developers looking to monetize their games.
Good Gamer Entertainment Inc. (TSXV:GOOD) (OTCQB:GGAMF), a real-money skill-gaming operator and NFT play-to-earn blockchain-based game developer, just announced the launch of the Good Gamer Tournament Management Platform (TMP). The company also announced the launch of its first two real-money skills-based game on the platform, Balloon Protect and Lava Monster in the iOS app store and Samsung Galaxy store.
Good Gamer's TMP expands the gaming ecosystem by giving iOS and Android mobile game publishers the opportunity to integrate real-money competitions to their skill-based mobile casual games and connecting gamers around the world by allowing them to responsibly compete for real-money prizes.
Designed for Unity-based games at high scalability and high availability, the TMP offers configurable head-to-head and multi-player tournaments and a dynamic leaderboard feature and caters to all categories of skill-based mobile casual games and players from all popular gaming genres as well as more niche selections.
Good Gamer Entertainment recently announced a master services and license agreement with Fork Gaming to develop and launch a Play-to-Earn NFT game project called the Chosen Ones. The Chosen Ones has gained over 55,000 twitter followers and over 51,000 discord members after the announcement of the deal on Feb 1st.
Through the agreement, Good Gamer will develop multiple blockchain applications to create the Chosen Ones non-fungible tokens (NFTs), artwork, characters and a Play-to-Earn (P2E) NFT-based blockchain game. Fork Gaming will become the exclusive publisher for the Chosen Ones franchise.
For more information on Good Gamer Entertainment (TSXV:GOOD) (OTCQB:GGAMF), please visit this link.
NFTs and Gaming Come to the Forefront
Funko (NASDAQ:FNKO), the leading pop culture lifestyle brand that sells vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, board game, housewares, NFTs, and accessories, has created digital versions of its popular products. The company has developed and issued its own NFTs through the WAX NFT Marketplace, which uses a proprietary vIRL technology. Funko's hyper-popular collectible toys are now going digital through the NFT version of the toys, which collectors can buy and keep on a blockchain with proof of ownership and authenticity. In February, the company unveiled its newest NFL vinyl figures from Funko GOLD, a line dedicated to spotlighting iconic music and sports luminaries, to kick of Super Bowl LVI 2022.
DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) has grown rapidly in the past year and during the pandemic as online sports betting has grown. On July 21, 2021, the company announced it is planning to launch DraftKings Marketplace. The Marketplace will be a digital collectibles ecosystem offering curated NFT drops and secondary market transactions for collectibles across sports, entertainment, and culture. Users will be able to use their existing DraftKings account to use the marketplace and will have access to officially licensed products from prominent athletes and celebrities through digital collectibles via the Autograph NFT platform.
Take Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) announced on January 10, 2022 that it would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Zynga Inc. for $12.7 billion. The cash and stock transaction will combine the company's businesses as Take Two is looking to become one of the most diversified mobile game publishers in the industry. The acquisition brought $6.1 billion in pro-forma net bookings for the TTM ended September 30, 2021. Take Two and Zynga will combine their franchises and intellectual property to create a larger portfolio.
A month after the acquisition news, Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) announced its Q4 and full year 2021 results, reporting $695 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, up 13% year-over-year (YoY) and FY revenue of $2.8 billion, achieving its highest-ever annual revenue. Zynga also announced record annual average mobile DAUs were 39 million, up 41% YoY, while all-time best annual average mobile MAUs were 184 million, up 107% YoY.
