Today’s Web3 digest will highlight various industries including art, music, sports, gaming, entertainment, technology, and finance.

Names that headlined the space include Blur NFT, Def Jam, DeGods, Do Kwon, Hermes, OpenSea, Pancake Swap, Pudgy Penguins, and the NFL. They are joined by the likes of Aptos, BitKeep, Chingari, Mythical Games, Sesame Labs, The Juice Team, and Waypoint Gaming, among others.

Last but not least, Web3 gaming projects continue to introduce new developments in the space. Titles that grabbed the spotlight today include AI Arena, Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, MetaOps, Monsterra, NFL Rivals, Nine Chronicles, Sunflower Land, and This Thing of Ours.

Top Stories

• French luxury design house Hermes has won its trademark lawsuit against artist Mason Rothschild and his MetaBirkins non-fungible token (NFT) project. Consequently, the jury awarded Hermes with $133,000 in damages. The ruling proves that Rothschild is guilty of profiting from NFTs based on the brand’s Birkin bag designs (CD).

• Profile picture (PFP) NFT collection Pudgy Penguins has announced an upcoming private event with digital art collection and community DeGods. Dubbed “Midnight in Paris,” the gathering will take place on the 24th of February in Paris, France. The team will send RSVP details to Pudgy Penguins NFT holders next week (TW).

• Newcomer NFT marketplace Blur has already surpassed top digital collectibles platform OpenSea’s total weekly market share. Launched in October 2022, Blur now holds 46% of the weekly volume, while OpenSea is at 36%. This month, the platform’s daily trade volume has reached an average of $14.3 million, overtaking the veteran marketplace’s $11.3 million (per Web3 data analytics firm Dune Analytics) (BW).

• Iconic hip hop record label Def Jam Recordings has announced a collaboration with Solana-based PFP project Catalina Whale Mixer. The result of the team-up is a virtual band called “The Whales.” Essentially, the band will pair whale avatars from the WAGMI Beach-created NFT collection with music from top musicians and producers (DC).

• Game studio Mythical Games is launching an NFT player pack on its game NFL Rivals ahead of the Super Bowl. The collection will feature 22 players from the championship game’s two participating teams: Kansas CIty Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Basically, the project will allow fans to obtain NFT cards of Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, which they can use for an upcoming esports game in late 2023 (CD).

Web3 Games

• Polygon-based simulation game Sunflower Land has announced the official release of Treasure Island. The latest offering is the “first of many island expansions” that the project will launch in the near future. In Treasure Island, participants are allowed to discover new characters, quests, lore, and other special items (TW).

• Play-to-earn (P2E) game Axie Infinity has kicked off the “Final Era” phase of Axie Origins S2. Following the recently wrapped up Mystic Era, the segment will run for two weeks. The team is also celebrating the upcoming Valentine’s Day with an added daily login bonus, as well as a special background theme. Moreover, a Public Beta Environment (PBE) is now available for all players via the Mavis Hub (AXS).

• First-person shooter game MetaOps has set up a community game night on February 10. “Get ready for a thrilling Friday night, gamers!” the team tweeted. Fans of the Solana-based 6v6 action title will get the chance to “immerse in free-for-all matches” for a shot at the $100 prize pool (TW).

• Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Nine Chronicles recently premiered a new world boss. Dubbed “Saehrimnir of the Abyss,” the menacing villain is described as an “eternally damned and tortured boar chieftain” that has returned “from the bottom of the dark pit.” Saehrimnir first made an appearance on the 4th of February and will continue to inflict damage on players until February 11 (TW).

• Simulation and strategy game Monsterra has released some updates to its in-game currency sMAG’s “Minting and Utilizing” mechanism. Additionally, the project has also introduced a new in-game shop, as well as changes to Legendary Mongens breeding features. Monsterra is a multi-chain game on Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and OKX ecosystems (TW).

NFT News

• Decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap hosted its first Initial Farm Offering (IFO) event on February 9 on the Aptos blockchain. The initiative aims to raise $400,000 for NFT marketplace BlueMove, through the sale of its governance token $MOVE. Basically, holders of PancakeSwap’s native token $CAKE are eligible to participate in the sale (BSCN).

• NFT market BitKeep is now the number two digital collectibles platform on the Polygon blockchain, next to OpenSea. In addition, BitKeep is also the best-rated mobile NFT marketplace app on Google Play. Boasting 320,000 listed NFTs and 51,000 monthly active users, the platform has amassed $31.6 million in total trading volume since launching last year (CT).

• In time for the Philippine’s National Art Month in February, the city of Makati’s local government launched its “Paint to Pixel” art exhibit at the Makati Museum. Essentially, the event will showcase works featuring augmented reality (AR) and NFTs. Filipino artists and groups. Names included in the art show are Likha, Filipinas NFT, and Crypto Art Philippines, among others (MB).

Into the Metaverse

• Metaverse infrastructure builder Mawari has secured $6.5 million in a funding round led by Blockchange Ventures and Decasonic. The company aims to speed up the delivery of 3D content for digital assets in the metaverse. With the raised capital, Mawari will be able to bolster its research and development, as well as expedite the Mawari Network’s completion. In essence the Web3 platform will focus on delivering 3D and XR content (VB).

• At the LEAP 2023 technology conference, the Saudi Arabia Digital Government Authority (DGA) has entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with virtual world platform The Sandbox. “We look forward to exploring, advising and supporting each other mutually in activation of the Metaverse,” The Sandbox co-founder and COO Sebastien Borget stated (CT).

• KPMG, a Saudi Arabia-based provider of audit, tax, and advisory services, has announced the formation of its “Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Metaverse and Digital Twins.” The initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of metaverse and digital twin technologies in the region and beyond. For the project, KPMG brought together tech giant Microsoft, telecommunications company Ericsson, and 3D/metaverse company Metakey (TW).

Around the Blockchain

• Web3 marketing platform Sesame Labs has raised $4.5 million in a seed funding round led by Wing Venture Capital and Patron. The company plans to utilize the capital to expand its engineering team, as well as bring products to market, grow the user base. The Sesame Labs team is composed of industry veterans from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp (YF).

• Chingari, a popular social video app from India, has teamed up with the Aptos blockchain. The partnership will allow the protocol to provide infrastructural support for Chingari’s Web3 product base. Moreover, the TikTok rival has chosen Aptos to help the platform increase its scalability, speed, and security (CD).

• South Korean prosecutors confirm that a team traveled to Serbia to seek the government’s aid in hunting down Terra Labs co-founder and CEO Do Kwon. In December 2022, Serbian authorities released reports of the 31-year old developer’s presence in the country. Earlier this month, Do Kwon posted his most recent tweet stating “I’ve stolen no money and never had “secret cashouts” – happy to address specific allegations” (YN).

Web3 Content Creators

• Brycent: Fighting strategy game AI Arena has announced a creator competition for the project’s Beta 2.0. Participants include Brycent, Dr JPEG, and Hustlepedia. The influencers are required to produce a video, which the viewers will vote on. Voters are eligible to receive prizes if their content creator of choice wins.

• Cagy: Content creator Cagy’s gaming organization The Juice Team is setting up a booth at Rare Evo: A Blockchain Event. The Web3-dedicated convention will run from August 24-26. Moreover, “early bird” ticket sales will start on the 12th of February, 2023.

• Hustle: Crypto Banter host Hustlepedia’s NFT gaming collective This Thing of Ours reached OpenSea’s Top 5 in gaming today. Other projects on the list include NFArcade Pass, Parallel Alpha, Pirate Nation, and Wolf Game. 

• Spike: Web3 gaming specialist Spike has announced a Waypoint Gaming Twitter space, which will air on February 9, 3PM CST. Featured guests include Luminosity Gaming marketing manager Ben Jackson, RPG title Guild of Guardians, and Mat of the Spike-led community Waypoint Gaming.