Web3 continues to attract entities from various industries including art, comics, education, fashion, gaming, hospitality, and sports.

Prominent names that made headlines in Web3 today include the International Luxury Hotel Association, Microsoft, Nike, Princeton University, Psycho Bunny, Sean Chen, and the United Nations. Meanwhile, blockchain-native projects such as Avalanche, DeSo, Doodles, Emperia, Injective, Mythical Games, and NFT LA, also made some notable moves as of late.

Last but not least, the Web3 gaming industry is alive and well as projects continue to build. Titles that deserve the spotlight include Ape Reunion, Descend, Shrapnel, Snake City, and The Sandbox.

Here are the stories that shape Web3.

Top Stories

• Sports apparel giant Nike’s NFT platform .Swoosh has announced a new contest called “.Swoosh Studio.” Basically, the competition is open for .Swoosh members who wish to showcase their creative storytelling abilities. Winners will receive $5,000 each and will get the chance to collaborate with Nike’s design team for a virtual project (DS).

• Marvel, DC, and Valiant comic book artist Sean Chen is currently working on an NFT comic book series with Web3-powered content studio 247 Comics. Titled ‘Genesis,” the project is Chen’s first venture since leaving Marvel Comics. The veteran penciller is best-known for his works on franchises such as Avengers, Iron Man, and X-Men, among others (DC).

• The Avalanche network has announced its upcoming participation at the Taipei Game Show. Running from February 2-3, the gaming convention will feature various projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Avalanche will set up a booth to highlight Web3 gaming projects that are launching on the network in 2023. Well-known brands set to grace the event include Nintendo, PlayStation, and XBox, among others (TW).

• Popular NFT franchise Doodles is launching “Doodles 2” on Flow blockchain, an ecosystem known for powering brands such as Mattel, NBA, NFL, and Ticketmaster. While the collection thrived on Ethereum, the multi-chain expansion also offers a host of benefits for the project. In essence, Flow will provide Doodles with interoperability across Web3 games, social platforms, and many more (PRN).

• Web3-focused social gathering NFT LA is making a return to Los Angeles as “Outer Edge LA.” The event will feature creatives, builders, and technologists from brands such as Animoca Brands, FOX’s Blockchain Creative Labs, OKX, and United Talent Agency, to name a few. Celebrities such as Baron Davis, Cordell Broadus (Champ Medici), Metta World Peace, and William Shattner, are also slated to appear at the conference (BW).

Web3 Games

• Web3 gaming studio Mythical Games has revealed plans to launch its “Mythical Marketplace 2.0,” a new digital asset marketplace for games. To develop the platform, Mythical also acquired DMarket, an “NFT and virtual in-game items metaverse.” Essentially, DMarket will employ its anti-money laundering and fraud protection standards as part of the infrastructure that it will provide for the marketplace (CD).

• Parcel has launched a revamped version of its Web3 gaming-dedicated marketplace. The platform now includes a set of features to improve the buying and selling experience for blockchain gamers and metaverse users. In celebration of the upgrade, Parcel is offering a “Buy one, get 100” promo campaign starting on January 26. Basically, buyers of NFT projects Otherdeed for Otherside or Sewer Pass on the Parcel Marketplace will receive $100 USD worth of ApeCoin (BW).

• Action and survival game Snake City has revealed a new set of snake heroes called “Purge Snake.” Users can obtain the heroes by joining a regularly held weekend tournament called “Purge Saturday.” The Avalanche-based project also has a Tuesday edition titled “Deadly Tuesday,” which requires players to control “bloodthirsty snakes” (TW).

• Israel-based mobile gaming company Playtika has launched its fully integrated Web3 experience Built on Recur. The company is the first to utilize the Recur Builder in integrating NFT project Reel Owners to its popular casino game Slotomania. Reel Owners enables participants to own and collect digital assets from Slotomania’s slot games (RC).

• Blockchain-based fundraising platform Avalaunch has released a video update on Avalanche-powered AAA shooter game Shrapnel. The YouTube post reviewed the project and compared it with some of the top shooter games in the space. Moreover, the video also covered Shrapnel’s plans for attracting traditional gamers, community growth, game lore, marketing, events, and many more (TW).

NFT News

• NFT collective Proof co-founder and CEO Kevin Rose’s personal crypto wallet was hacked on Wednesday. Apparently, the renowned internet entrepreneur lost 25 Chromie Squiggle NFTs to the attack. This prompted Rose to advise his 1.6 million Twitter followers to avoid buying “any squiggles” until they have them flagged. Chromie Squiggle is a generative art NFT collection created by Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon (aka Snowfro) (CD). 

• NFT art gallery Tonic is slated to launch its genesis collection “Chromesthesia: Ascend.” The generative art series was created by artist Jaime Derringer, who is also Tonic’s head of community. According to Tonic CEO Susannah Maybank, the Web3 project “is about getting the artists to tell their stories and getting them on video,” while allowing collectors to display the work in their own homes (AN).

• Men’s clothing company Psycho Bunny has dropped on January 25, its first-ever “Hero Bunny” NFT collection. The project consists of 50 unique versions of the company’s rabbit skulls and bones logo. “The spark behind the Hero Bunny collection stemmed from our desire to share the history of our iconic bunny logo with the brand’s fans,” Psycho Bunny VP of brand marketing Matthew Morein stated (YF).

Into the Metaverse

• Tech giant Microsoft recently announced that it is shutting down its metaverse platform AltspaceVR on the 10th of March. In 2017, Microsoft acquired the social virtual reality (VR) platform and added it to its mixed reality division alongside HoloLens. Following its upcoming closure, the team will channel their efforts to support Microsoft Mesh, a mixed reality communication platform that utilizes holograms (PCG).

• The United Nations communications and technology arm the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has formed a focus group that will help shape global technical standards for the metaverse. The standardization focuses on making virtual world services and apps interoperable and secure, while offering a smooth user experience (TG).

• London-based startup metaverse company Emperia has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. Investors that participated in the fundraise include Base10 Partners, Background Capital, Concept Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, and Stanford Capital Partners. The Web3 project specializes in building virtual shops for art and fashion brands. In November 2022, Emperia designed a metaverse-built store for American fashion brand Ralph Lauren (UKT).

Around the Blockchain

• Nonprofit organization the International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA) will host a webinar series on January 31. The session will focus on “how innovative hotels use modern Web3 technologies to attract travelers.” Glowing.io, an AI-enhanced customer engagement solution provider, is the series’ main sponsor. Speakers and moderators include veterans from Dream Hollywood, Emerson College, Glowing.io, and IHG Hotels and Resorts (PRN).

• DeSo, a decentralized social blockchain, has announced a Web3 startup competition at Princeton University. Kicking off on the 4th of February, the event will allow students of the prestigious institution to showcase their skills and ideas. Participants will get a shot at the $50,000 prize pool, as well as receive additional project funding and mentorship. Judges will include experts from blockchain-focused entities such as Dragonfly, Pantera, Sequoia, and Waitroom, among others (GNW).

• Injective, a blockchain built for finance, has announced a $150 million initiative with backing from Kraken Venture, Jump Crypto, Kraken Ventures, among KuCoin Ventures. Moreover, the project is incubated under Binance Labs with support from billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Basically, the platform is designed to aid developers in developing protocols for finance-related activities and services (TIA).

Web3 Content Creators

• Brycent: Brycent recently shared a number of pointers on how Web3 games can “immediately improve.” The content creator stated that developers should start to “sell gameplay” instead of selling tokens. He also stated that projects should support more creator-led tournaments. Most importantly, Brycent emphasized the need to “build for casual gamers, not investors.”

• Cagy: Cagy did a special YouTube livestream on a new indie massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Ape Reunion. The Web3 gamer was all praises for the project’s community and even invited the creators behind the upcoming title. Basically, the team interview revealed tons of future developments for Ape Reunion.

• Spike: Web3 content creator Spike has partnered with NFT project Squishiverse. The team-up is giving away prizes for a turn-based dungeon crawler game called Descend. The 72-hour campaign will reward lucky participants with three dungeon passes. Additionally, winners will also gain access to a Pool Tournament with a 10,000 $USDC prize pool.

• Stache: CryptoStache recently featured virtual world platform The Sandbox on his YouTube channel. The video touched on the project’s top partners. Some of the prominent names on The Sandbox partnership list include Atari, Care Bears, DeadMau5, Shelby, Square Enix, Steve Aoki, and The Smurfs, among others.