Yuga Labs, creators of popular Bored Ape NFTs, is set to venture into the world of blockchain gaming with the rollout of Project Dragon, an exciting 3D action game that is their first-ever in the metaverse world, on July 27, 2024. The project, which spots some play-to-earn capabilities, was announced via their Othersidemeta profile on X (formerly Twitter). It is targeted at gamers who are affectionate for large-scale battles involving multiple players and team members.
There is much excitement and anticipation for the success of the scheduled crypto-powered gaming project due to the outfit’s global success in its line of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and how it helps progress the adoption of the blockchain in various entertainment subsectors. The positivity surrounding this barrier-breaking trend is expected to ripple across all of online gaming as it explores how fan tokens, music collectibles, and tokenized physical artworks can be more exciting rewards in other subsectors, crypto gambling one of them.
While the concept of using NFT as a reward is not new in online casino gameplay, it’s not commonplace in all crypto casinos. A good place to start to know what’s possible will be a crypto casinos guide, as it not only offers information on what cryptocurrencies you can gamble with and informs you how much anonymity and bonus types are available to you, but it also explicitly explains what type of rewards are available to you, NFTs or not, in your local or offshore casino choosing.
A little background on Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs, a Florida-based digital asset and blockchain tech company, gained global prominence in 2021 with the rollout of Bored Apes NFTs. The JPEGS ape project took the world by storm, attracting millions of enthusiasts to the exciting world of cryptocurrency at the time.
At the height of its relevance in September 2021, Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible tokens broke the record for the most expensive NFT ever auctioned, selling for $3.4 million. BAYC quickly became the measuring indices for the wealthy who-is-who among entertainment celebrities like artists and athletes, as no one wanted to be left behind.
Since that success, the company hasn’t rested in its oars. It continues to blaze the trail by expanding its immersive metaverse world by introducing innovative products such as Bored Ape Kennel Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and Twelvefold. Similarly, it has acquired other notable NFT collections such as Cryptopunks, Kodamara, Voyagers, and Meebits.
In fact, in February of this year, Yuga Labs acquired Proof, creators of the popular Moonbirds NFT collection. The move is one of their recent bold steps in expanding digital arts and collectibles use cases globally.
There’s no doubt that Yuga Labs is a juggernaut in the blockchain ecosystem. They are powerful and influential, with their hands in all pieces of the blockchain pie, from cryptocurrencies to NFTs. Little wonder they amassed more than $4 billion in valuation within the short time they set up shop.
It is important not to confuse Bored Ape NFT with ApeCoin. ApeCoin is a cryptocurrency product created by ApeCoin DAO, a separate entity from Yuga Labs. However, there’s some sort of partnership between the duo that allows the token to be used within their ecosystem.
The humans behind Yuga Labs cloak
Yuga Labs was founded by four individuals:
- Greg Solano (aka Gargamel)
- Wylie Aronow (aka Gordon Goner)
- Zesha Ali (aka No Sass)
- Kerem Atalay (aka Emperor Tomato Ketchup)
After the company’s incorporation, their identities were kept secret for the longest time, and they only went by nicknames. In February 2023, Buzzfeed dug out the incorporation details of the company and revealed Wylie and Greg as the statutory promoters of the company—against their will. Since then, they’ve both been forced to claim their online profiles and enter the public limelight.
Everything about Project Dragon
Project Dragon is a Call of Duty-style NFT game in which players try to achieve set goals and fight to retain their spoils within the ensuing chaos. The action gameplay will be power-packed with fire and brimstone from guns, explosives, and other weapons of mass destruction.
The widely anticipated project is hosted on the ODK, a platform that helps designers and developers create and monetize 3D games infused with storytelling and social experiences.
According to Yuga Labs CEO Garga, the main objective of the domination-style and chaotic game is to reward enthusiasts for their contributions to building the Otherside metaverse gaming world and empower them with the needed tools to create cool stuff together on Web 3.
With the Project Dragon gameplay, the company is aiming even higher. It focuses on attracting a much larger audience of owners of NFTs from collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), and many more who are interested in joining the adventure.
Otherside
Yuga Lab’s Otherside is an immersive virtual world that combines the attractive features of classic MMORPGs with the uniqueness of Web3 possibilities. They kicked off public awareness of the metaverse in August 2022 with the “First Trip” NFT experience, which generated a buzz with the 4,500 enthusiasts invited to explore the ground-breaking 3D world. It got even bigger in March 2023 with the “Second Trip,” which had 7000+ attendees.
First Trip
Announced on July 16th, the first trip was exclusively available to holders of Otherdeed NFTs. Players could link PFP photos to their avatars and communicate with audio devices to custom-build each person’s gaming experience.
Participants just needed to join the trip or watch the live stream to qualify. Upon wallet verification and being dropped into the portal, Curtis—the giant Bored Ape guide—introduced gameplay controls for the portal. Players arrived in a swampy area and navigated using jump pods. The first mission was set: locating and rescuing Kodas.
Upon freeing a Koda and returning to the Sphere, they were put in charge of an “Obelisk” that maintained power through user activity and gathered energy through charging stations. The mission was to defeat the corrupted giant Koda, and once that was accomplished, the game ended.
Second Trip
On the second trip to the Otherside, 7,200 participants fought for airdropped “winged helmets” in wallets. Yuga Labs divided participants into four groups, each led by popular NFT influencers.
To participate, players assembled at Infinity Space and then teleported to green world environments through a giant slide. Each player had to gather as many “magic blobs” as possible and offer them to giant toads, who blasted the way for the players to advance to the next stage, where they had to avoid being blasted off from a giant blue pyramid skillfully.
Jimmy Wong’s Glacial team won the overall challenge with 2.1 million points. Still, even for the multitude that didn’t win, it proved to be a thrilling and engaging experience.
Other Yuga Labs-related news to be abreast of
As a crypto unicorn and innovative company, Yoga Labs is frequently featured in the news. Here are some of the most recent releases and upcoming trends you should keep up with.
ApeFest 2024
From October 18-20 of this year, Lisbon, Portugal, will host ApeFest, an annual festival for Bored Ape and Mutant Ape holders organized by Yuga Labs. The event is the fourth of its kind, and its attendees could enjoy two nights and three days of partying, sightseeing, networking with special guests, and demos from select online gaming projects.
Like previous editions of the events, the particular schedule is shrouded in mystery to get intending attendees looking forward to the excitement that awaits them in about three months. However, judging by previous ones, attendees can look forward to special reveals, photo ops, Web3 celebrity appearances, and much more.
Holders of BAYC and MAYC, along with +1 tickets, can attend the festival for free. However, pre-orders for the 2024 bundle of a tee, socks, and disposable camera that will be collected on-site are live.
Super Punk World NFT collection release
In May, Yuga Labs announced the release of the Super Punk World collection with Nina Chanel Abney, Cryptopunks’ first Punk in Residence. The collection comprises 500 digital avatars that combine the outstanding features of Cryptopunk with Abney’s Super Cool World. It offers a fresh approach to Abneys’ art and is the first attempt to allow collectors to immerse themselves in digital creations.
The collection challenges irregular societal norms around identity, confronting head-on the traditional economic discrepancies that exist in digital avatars. The creation of hybrid figures of this sort re-evaluates the value and significance assigned to digital personas in the metaverse.
Dookey Dash Unclogged’s Final Touches
On May 14, 2024, Yuga Labs announced it was putting the finishing touches to Dookey Dash, another of its upcoming innovative NFT games. The game will be made more casual-friendly with the addition of an arcade mode, new maps, periodical quests, and much more.
Dookey Dash is a skill-based endless-runner game set in a sewer, similar to the popular Temple Run and Subway Surfers games. An ape-shaped player runs through the sewer in a vehicle, gaining as many points as possible while evading obstacles. Hitting an obstacle ends the game.
