NFT News

Bazooka Tango, a studio formed by former developers of the fantasy MOBA game Vainglory, announced that it had secured $5 million in a new funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures.

RW3 Ventures, Sfermion, and 1Up Ventures also participated in the round. The fresh funding will be used by Bazooka Tango to expand its team and further develop its upcoming title, Shardbound. The game is committed to launching on the upcoming Immutable zkEVM network.

Bazooka Tango CEO Bo Daly said in a statement, “Amid an incredibly challenging year for VC funding, it speaks volumes to the quality of our games.” He added, “We are focused on expanding our team in critical disciplines essential for launching and growing the Shardbound universe.”

Shardbound is a unique combination of an NFT trading card game and a turn-based player-versus-player RPG. Players must strategically place characters onto a tiled board to win. However, the game was incomplete when Bazooka Tango took over from its indie developers at Spiritwalk Games.

The original version of Shardbound only reached “early access,” and the previous developers only raised about $150,000 from Kickstarter participants back in 2017. They left many art assets unfinished, which caused issues for Bazooka Tango when they took over.

Shardbound’s revival under Bazooka Tango was announced in March, and in September, Decrypt playtested the game in early access. They found that while the game’s core had been established, some cards still had placeholders or no art.

Shardbound has received millions of dollars in funding, ensuring that its development will be completed. Bazooka Tango has hired executives from renowned gaming companies such as Apple, Disney, and Electronic Arts, as well as developers from studios such as 2K, Sledgehammer Games, and Pocket Gems.

Major soccer club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and the avant-garde fashion brand Blvck Paris have announced an exclusive collaboration that combines sports, fashion, and digital artistry.

The companies will release a collection of physical apparel, but first, they will launch a digital fashion drop via NFTs, with an exclusive launch on the Crypto.com marketplace. The NFTs will provide early access to purchase the physical gear, along with other potential benefits for holders.

Crypto.com is offering a total of 1,000 NFTs for $50 apiece, out of which 10% are special edition NFTs that can be redeemed for a box of physical items from the collaboration. The NFTs are minted on Cronos, a chain supported by Crypto.com. The physical fashion items in the collaboration are expected to be released next week.

The companies have given a sneak peek of a few pieces from the collection that incorporate the monochromatic Blvck Paris style. These include an all-black hoodie and soccer ball, both of which feature white text. Other items, such as a t-shirt, welcome mat, and scarf, are also in the works with the same vibe.

Paris Saint-Germain has made several forays into the crypto industry in the past few years. They’ve launched a crypto fan token in partnership with Socios.com and have also given out free AI-generated posters as NFTs via Crypto.com. Their star player Kylian Mbappé is a brand ambassador for the NFT fantasy soccer game Sorare.

Disney has partnered with blockchain and metaverse firm Dapper Labs to create an NFT platform.

According to the announcement, Disney’s iconic cartoon characters from the past century will be tokenized and available for purchase on their NFT marketplace called Disney Pinnacle. The platform will also feature collectible and tradable digital pins styled in a unique way for heroes and villains from the Star Wars galaxy, as well as icons from Pixar.

Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou explained that fans around the world will be able to collect dynamic pins and trade them instantly and securely with each other, regardless of their location.

The NFT platform will be launched later this year on the Apple App Store for iOS, the Google Play Store for Android, and on the web. Currently, only a waitlist and a landing site exist on its official page. Disney Pinnacle is built on the layer-1 blockchain Flow, which was also created by Dapper Labs. Previously, Ticketmaster used the Flow blockchain to mint NFT event tickets.

Earlier this year, Disney shut down its metaverse division as a part of a larger restructuring plan aimed at reducing operating expenses by $5.5 billion and laying off 7,000 employees over two months. Roughly 50 members of the division were left without new employment contracts.

Dapper Labs, founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 2018, received a $15 million investment from Hong Kong’s Web3 creator, Animoca Brands. In July 2023, Dapper Labs announced its third round of staff layoffs for the year. The company is known for its NFT brands, such as CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.

The Chinese government has recently declared that individuals found guilty of stealing NFTs, including digital treasures, will be charged with criminal offenses.

The statement also mentioned that the theft of digital collections will be assessed along with other associated crimes committed during the heist, such as hacking into computer systems and data theft.

New laws have been introduced that state that digital collectibles like NFTs can be considered online virtual property because of their unique codes, non-tamperable features, and comprehensive transaction information.

Given that the Chinese government outlawed all crypto-related transactions and activities in late 2021, the Chinese government referring to digital collections as “network virtual property” is a significant milestone.

“The theft of digital collections violates the protection law and interests of the crime of illegally obtaining computer information system data,” the Chinese government said in its statement. “Since property is the object of property crime, digital collections can become the object of property crime. If the digital collection is stolen by intrusion into the system or other technical means, the act also damages the property law.”

According to the statement, China has not yet developed a “secondary flow market” for digital collections. However, consumers can still use trading platforms to buy, acquire, transfer, or dispose of these assets, ensuring complete ownership and control.

This year, there has been a surge in civil cases involving cryptocurrency in China. However, different courts have produced conflicting verdicts, with some confirming the legal protection of virtual assets while others claiming the opposite. In May, Chinese prosecutors revealed their intention to clamp down on “pseudo-innovations” in the country’s NFT business.

Although there are restrictions, there has been a rise in the demand for NFTs in China. The state-owned newspaper, China Daily, announced last month the development of its own NFT platform and metaverse, which will be launched next year.