Grease Monkey Games, an Australian gaming studio and subsidiary of Animoca Brands, announced a partnership with Konig to launch a set of “wheel” non-fungible tokens. The NFTs will be interoperable across three of the studio’s titles — Torque Drift 2, Torque Drift, and Torque Burnout — with users able to transfer them between the different racing games.
According to an Animoca Brands press release, this is the first time a company has launched “wheel” NFTs. A description of Torque Drift 2 describes it as a “play-your-way” experience, which players can define for themselves. There are a host of customization options, presumably for the vehicles, and gamers will take part in “drift culture” while navigating the game.
Wendy Loo, the marketing director for Grease Monkey Games, told Rarity Sniper that the company wants to provide a virtual drifting experience that closely mirrors real-life, and that its partnership with Konig is just the beginning.
“Along with other iconic brands in the motorsport scene, such as Nissan, NRG Innovations, and Liberty Walk, we will continue to partner with more brands to diversify the Torque Drift 2 experience.”
For the launch of its wheel NFTs, Grease Monkey Games will use the Polygon blockchain. Polygon, an L2 scaling solution for Ethereum, is known for hosting some of the top Web3 game non-fungible tokens. Its fast processing speed and low transaction cost make it well-suited for a large number of transactions. Loo added that Polygon’s commitment to becoming carbon-negative was another reason Grease Monkey Games went with Polygon.
While the gaming community has rebelled against the placement of NFTs in titles, many gaming studios are still entranced with the possibility of the new tech. NFTs, digital assets stored on the blockchain, can confer ownership of in-game items to users, giving those users the opportunity to sell the items when they are done playing.
Animoca Brands Makes News in 2022
Animoca Brands is one of the top Web3 companies, having invested in some of the top organizations operating in the crypto industry. Some of its subsidiaries include The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, and Pixowl. Given its stature, it tends to make news, and we saw that in 2022. Here are three of our top stories involving Animoca Brands last year.
First, four months ago, the company announced a $2 billion fund for metaverse businesses. According to Yat Sui, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, the fund will focus on digital property rights and geographical boundaries won’t affect it. The company is known for investing in “open metaverses” and advancing interoperable tech.
Next, five months ago, Animoca Brands’ subsidiary TinyTap sold out its publisher NFTs. The NFTs conferred ownership rights to different popular courses that TinyTap teachers designed. All told, the NFTs sold for a total of 139 ETH or $228,000 at the time, with one teacher earning $37,600 for the sale of her TinyTap publisher NFT.
Lastly, also five months ago, Yat Sui commented on the importance of GameFi when speaking at a conference. The chairman of Animoca Brands said that GameFi will introduce people to the concept of digital ownership, which is critical for an open metaverse. Sui added that while today most gaming revenue goes into the pockets of big tech companies, Animoca Brands is looking to change that.
Grease Monkey Games’ interoperable NFTs is big news, and it shows that some gaming companies are pushing forward with the new tech despite the gamer backlash. Here at Rarity Sniper, we’ll pay close attention for further developments in the story.