Yesterday, the CEO of Pudgy Penguins Luca Netz posted a video of a new Pudgy Arcade with the caption: “Pudgy Penguin arcade machines are now taking over the country!”
In line with the NFT collection’s commitment to produce physical products that can be enjoyed in real life, Polar Challenge arcade can now be played at Castle Park in Sherman Oaks, California — with many more arcades expected soon at various locations around the U.S.
Polar Challenge is a classic arcade style game where penguins battle seals, orcas, seagulls, and other predators to climb the leaderboard. The game is played on a 55-inch HD screen with a cabin that’s enhanced with RGB LED T-molding.
Netz acquired the Pudgy Penguins collection in April 2022 for 50 ETH, or around $2.5 million at the time. Since then, he has been working to transform Pudgy Penguins from a PFP NFT collection into a complete “IP and brand development company.” One strategy has been to launch a line of physical products, including plushies, pins, figurines, mugs, t-shirts, and custom sweatshirts.
The strategy has worked, and despite the NFT bear market, Pudgy Penguins has managed to keep evolving its ecosystem, as well as its digital and physical assets. The collection of 8,888 NFTs currently ranks 7th in overall sales volume on OpenSea, and has a floor price of 10.85 ETH (around $28,200) at this time of writing.
Although Penguin arcades popping up around the U.S. might not lead directly to a price increase for the collection, it will equate to more eyeballs on the brand and the potential to onboard people into the Pudgy Penguins’ Web3 community. And ultimately, this appears to be Netz’ goal.
The Evolution of Pudgy Penguins
About a year ago, Pudgy Penguins escaped Web3 to release real-life Pudgy Penguin toys at retail specialty stores around the world. Each toy came with a QR code linking users to Pudgy World where they could mint a soulbound NFT and become a part of the Pudgy World metaverse.
Since then, Pudgy Penguins has launched several initiatives to expand its brand and onboard people into Web3 via more traditional products and partnerships. Here are a few stories:
- In August 2023, Pudgy Penguins unveiled an IRL clothing line called ‘Igloo.’ The first line of clothes were designed in Miami and manufactured in Los Angeles.
- In September 2023, Pudgy Penguins debuted real-life Pudgy Toys at 2,000 Walmarts across the United States. The partnership with the biggest retailer in the U.S. sent the price of Pudgy Penguins NFTs soaring more than 320% in one day.
- In March 2024, a leading blockchain firm called Nansen revealed that Pudgy toys had led to the creation of nearly 60,000 new wallets. The biggest jump happened around Christmas when over 10,000 new wallets were created in 11 days.
- In May 2024, Pudgy Penguins announced it had sold over one million NFT toys. At the same time, Netz revealed that the Pudgy Toys would be available at Target, a U.S. retail giant.
Luca Netz is only twenty-five years old, but over the past few years he’s demonstrated that he has what it takes to introduce Pudgy Penguins to the world. The latest release of arcades at strategic locations around the U.S. is more evidence of this fact.