STEPN GO, Casio Team for Virtual G-SHOCK Sneakers

STEPN GO, the scaled up version of Web3 lifestyle app STEPN, has partnered with Japanese electronics company Casio for a set of NFT sneakers based on the company’s G-SHOCK watches. The sneakers go up for sale via a raffle from August 26-30, with 200 sold per day. Here are all the details:

  • Number of NFT sneakers up for sale: 800
  • Price per raffle ticket: 10,000 GMT ($1,221 at the current GMT price)
  • Categories: Walker, Jogger, Runner, and Trainer
  • Marketplace: the FSL-owned gamified NFT exchange MOAAR
  • All losing tickets will be refunded

The NFT sneakers are based in the sport-driven “G-SQUAD” line of the G-SHOCK collection. For instance, one red and black Walker sneaker has a design that draws inspiration from the G-SHOCK DW-H5600-1, while a neon-colored Trainer sneaker is based on the VGA-001.

Yawn Rong, co-founder of FSL, said in a statement that the company is “always keen” to bring more traditional partnerships and IPs into STEPN GO so that they can “expose a broader audience” with its Web3 lifestyle app. Casio’s partnership with FSL is pivotal to the company’s vision of Web3 mass adoption.

FSL, a Web3 product development studio, launched the original STEPN app in 2021, with the exciting move-to-earn mechanics quickly taking the crypto world by storm. To date, it has 5.6 million registered users and 1 million player-owned sneakers. The partnership with Casio comes as STEPN GO is making a slew of moves, including the HAUS Update, the Morchi mini-game, and offline events.

Watchmakers Bullish on Web3

In September 2023, Casio launched its Virtual G-SHOCK project, with an aim to expand the audience of the G-SHOCK line of watches. Since then, it has debuted perks for holders of the NFTs in that collection and ventured further into Web3 with a 50th anniversary NFT collection. Suffice to say that CASIO is bullish on the next iteration of the internet and the promise of digital goods.

But Casio isn’t the only company or watchmaker that has taken to Web3. Over the past three years, we’ve written countless stories about watchmakers, big and small, entering the space. Some examples are:

Digital watches — or any kind of digital good for that matter — have major appeal to manufacturers as they can cheaply produce the goods and there is no limit on creativity, unlike in the physical world. With younger generations  valuing some categories of digital items more than physical items (like clothes for appearance’s sake), the next iteration of the internet could prove to be a way for companies to make some money, and connect with young fans in entirely new ways.

Rarity Sniper will keep an eye on the Casio and STEPN GO partnership and report back if needed.