Game developers are building decentralized titles.
Jambb, a digital collectibles startup for comedy fans, is using it for stand-up NFTs. Some are creating sports-based NFTs, for sports including for cricket and Japanese baseball. (Dapper created Flow after demand for its first NFT project, CryptoKitties, nearly crashed the Ethereum blockchain in 2017.) Today, some 600 companies are building atop Flow. All of these experiences, meanwhile, run on Dapper’s own blockchain platform, called Flow, which is designed for consumer-friendly applications and open to developers. The WNBA Moments platform launched within NBA Top Shot in August. Over the past year, Dapper has announced collectibles platforms for the NFL, UFC, and Spain’s La Liga (home to Real Madrid and other soccer teams). That’s made Dapper Labs one of the most important ambassadors for mainstreaming blockchain-based experiences. One of the biggest triumphs of the platform is that it’s not directed at the crypto community: Many of its users aren’t familiar with tokens or blockchain, but they innately understand the value of what Top Shot offers. Within a year, NBA Top Shot had reached a million users and notched more than $800 million in total sales. The surest sign that gaming is increasingly real life is the debut of Liteboxer, which uses a game-like design to turn one of the best workouts you can ask for into a frustration-alleviating exercise.ĭapper Labs brought non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the mainstream with the launch of the basketball collectibles platform NBA Top Shot in the fall of 2020. Venerable computer storage manufacturer Western Digital supports a better play experience for the most data-intensive titles with its solid-state drives purpose built for gaming. Overwolf helps tens of thousands of developers add important gaming tools to their titles, allowing players to boost skills, track their stats, and pull clips for social sharing. Around all of this excitement are noteworthy products and services to support the gaming lifestyle. Rec Room combines gaming and creator-built items with pure social hangout rooms, because these spaces are where your friends are and where you can spend the most time with them.Īs much as games have become the pretext for other forms of interaction, they’re also becoming more artistic, with titles such as the indie hit Sable from Shedworks combining an ethereal open world with a gorgeous soundtrack. Epic Games’ Fortnite has extended into the fashion realm, while the company’s Unreal Engine advances what’s possible for creating more realistic clothing, hair, and landscapes. Roblox is the dream of the metaverse, today, and elite brands and musical artists are flocking to it to fashion interactive contests and add shopping for digital and real-world items. As gaming commands more time and attention-and as people derive more value from their digital identities-the experiences and tools supporting all this interest (and money) are growing in sophistication.ĭapper Labs has translated the fun of collecting and trading cards into a digital experience, and its Flow blockchain enables more digital games or game-like products. Non-fungible tokens were an obscure aspect of crypto culture until Dapper Labs helped them burst into the mainstream with NBA Top Shot. A concert in a video game such as Epic Games’ Fortnite or Roblox was a novelty two years ago now virtual spaces within games are a tour stop for the biggest stars such as Ariana Grande and Lil Nas X. People are flocking into game worlds for immersive entertainment and social connection, and celebrities and brands are following them. Games have historically been an underrated corner of business and the culture-but no longer.