NEW LAUNCHES

• Last Remains, the intriguing Stealth Zombie Extraction Battle Royale, introduced its Bridge and Search and Rescue features on January 16. The Bridge, accessible on desktop, allows users to freely transfer their NFTs from their wallet to Epic Games. Last Remains’ Search and Rescue (S&R) mini game, available on mobile, enables players to stake their characters and have them explore the zombie world in an idle fashion. Interested individuals can now visit the Last Remains website to commence the rescue mission while earning reward!

• PlayZap Games, a web3 gaming platform for casual competitive gamers, has launched its new game, MerZi, on January 19. "MerZi" is described as a unique combination of strategy and merging, drawing inspiration from the popular game Suika.

• Anichess, the free-to-play chess game with new strategic layers powered by magical spells, launched its Mini Game on January 16. The mini game is available on the website and features various elements, including Daily Puzzles, Bonus Puzzles, Missions, Gambit, Rewards, and Mocaverse NFT.

• LAMINA1, a pioneer in the Metaverse industry, recently launched its Creator Studio on its Hub. Built upon the pre-existing Items and Spaces framework, this new toolset offers creators an intuitive interface to upload, publish, and share NFT multimedia items. This enables them to distribute their work throughout the open Metaverse, facilitating collaborations with fans and fellow creators.

• Ethereum, known for its flexibility and as the second-biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap, has made a significant move to address its scalability issues with the testnet launch of the Dencun upgrade. This important development in Ethereum's ongoing evolution was rolled out on the Goerli test network, marking a crucial turning point for developers and users alike.

DEMOS, PLAYTESTS, AND NEW SEASONS

• A fantasy PVP and MMORPG, Simple World’s demo is now accessible on both Apple Store and Play Store, allowing players to experience and explore the essence of Simple World gameplay.

• Nifty Island is riding the wave of the 'play to airdrop' trend, where players are rewarded with crypto tokens for participating in the gaming experience. They just also launched their open beta last January 17 where players can expect to earn Nifty Island’s primary currency - $ISLAND tokens.

• Star Atlas, a highly anticipated space game, conducted a Stress Test on January 18. The stress test involved 1,000 players who were invited to try the game and assess the game's features and capabilities.

• Apeiron, known for its 'god-simulation' gameplay and NFT-based system, recently launched its Battle Demo. This offers players the opportunity to experience the game and possibly earn ANIMA tokens through play and an airdrop. Participants can earn airdrop points for tokens through various methods, including being active on Twitter, playing the game and reaching bosses, leaderboard points, and marketplace points.

• Guild of Guardians' Regional Test Launch is now live in Canada, offering both new and existing players a chance to try out a Web2 version of the game. This version includes in-app purchases, new web2 Guardians and more.

• Wild Forest, the free card-collecting real-time card RTS game, kicked off its third season on January 16. Named "The Power of Battle," this season aims to make obtaining the Premium Battle Pass easier and focuses on increasing the number of players online for balanced matchups.

FUNDING & PARTNERSHIPS

• 3thix, a company located in Austin, Texas, has successfully secured $8.5 million in funding. This significant financial boost propels the company closer to its goal of revolutionizing monetization in web3 gaming. The investment round was spearheaded by Hand of Midas, the family office of Xsolla's creator, Shurick Agapitov, led the investment round, as did Sonic Boom Ventures, which was helmed by Steve Kokinos, the co-founder and former CEO of Algorand.

• Binance Labs spearheaded a $15 million funding round for SkyArk Studio, strengthening their partnership. This funding round, which attracted 40 investors including well-known figures like Bryan Pellegrino and Darryl Wang, marks a major advancement for SkyArkVerse's SocialFi gaming experience. SkyArk Studio is developing SkyArk Chronicles, a blockchain game that combines play-to-own and free-to-play models, giving players the ability to own or trade in-game assets.

UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Skytopia, an adorable metaverse platform, has unveiled the utility of its upcoming Mayor Pass Mint. The Mayor Pass Mint will offer various benefits, including the opportunity to refer island owners and earn commissions, enjoying prosperity rewards from Skytopia Islands, receiving ecosystem revenue rewards, gaining governance rights in the Skytopia ecosystem, and being eligible for token airdrops, with more benefits to be announced soon.

• The legal battle between Epic Games and Apple over restrictions and permissions related to payment options and store fees reached its conclusion on January 15 in the Supreme Court. The court ruled against opening iOS to competing stores and payments in the United States.

• Ubisoft, a prominent game publisher renowned for creating franchises like Assassin's Creed, recently became a member of the Wemix council. Joining the Node Partner Council of Wemix, Ubisoft aims to actively support blockchain technology and explore its potential within the web3 gaming sector. This move signifies Ubisoft's strategic expansion into new territories and a commitment to exploring innovative opportunities within the blockchain and gaming ecosystem.

• GameStop, a prominent American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, has decided to exit the web3 space. The company cited uncertainties in the web3 gaming scene and expressed a lack of belief in the overall progress of NFTs and associated marketplaces as the reasons behind this decision.

• Yuga Labs, known for the Bored Ape Yacht Club, recently revealed the comeback of their hit game Dookey Dash. Teaming up with Faraway gaming studio, they're launching a new version called 'Unclogged' which will be free for all to play. This version eliminates the previous need for a Sewer Pass NFT on Ethereum. Yuga Labs aims to roll out this new edition of the game in the first quarter of the year.

EVENTS & TOURNAMENTS

• DragonMaster, a Metaverse game combining RTS, MOBA, and Collection elements, kicked off a tournament on January 18. The event is a collaboration between DragonMaster, TCGVerse, and Oasys, offering a $1,000 prize pool.

• Farcana, a multiplayer third-person hero shooter, has confirmed that its token, "$FAR," will be listed on the Bybit cryptocurrency exchange. The listing is scheduled for January 23, with the initial trading pair being FAR/USDT. The total supply of $FAR tokens is 5,000,000,000. Interested individuals can pre-register on the Bybit website.

• Nyan Heroes, a team-based hero shooter featuring small cats piloting giant mechs, recently launched its Early Access Play-to-Airdrop campaign on January 17. Participants in the campaign have the opportunity to earn the $NYN token by engaging in various community activities, subscribing to Nyan Heroes, owning NFTs, participating in challenges, promoting the game, and engaging with the community.

• Kicking off on January 22nd and concluding on January 29th, the first Nitro League tournament of 2024 offers players the chance to compete for NFT prizes. They can join teams associated with both new and existing partners of the game. To qualify for competition rewards, participants must own an NFT from their team's collection.

• Developers of Kingdom Karnage Clicker, a web3 mobile game in the Kingdom Karnage ecosystem, is set to introduce a new event: Million KKT Minimum. Starting January 19th, for four weeks, each prize pool will include at least 1 million KKT tokens. These tokens will be distributed among the top 50 players on the ranked prize table each week. However, the exact number of tokens each ranking will receive hasn't been detailed yet.

• Vulcan Forged, a leader in the blockchain gaming industry, is excited to host its first Web3 Gaming Olympiad. Utilizing the Elysium blockchain, this trailblazing two-week event, from January 16th to 30th, features a thrilling gaming competition with a substantial prize pool of $30,000 in $PYR and $LAVA tokens.