This Week in Web3:

RECENT GAME LAUNCHES, RELEASE, AND NEW SEASONS

• BinaryX has announced the launch of AI Hero version 2.2, along with patch notes that highlight major updates to the AI-driven text adventure game. This recent upgrade features the introduction of automatic hero deployment, a new 1v1 mode, upgraded PVP, and a dedicated NFT marketplace.

• Mastercard has ventured into the world of NFTs by launching an NFT Trivia game. The game is tailored for UEFA Champions League enthusiasts, challenging them with football-related trivia questions and offering rewards for correct answers.

• Big Time, the renowned sci-fi RPG, has introduced a new patch on February 4. The patch includes the addition of "The Anomaly," providing players with new adventures through Portal Bonus Rolls and introducing new abilities to explore. Furthermore, Big Time has allocated another batch of $BIGTIME tokens for in-game airdrops to reward players on the leaderboard.

• Faraway has unveiled its plans to develop a decentralized version of Roblox, beginning with its game, Dookey Dash Unclogged. This initiative aligns with its objective to establish an open ecosystem conducive to the free exchange and monetization of creative works by creators. The introduction of the Faraway Creator Suite – a toolkit designed for the creation of 3D avatars, vehicles, stickers, and mor – empowers creators. These creative outputs can be utilized within Dookey Dash Unclogged.

• Axie Infinity has introduced Collectible Coliseum, a new game mode aimed exclusively at collectible axies and featuring a prize pool of 1000 AXS. To participate in this mode, players must own an axie that falls into one of the categories: Mystic, Origin, Xmas, or Japan axie. Owners of a Mystic/Agamogenesis axie can secure 2 AXS by being among the first 200 to conquer the Cursed Coliseum. Origin axie teams can earn 1 AXS, with the first 200 Origin teams qualifying. Similarly, the initial 200 Xmas teams, equipped with at least 2+ Xmas parts or a Frosty body, will receive 1 AXS each. Additionally, the first 400 Japanese teams to triumph in the mode will be awarded 0.5 AXS each, provided these teams include 3+ Japanese parts.

• The most recent edition of Latest and Greatest has showcased the new features of Season 2 in the free-to-play turn-based 4X RPG, Eternal Paradox. NDream Studios rolled out Season 2 on January 24th, bringing in a lot of new content, powerful heroes, and legendary rewards. Included in these updates is the introduction of a new mercenary named Akari, along with Mercenary Tomes, and new ways to utilize ETIME.

AIRDROPS AND NFT SALE

• Farcana Studio, backed by Animoca Brands and developing the third-person hero shooter Farcana, has announced the $FAR token airdrop details. They plan to allocate 100 million $FAR tokens from the ecosystem fund through multiple airdrops.Mars Enigma Golden Vault (Ordinals) NFT owners verified by Alphabot will receive 45,045 $FAR tokens each, featuring a 7% unlock, a 3-month cliff period, and 12-month linear vesting. Similarly, Mars Enigma Vault (Polygon NFT) holders will get 32,175 tokens, following the same vesting schedule. Tokens will be directly transferred to the provided wallet addresses.

• Pixels, the pixelated open-ended world of farming and exploration, successfully executed its Play To Airdrop campaign. Furthermore, the eagerly anticipated $PIXELS token is scheduled to be launched on Binance Launchpool, generating considerable anticipation within the community.

• Synergy Land is concluding its early access phase and preparing for a significant milestone: its land sale and mainnet debut scheduled for February 22nd. This event signals a new chapter for the game, offering players the opportunity to purchase land within its universe. The initial sale will feature lands at special rates, accepting payments in multiple crypto tokens such as $USDT, $MATIC, $WETH, and Synergy Land's own $SNG token. While details on the exact number of plots and their pricing remain undisclosed, interested parties are advised to acquire a Synergian Badge to ensure early access.

TOURNAMENTS AND EVENTS

• Planet Mojo has held Mojo Bowl II: Year of the Dragon, a new tournament with its open qualifiers on February 9th. This event, part of the annual Mojo Bowl tradition within the Mojo Melee game, integrates blockchain technology and autochess gameplay within the Planet Mojo ecosystem. The tournament features a total prize pool of $10k USDC and adopts a 1v1 Duel Mode format.

• Guild of Guardians, a fantasy mobile RPG, is offering an exciting deal for its community. Players who sign up before the game launches globally will have the opportunity to summon x10 Guardians for free. To take advantage of this offer, interested players must have an Immutable Passport account.

• In celebration of the Lunar New Year, Nine Chronicles has announced events offering players the chance to acquire free items for a limited time and exclusive costumes for Rune upgrades. The first of these events is the Lunar New Year special gifts event, where players can collect small tokens of appreciation for their adventures, receiving up to three packages daily. This event is focused on the Odin/Heimdall planets and will span four weeks, starting at 2 pm on February 1st and ending at 11:59 pm on February 29th. The second event, the Rune Upgrade event, also extends from February 1st to 29th, rewarding players for enhancing their Runes and providing exclusive costumes upon reaching certain Rune levels.

• Aurory, a project focused on creating free-to-play web3 games, launched its game titled "Seekers of Tokane" in early access on February 12, accompanied by various rewards. The game adopts a collect-train-and-battle format reminiscent of Pokemon, but in a 3D environment. The launch event features $50,000 worth of AURY tokens, with $35,000 allocated for NFT holders and the remaining portion for non-NFT participants. The event is set to conclude on February 26.

• World of Bezogia, a game that empowers players to create games without code, akin to Roblox, conducted its inaugural mint on the Enjin Network. Following the mint, an event named the "Builder's Tournament" commenced on February 15. Participants were encouraged to showcase their creativity to the fullest like building games or structures, with the chance to emerge victorious in the tournament.

• Champions Ascension, the gladiator combat game, commenced its major event on February 16 titled "The Emperor's Legendary Crystal." Participants can access the game for free, enter the arena, and engage in battles to earn tickets. These tickets can then be submitted for a daily raffle draw that lasts for seven days. Each raffle includes a Legendary 4-prong Crystal, and the Emperor of Massina will purchase these crystals for $1,000 USDC from the winners. The total prize pool is valued at $15,000 in cash and prizes. The event is scheduled to conclude on February 23.

EARLY ACCESS, ALPHA, AND BETA TESTING

• Pirate Nation, the newly introduced pirate-themed game, launched its Early PvP preview mode on February 9. This exclusive preview is accessible solely for Founder's Pirates, allowing them to engage in turn-based gameplay, where they strategically battle against each other to seize control of their opponents' ships.

• Shrapnel, the AAA moddable extraction shooter game, has initiated its Early Access phase on the Epic Games Store. Players can now download the game from the Epic Games Store and engage in solo mode with up to 12 players in a match. The Early Access launch also includes intense competition with an STX1 prize pool of $100,000, where players strive to secure the top positions on the leaderboard.

• Serum City, the narrative-driven city builder game, has officially launched its Early Access. Interested players can now access the game on the project's website. To join, users need to have a Faraway account or an access key. The launch is accompanied by a teaser trailer that showcases humorous bosses and scenes that players will encounter.

• The Katana Inu closed beta is progressing smoothly, with a new build released this week featuring improvements such as an upgraded user interface, enhanced gameplay, and various bug fixes. To participate in the closed beta, players have several options: holding 30k KATA tokens (worth approximately $30 USD), owning an NFT from the Takeru Genesis collection (with a minimum price of 0.17 ETH), or possessing a weapon NFT available through a Box purchase ($15 USD). For those who prefer not to spend money, participating in their Discord and following their social media for beta key giveaways is another way to gain access.

• Chain Crisis, the Cyberpunk Shooter MMO on Solana, has officially launched its Pre-Alpha access on Epic Games Store. Players interested in exploring the game can join the Discord community, where the team may provide download codes for the Pre-Alpha Access. The team is conducting Discord Live sessions to give prizes and game codes.

• EXVERSE, the free-to-play cyberpunk FPS game, has commenced its alpha sign-up process. Players eager to explore the cyberpunk world and engage in FPS action can take advantage of this opportunity to be among the first to experience the game.

• RollerCoin, the virtual mining game, kicked off its 8th season on February 15. This new season introduces exciting rewards for players to claim, including nine powerful miners, each comprising four pieces, offering up to 27.5 Ph/s of mining power along with a 17% bonus, and 3000 RST, among other incentives.

• EXVERSE, the free-to-play cyberpunk FPS game, has commenced its alpha sign-up process. The announcement was made on February 15, inviting interested players to register on the game's website for a chance to gain access to its alpha version. Players eager to explore the cyberpunk world and engage in FPS action can take advantage of this opportunity to be among the first to experience the game.

COLLABS AND FUNDINGS

• The innovative blockchain network LENA, which specializes in NFT lending and earning, has warmly welcomed Earn Alliance into its ecosystem. This partnership is particularly noteworthy, as LENA enables users to utilize their NFTs as collateral for lending purposes.

• In a significant development, GoDaddy has teamed up with Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to simplify the process for customers wishing to link their domain names with their cryptocurrency wallets. ENS has devised a method for utilizing domain names as easy-to-remember addresses for cryptocurrency wallets, eliminating the need to remember the typically complex string of characters that comprise a wallet address. With GoDaddy's latest enhancement, customers can now effortlessly connect their domain names to wallets compatible with ENS, such as MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, among others, without incurring additional fees.

• Disney, a multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate, has invested $1.5 million in Epic Games Store.This investment is seen as a move to encourage the development of Metaverse-like gaming experiences within the Epic Games Store platform.

• Immutable, a renowned network for blockchain games, has revealed that Pixelmon, a decentralized IP for games, is set to join its ecosystem. Pixelmon is expected to be developed on Immutable's new chain called zkEVM, providing lower gas fees and faster transactions as it is powered by the Polygon Network.

• Ultiverse, the project dedicated to creating an expansive gaming world deeply integrated with AI, has exciting news to share. On February 14, the project announced the successful completion of its Strategic Investment round. Having reached its goal, Ultiverse has raised $4 million at a valuation of $150 million. Notable investors in this round include IDG Capital, SEQUOIA, Binance Labs, Animoca Brands, among others.

UPDATES AND LISTING

• Heroes of Mavia, a strategy game similar to Clash of Clans, has achieved a significant milestone with 1 million downloads across the Play Store and App Store. Notably, the game has secured the number 1 spot in China's free game category. This achievement comes just ahead of the launch of the game's token, $MAVIA, on February 6.

• Fight League, the Japanese IP focused on games, lore, and products, has entered into a partnership with Ronin. As part of this collaboration, Fight League will join the Ronin ecosystem as one of the network's games. Ronin has been actively expanding its presence to attract games to its platform and increase user participation. Notably, Ronin has also secured a listing on Binance, one of the most popular web3/crypto exchanges.

• Monkey League, the ape-themed sport metaverse, has undergone a rebranding and is now known as UNKJD. This rebranding initiative aims to establish UNKJD as a recognized name in the web3 industry, building on its foundation as the studio behind Monkey League. UNKJD's inaugural game under its new brand will be UNKJD Soccer, a straightforward yet engaging soccer game.

• Space Nation, the web3 space opera MMORPG developed by industry veterans, has revealed its plan to incorporate AI technology into the game. This integration is intended to create dynamic and personalized storytelling within the game, offering players a multitude of possibilities as they navigate their individual paths.

• BADMAD ROBOT, a team-based multiplayer shooter with a robot theme, has revealed its presence on Epic Games Store as of February 15. The game is now available for wishlisting on EGS, allowing interested players to receive notifications and stay informed about the early access release. Gamers can anticipate exploring the world of BADMAD ROBOT and engaging in team-based action once the early access phase is launched.BADMAD ROBOTS Coming Soon - Epic Games Store

• "Off The Grid," a next-gen cyberpunk free-to-play battle royale game, revealed on February 10 that it is now available for enlistment on Xbox. The announcement indicates that players can find the game on the Xbox Store and add it to their wishlist.

• Gods Unchained, the award-winning trading card game developed by Immutable, unveiled its roadmap for 2024 on February 14. The roadmap outlines several upcoming features and developments for players to anticipate, including a Mobile Release, New Expansions, Mythic Variants, More Game Modes, a New Progression System, Server Logic Re-write, and Chest Migration to Layer 2. The announcement has generated significant excitement within the community, with many considering it to be major news.

• Eldarune, the popular RPG, has achieved a significant milestone by listing its token, $ELDA, on MEXC, a rapidly listing exchange. Players and users can now engage in trading the token, unlocking various possibilities within Eldarune's ecosystem and beyond.