Gaming NFT company Animoca Brands has announced that it's raised $88.88 million in capital on a $1 billion valuation, a good indication that this kind of blockchain tech is here to stay.
If you've been sleeping on the whole "NFT" thing, you've missed out on something that is simultaneously weird and totally sensible. An "NFT" — or "Non-Fungible Token" is essentially a unique bit of code that cannot be replicated due to some complex math stuff that's way over my head. That effectively means that an NFT can serve as a digital certificate of authenticity, making it truly unique within a particular space.
Gaming companies have already explored using NFTs in a variety of ways. Both Square Enix and Sega have announced their intent to sell digital game assets as NFTs. Even indies are getting in on the action — a Super Seducer 3 NFT was created which included a Nintendo Switch ROM of the game after Nintendo blocked its release on that platform.
Now, the Hong Kong-based company Animoca Brands which works with NFT tech in games has raised a big chunk of cash as part of a recent capital raise, setting it up nicely to expand its control of the market in this area.
Animoca Brands and Gaming NFTs Aiming for 'Aggressive Growth'
Animoca Brands already uses gaming NFTs in some pretty interesting ways. With this latest round of funding, it's going to be able to do even more with the tech.
"This strategic capital raise firmly establishes Animoca Brands as one of the leading and most valuable companies in the NFT space, not just in Asia but globally," said company Co-Founder and Chairman Yat Siu in today's announcement.
Animoca currently runs a game called The Sandbox, a world where players can create voxel animations and games on unique pieces of virtual land and then sell them in a fashion somewhat similar to Second Life. The key difference here, however, is the use of blockchain tech behind the game. (The Sandbox makes use of its own proprietary cryptocurrency to back the game.)
Although NFTs have mostly had novelty uses, there's a real opportunity to use them to enhance the security of games — or more specifically, the things you own within games. As an added bonus, tying NFTs to items could also make it much more challenging for hackers to dupe items.
So, what does this all mean? Gaming NFTs are certainly an interesting tech with a potential for both gamers and developers alike to get a profit, but we really haven't seen any earth-shattering implementations just yet. This latest round of funding will give Animoca Brands the fuel it needs to do something really interesting with NFTS. What that is, however, will remain a mystery until someone launches a game-changing product.
What do you think of gaming NFTs in general? Do you think this technology will have a measurable effect on the gaming world? Let us know in the comments below!
