PLUS: OpenSea Introduced NFT Swaps

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Here are key highlights of this week:

• OpenSea released new Deals feature

• Pudgy Penguins continues to shine amidst NFT meltdown

• Web3 games are overpromising and under delivering

Let’s get started!

OpenSea Released New Deals Feature 👀

Remember last week when OpenSea made this announcement and everyone thought it was going to be an airdrop…Turns out it was for a new feature called Deals.

Deals feature allows users to do peer-to-peer NFT swaps that gives them more flexibility while increasing capital efficiency. More importantly, by avoiding clicking on external links and accessing deals only through OpenSea's secure interface, users can mitigate the risk of falling victim to scams.

To ensure a secure trading environment, OpenSea encourages users to exercise caution and double-check the items they receive. While the platform aims to show only verified collections, there might be instances of "mutable" verified collections or items with "user-submitted" art slipping through.

Experienced traders are likely to find the Deals feature reminiscent of accepting a WETH offer, meaning it should require minimal additional concern for them. OpenSea remains committed to refining and optimizing the feature based on user feedback to create a seamless and secure trading experience.

Overall, Deals is a valuable addition to OpenSea, empowering users with more trading options and flexibility. As the community embraces this new feature, OpenSea is vigilant in monitoring any potential misuse and is dedicated to addressing emerging issues promptly to maintain the platform's integrity and security.

Pudgy Penguins Continues to Shine Amidst NFT Meltdown 🐧

The NFT market recently went through one of the worst liquidation events possible, resulting in drastic price drawdowns for major NFT collections. What were once called blue-chip assets are not below their mint price.

Amidst this meltdown, there is one project capturing the most mindshare and driving actual adoption — Pudgy Penguins. So what is it they’re doing? Well the answer is really simple. They are creating experiences people care about.

Focus is not on floor prices or NFT tech. It is simply to create the best experience possible around their IP. The latest of this we saw on display during the San Diego Comic Con. People line up to check out different Pudgy toys and play games to win exciting rewards. These are people who don’t care or even know about wallets and look forward to any airdrops. They simply like the toys and their kids love them a lot.

The Pudgy team is also making it incredibly convenient to buy the toys by placing them in near-by stores. We will see more of such expansions that will grow the brand through word of mouth. Overall, Pudgy Penguins is setting a new standard when it comes to onboarding users and building sustainable business models.

Web3 Games Are Overpromising and Under Delivering 📉

Web3 games have been the subject of significant hype, promising innovative experiences and financial opportunities through NFTs and play-to-earn mechanics.

However, recent examples like Neopets and Momoguro illustrate a trend of overpromising and under delivering, leaving their communities disillusioned and disappointed.Neopets, despite raising $4 million in crypto funding and initially showing enthusiasm for NFTs and play-to-earn gaming, faced backlash and criticism from its community and media outlets.

The highly anticipated Neopets Metaverse, a web3 game with over 9,000 Solana NFT sales and support from prominent investors, was unexpectedly canceled. This decision puzzled the community, as the CEO previously emphasized the potential of NFTs in the franchise.

Similarly, Momoguro marketed itself as a revolutionary web3 game backed by Emmy-winning Baobab Studios and Disney. However, the community found inconsistencies and a lack of updates, leading to accusations of scamming. The community discovered vague answers from the founders and limited communication about the game's progress and roadmap.

These examples highlight a critical issue in the web3 gaming space – a tendency to exaggerate and overhype projects without delivering on their promises. The community's disappointment stems from the gap between what was advertised and the actual product or experience provided.

As web3 gaming continues to evolve, building trust with the community by delivering on promises and being transparent about development progress will be essential to ensure a successful and sustainable future for these projects.

Game Updates

• The global gaming giant Play Way with 20M active gamers partnered with GameSwift and Polygon Labs to build its newest project, Outerlife.

• Hyper Play teamed up with Immutable to deliver new kinds of gaming experiences.

• The Beacon revealed its game roadmap update that highlights full roguelite gameplay by the end of 2023.

• Axie Infinity launched Axie Experience Points (AXP) and upgraded Axies to dynamic NFTs.

• Space Nation, a Web3 MMORP, announced it is building on Immutable zkEVM, powered by Polygon Labs.

• Cross the Ages announced the second edition of its Arkhome Tournament.

• Meta Gravity announced a major partnership with Star Atlas to enable scaling of the concurrent player ceiling to 30,000+.

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