Mobile gaming behemoth Zynga has now outlined plans for the nonfungible token (NFT)-based games and Web3 acquisitions coming later in the year. San Francisco-based game developer Zynga, mostly known for the FarmVille and CSR Racing series, has announced its plans to release its first blockchain and NFT-based games this year.
This billion-dollar game studio first made significant waves in the cryptocurrency space in 2021 when it appointed 30-year gaming sector veteran Matt Wolf as Vice President of Blockchain Gaming. Mr. Wolf was appointed to lead the firm’s charge into the budding industry.
Notably, Zynga has also announced its plans to increase the current blockchain gaming team from 15 people to more than 100 by the end of this year. The firm may also soon fall under the umbrella of video-game colossus Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Grand Theft Auto. Take-Two publicly announced a $12.7 billion-dollar acquisition move set to close in the first quarter of next year.
While commenting on the company’s NFT based gaming plans with Axios, Wolf said that the upcoming blockchain-based games will be brand new titles, since it does not make any sense to begin adding NFTs into the existing games such as FarmVille immediately.
He stated that players can expect the new games to appear something like Mafia Wars, a now-discontinued social media game. In that game, players assumed the role of gangsters and then worked to build up their crime families to ensure that they dominate their neighborhoods.
Zynga has been adopting highly aggressive steps into the sometimes-controversial blockchain-based gaming industry tan most of the other traditional gaming firms. For now, hesitancy has been the common denominator from the gaming studios as crypto-related features have mostly provoked a backlash from many angry gamers.
Some of the players that have had NFTs integrated with their gaming experience feel that the firms are just looking for a variety of ways to squeeze money out of their clients. Wolf has now made it clear that the firm’s game developers will always get the chance to opt in or out of any NFT plans, a lesson he appears to have learned from witnessing internal protests against the technology used at fellow gaming firms: EA and Ubisoft.
Despite all these criticisms, Wolf sees nonfungible tokens and blockchain technology as the main steps to come in Zynga’s evolution with tokenized networks creating new and more realistic forms of value, ownership, and wealth creation for the gamers as they do what they love. He added:
“By creating an integrated experience that enables players to become owners in their gaming journey, our goal is to expand Zynga’s audience reach and drive stronger engagement and retention.”
While speaking to the New York Times, Wolf said that he is mainly aware of the challenges that the NFT-based games stand to come up against:
“It really is all about community… we believe in giving people the opportunity to Play-to-Earn.”
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