Yuga Labs, the team behind Bored Ape Yacht Club and the owner of three of the biggest NFT brands on the market, has raised $450 million in funding at a $4 billion valuation, which the company plans to use to build a media empire around NFTs, starting with games and its own metaverse project. Yuga Labs’ metaverse, Otherside, is described as an MMORPG meant to connect the broader NFT universe.
The announcement comes just weeks after Yuga Labs made a major move to consolidate the NFT space, acquiring CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs. The acquisition put three of the most lucrative NFT collections under one roof — and gave Yuga Labs a bigger roster of IP to pull from when crafting its game and metaverse plans. The company also launched a cryptocurrency, ApeCoin, last week; the token will be governed independently and used as the primary currency in Yuga Labs’ properties.
Yuga Labs is partnering with “a few different game studios” to bring Otherside to life, says CEO Nicole Muniz. The game won’t be limited to Bored Ape holders, and the company plans to create development tools that allow NFTs from other projects to work inside their world. “We’re opening the door to effectively a walled garden and saying ‘everybody’s welcome.’”
The company has yet to provide a timeline for the release of Otherside.
(All information was provided by The Verge)
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