The writer of “The Fast and the Furious”, David Ayer, is entering Tokyo on Web3 with an NFT racing game. He is partnering with Feature.io, an NFT-focused technology platform, to produce an immersive car racing experience called “Lollipop.” What can we expect from the collaboration?
Image Credit: MensXP
What do we know about Lollipop NFT racing game?
The project will run on the layer 2 blockchain polygon. It will combine “elements of episodic streaming, gaming, and professional sports.” This approach fits into what Feature.io CEO Steven Ilous believes is the future of media entertainment.
While we don’t know exactly how NFTs will influence things, Ilous sees Lollipop as an opportunity “to really create next-gen content that’s designed for the way audiences consume content these days.” The game will be based on Unreal Engine 5 and will presumably feature high-powered cars, death-defying stunts, and the glorious explosions that have made “The Fast and the Furious” a global phenomenon.
Yesterday he stated: “I am excited to be working with the Polygon team on ‘Lollipop.’ As a filmmaker, I have always been interested in exploring new forms of storytelling and entertainment, and blockchain gaming is the perfect opportunity to do so. I can’t wait for players to experience the thrill of racing in this innovative new game.”
The Feature.io team has yet to announce a release date for the game.
Image Credit: Feature.io
NFT or digital collectibles?
Both Ayer and Ilous have been careful to use the term “digital collectibles” in favor of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Their goal is to attract a mass audience and some people still don’t like NFTs. For whatever reason, this demographic of people is more willing to buy an NFT if they are instead labeled as “digital collectibles.”
Although we don’t have many details about the game yet, we can safely assume that players will be collecting in-game assets as NFTs. From there, they will presumably trade, buy, and sell items using Polygon’s near-zero cost Ethereum scaling solution. Ryan Wyatt, president of Polygon, is also enthusiastic about the project. He called it “truly pioneering” in a recent interview.
Are NFT games the next big thing?
A lot of people are betting big on blockchain gaming. In 2021, investors poured $3.7 billion into metaverse and blockchain gaming projects. That number almost doubled to $7.6 billion in 2022. So far, 2023 is off to a good start with over $500 million invested in the sector during a down year for the markets.
Image Credit: Dappradar
Lots of big projects are creating games right now aimed at NFT players. Yuga Labs is working on Otherside, YouTube mega-influencer Dr. Disrespect is releasing a first-person shooter called “Deadrop” soon, and the all-time highest-grossing Pokémon IP is posting hiring announcements for an executive with extensive experience in Web3.
The future looks bright for blockchain gaming. So it’s no surprise that game developers are taking advantage of existing franchises to attract their audience to Web3. Dom Toretto, the protagonist of the “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, once said, “I don’t have friends, I have family.” By bringing David Ayer to Web3, it seems our family just got a little stronger.
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