Hello degens,

It’s Friday, and our final newsletter for the week! This week has been an absolute marathon of new content for us as we’ve changed from bringing you an NFT overview to weekly deep-dives across Metaverse, Digital Collectibles, Digital Fashion, AI, and finally - Blockchain Gaming.

Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment.

Happy reading!

Writer and Curator: Koko

Things looking a little different? Well, we have switched things up! Here’s a recap for you:

TL;DR:
Old To The Moon - daily recap of the previous day’s top stories
New To The Moon - Five curated edits focusing on all the Metaverse, NFT, Digital Fashion, AI, and Blockchain Gaming news of the week.

📈📉Gaming Tokens Making Moves

Gaming Tokens Market Movements: Look at the size of those market caps! Still, in the last 7 days, Mana, SAND, GALA and AXS are all slightly down. RUNE, on the other hand, is ever so slightly up. RUNE is the native utility token of the THORChain platform. This is used as the base currency in the THORChain ecosystem and is also used for platform governance and security as part of THORChain's Sybil resistance mechanisms.

🌚Full Moons - One small step backwards and two giant leaps forward

GameStop Retreats

First up - do you remember when GameStop announced their NFT marketplace? Pepperidge Farm remembers. It was July 2022, and GameStop finally announces its NFT marketplace. In their own words, they aim to ‘allow gamers, creators, collectors and other community members buy, sell, and trade NFTs’.

At first, GameStop’s NFT marketplace was a wonderland. It all started with existing collectibles and digital artwork, and then went on to form a partnership with Immutable X, bringing us zero percent gas fees and a carbon-neutral minting process for trading in-game items.

Now, 13 months later, GameStop has decided to remove support for its crypto extension wallet, citing ‘regulatory uncertainty of the crypto space.’ The iOS and Chrome Extension wallets will no longer be available from November 1st, and users are advised to have access to their secret passphrases by October 1st.

We can’t say we didn’t see this coming. Just last month GameStop terminated CEO Matt Furlong, who played a key role in the company's expansion into NFTs. The exact reasons behind the firing of Furlong and the removal of extension wallet support are not specified. However, we can take an educated guess that it has something to do with our mate Gary Gensler and his unwavering war against Crypto. As the SEC continues to take legal actions against crypto firms in the United States, the gaming giant may be feeling a little nervous.

Get Wrecked

It’s not all bad news this week. While GameStop steps back, the rest of the Blockchain Gaming space powers forward. Some extremely exciting news this week comes from Game developer and publisher nWay. nWay has announced the upcoming release of Wreck League, a Web3-powered multiplayer fighting game that promises to revolutionize esports.

So what’s so great about Wreck League? Firstly, in Wreck League, players can build, own, and battle with their own Mech fighters, offering a fresh take on the traditional fighting game genre. There are over 1.5 quadrillion possible unique combinations for Mechs, so it will be virtually impossible to make two of the same.

What makes Wreck League even more exciting is its integration with Yuga Labs collections. Players can collect Mech Parts as NFTs and assemble them to mint full Mech character NFTs. The game's first season will feature four Yuga Labs collections: Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Bored Ape Kennel Club, and Otherside Kodas.

Then, there’s the hybrid approach. The game is offering up Web2 and Web3 versions. The Web3 version offers players a two-week leaderboard tournament starting with Mech minting, where they can compete for on-chain prizes, including special NFTs and various rewards. The Web2 free-to-play (F2P) version, aimed at bridging the gap between Web3 and traditional gaming communities. The F2P version offers daily missions, a battle pass, and an in-game store, attracting a broader player base.

Wreck League is set to launch in September, so grab your ape, grab your doggo, and get ready to get wrecked.

Dedication to digital pets

Finally, if fighting isn’t your thing, maybe animals are? Let’s take a look at the latest news from Bandai Namco. If you haven’t heard their name before, then you definitely would have heard of their work - Elden Ring, TEKKEN, and Dragon Ball to name a few. They’re now getting less fight-y and more friendly with their latest offering, a virtual pet game called RYUZO.

When I was a kid we had Tamagotchis, and somehow I killed my poor digital pet every time. Hopefully, I have better luck with RYUZO. The game is AI-powered, and to play we must nurture and interact with our digital creatures, known as RYU. The RYU hatch as soulbound tokens, so they are unique and cannot be sold.

RYU creatures also develop distinct personalities and unlock various abilities based on how you interact with them. There were 10,000 digital NFT eggs airdropped in the pre-release, and the nurturing stage lasts a whole year. Ongoing, engaging, and longer than an IRL pregnancy term.

🔭The Scope

As GameStop removes their wallet support, we can’t help but wonder about the future of the NFT marketplace. Does the termination of Matt Furlong, plus the withdrawal of the extension wallet, signal a step away from the NFT space altogether? Still, even if GameStop does retreat, the space is still moving forward at a rapid rate. Huge steps are being taken by the likes of Wreck League and RYUZO to not just advance blockchain gaming, but also bring in a whole new range of players with their onboarding efforts.

🌓Half Moons

If you like NFTs and mythical creatures, you will love Fableborne. This new RPG-style Web3 game has unveiled its debut NFT collection, Primordials NFTs. The NFTs are built on the Polygon network and can be minted through two play-to-mint systems, including free mints for winners of Pixion League Pre-Mint events and the Fableborne playtest. The game involves multiplayer combat, claiming islands, and building bases, and in-game purchases will be available, including NFT Heroes.

What’s better than winning in-game prizes? Winning real gold. Golden Egg Wonderland, powered by the FRUITS Eco-Blockchain Project, is revolutionizing Web3 gaming by allowing players to exchange in-game NFTs for real golden eggs. Inspired by Aesop's Fables, players can capture, raise, and crossbreed birds to obtain NFT eggs, some of which may hatch as golden eggs. The beta version has plans for bird-on-bird battles, location-specific features, and a physical store for exchanging gold egg NFTs for real gold.

In partnership news, Gala Games has partnered with Elixir Games Launcher to expand the reach of Gala's blockchain-based games to a wider audience. The collaboration will bring Gala's hit games, Town Star and Spider Tanks, to the Elixir platform, with plans to add more titles in the future. As part of the partnership, Elixir Games Launcher will host weekly gaming nights featuring exclusive prizes and appearances from Elixir Partners, fostering a sense of community and interaction among players and content creators.

🔭The Scope

Blockchain gaming is getting more and more inventive. Gamers have spent years spending money and time on in-game assets. Now they can truly own what they create, with NFT gaming allowing for the sale of assets, and companies like Golden Egg Wonderland bringing a phygital aspect to gaming.

⚪Total Eclipse

💫Shooting Star

This week’s feature is Shrapnel

Shrapnel is a visually stunning sci-fi FPS extraction game that stands out with its incredible imagery. It also offers in-game assets as NFTs, empowering players to own and trade virtual items. The game's GameBridge feature allows seamless trading, and it operates on its own Avalanche subnet using the SHRAP token.

🌚 Dark Side of the Meme