Web3 Gamer: GTA 6 crypto rumors, Dr Who/Sandbox, Thai tourist NFTs review

Grand Theft Auto VI crypto rumors

Rumors that the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) volition incorporated cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) person erstwhile again surfaced, sparking speculation among fans.

Posts shared connected Twitter suggest that GTA 6 volition beryllium a play-to-earn crippled and that in-game items specified arsenic cars and weapons volition beryllium NFTs.

GTA creators Rockstar Games are yet to measurement successful connected whether there’s immoderate information to these claims, but determination seems to beryllium small coagulated grounds backing the rumors.

The institution cracked down connected the usage of crypto successful GTA successful November past twelvemonth and sent cease and desist letters to companies moving nationalist servers with blockchain integrations — a stroke to respective crippled makers that had built their games connected the platform.

A lambo from GTA 5. (Steam/Rockstar Games)

Given that GTA 5, released successful 2015, has sold implicit 180 cardinal copies and generated a staggering $8 cardinal successful revenue, it seems unlikely that Rockstar would drastically change the palmy look of the franchise, the latest instalment of which is expected adjacent twelvemonth oregon successful 2025.

Of course, determination could beryllium a crypto constituent but not needfully the 1 crypto bros want. Game Rant suggests that it is much apt for Rockstar Games to usage crypto arsenic the butt of its in-game jokes.

Doctor Who, Top Gear articulation The Sandbox

Sci-fi bid Doctor Who and British motoring amusement Top Gear, some fashionable BBC franchises, volition participate the metaverse via The Sandbox aft announcing a collaboration with the virtual satellite platform.

In concern with Web3 institution Reality+, is acceptable to motorboat the abstraction aboriginal this year.

Nicki Sheard, President Brands & Licensing, BBC Studios believes that portion the metaverse is inactive successful its infancy, it whitethorn signifier however we devour and acquisition amusement successful the future.

Jodie Whittaker arsenic the Doctor successful deed sci-fi bid Doctor Who. (BBC)

“I’m looking guardant to seeing however fans interact with our brands successful this space. This task forms portion of BBC Studios broader ambitious plans to turn our brands into caller categories, with innovative exertion and platforms forming an integral portion of this,” she said.

BBC Studios, which is simply a commercialized accumulation institution nether the BBC umbrella, volition articulation 400 different amusement brands that The Sandbox has worked with including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Gucci, The Walking Dead and Adidas.

STEPN integrates Apple Pay for its NFTs

Move-to-earn app STEPN is making it easier to bargain NFTs for its crippled by adding an in-app Apple Pay outgo option.

Users volition beryllium capable to bargain SPARK credits utilizing fiat, with 10 spark credits being equivalent to 1 USDC, which tin past beryllium utilized to acquisition the NFTs.

“It eliminates the request to link a abstracted crypto wallet and streamlines the outgo process, making it easier than ever for our assemblage to entree our offerings,” said STEPN connected Medium.

STEPN users volition beryllium capable to wage with Apple Pay. (STEPN)

The drawback is that purchasing sneakers with fiat volition beryllium much costly, which STEPN attributes to the “taxation” connected each in-app purchase.

Onboarding has agelong been a situation for wider adoption of Web3 games, and STEPN is not an exception. Its onboarding process is cumbersome and users person to bargain the sneaker NFTs — moving retired which 1 is champion for you is simply a task and a fractional itself — from a third-party marketplace and transportation it into the in-wallet app.

But the institution could person much successful the works erstwhile it comes to making onboarding easier.

“Our integration with Apple Pay is conscionable the opening of our imaginativeness to marque Web3 exertion accessible to all,” it added.

Battle of Titans dev contention backmost for 2nd season

MatchboxDAO is bringing backmost its Battle of Titans Web3 racing crippled backmost for a 2nd play this week.

Launched connected Sunday, dev teams from implicit 60 Web3 companies including Immutable, Starknet and Fantom volition vie successful a afloat on-chain Mario Kart-Style game.

The Polygon dev team’s car. (MatchboxDAO)

Each car is simply a astute declaration that indispensable beryllium programmed to get to the extremity of the way portion factoring successful attacking and defending against different players utilizing bananas, shells and shields.

The first edition of the crippled successful January included teams from Ledger, Polygon, NEAR, Yield Guild Games and more, with a dev squad from Uniswap emerging arsenic the winners.

The caller play volition besides adhd a assemblage constituent wherever viewers volition beryllium capable to ballot for their favourite team.

Captain Tsubasa Web3 crippled debuts governance token

Captain Tsubasa — Rivals, a shot crippled based connected the fashionable manga Captain Tsubasa, has launched a governance token.

Web3 companies Thirdverse Group and BLOCKSMITH&Co debuted the crippled successful January 2023. Players tin bid characters from the manga and play against each different successful matches.

Game shaper Shun Fujiyoshi, who presently heads BLOCKSMITH&Co, said that assorted mechanisms are successful spot to support the worth of inferior tokens.

“These measures see in-game depletion points and mechanisms to power terms fluctuations caused by speculative trading,” helium said successful a statement.

Created successful 1981 by Yoichi Takahashi, 70 cardinal copies of the archetypal Captain Tsubasa manga person been sold successful Japan alone. It has been translated into implicit 20 languages.

Illuvium raises further $10M successful funding

Crypto task steadfast Framework Ventures has invested $10 cardinal successful gaming workplace Illuvium, which volition beryllium utilized to accelerate the improvement of the Illuvium Universe.

Australia-based Illuvium said that the caller backing would springiness them a comfy runway done the motorboat of the unfastened beta and beyond.

It is readying an upcoming unfastened beta featuring its metropolis builder Zero, open-world monster huntsman Overworld and autobattler Arena.

The institution antecedently raised $5m successful a Framework Ventures-backed effect circular successful March 2021. It besides made $72 cardinal during an NFT onshore merchantability successful June past year.

Hot take: Collecting NFTs for a tiny spot of Thai chicken

This variation I caught a Web3 task successful the wild.

Queueing for tickets to spell up the MahaNakhon, Thailand’s tallest skyscraper, a poster disconnected to 1 broadside adjacent to a java advert and exigency defibrillator caught my attention: Amazing Thailand NFTs play 2. Travel to gain astonishing expat NFTs.

NFT advert successful Bangkok, Thailand. Source: Callan Quinn

Easily persuaded, I downloaded the app.

In mid-April this twelvemonth the Tourism Administration of Thailand (TAT) launched the 2nd circular of NFTs for an NFT tourism task it’s piloting. Using an app called YAK, tourists tin cheque successful astatine assorted locations astir the state and successful instrumentality person a question NFT.

PokemonGo for backpackers and passport stamp addicts sounds appealing. The world is simply a spot much frustrating.

Crypto people won’t similar however overmuch idiosyncratic info you person to enactment successful to get acceptable up. Not conscionable an email, but besides your telephone fig and a 1 clip passcode.

The app and I disagreed respective times arsenic to whether I was wrong the required radius of the sites I visited. While the MahaNakhon NFT was obtained without fuss, I someway acquired an NFT for Pattaya City and Phuket, adjacent though I didn’t spell to either.

Amazing Thailand NFT. Source: Amazing Thailand/YAK App

The thought is that you “earn” portion travelling by getting discounts depending connected however galore NFTs you get. In galore cases, getting the connection seems to necessitate buying thing other specified arsenic getting 2 escaped pieces of chickenhearted if you walk implicit 1,000 Thai baht ($29) successful a edifice — a gangly bid successful a state wherever you tin person a bully repast for a 5th of that.

In fact, galore of the offers didn’t look to beryllium exclusive to the NFT app astatine each and were applicable without the app.

Now, seemingly — though it didn’t accidental truthful connected the poster — the crippled was lone expected to tally until the extremity of April truthful possibly each the bully offers were gone, I can’t beryllium sure.

But for maine the biggest question was however to get the NFTs retired of the app. They look to beryllium connected a autochthonal concatenation of Thailand-based cryptocurrency level Bitkub. As acold arsenic I could tell, it required creating Bitkub relationship to determination them, which successful crook required a Thai telephone fig to person the 1 clip passcode.

Overall it needed a spot of tweaking but I liked the conception of being capable to cod POAPs for places I’ve visited arsenic a tourist. The discounts were lousy but not truly necessary: if you really got the NFT corresponding to the spot you visited, collecting for the involvement of collecting would person been enough.

A revamped, planetary mentation would beryllium bully please.

Other stuff

— Gods Unchained unveiled a new roadmap connected May 23. Among its plans are immoderate for caller crippled modes, a creator program, a brushed motorboat for mobile and caller paper sets.

— Blockchain gaming level Gala Games volition motorboat a Web3 poker level with PokerGO, with a beta slated for merchandise successful June 2023.

— Game retailer GameStop volition administer Telos-based games connected its upcoming Web3 gaming launchpad GameStop Playr.

— Gaming metaverse Star Atlas launched the latest mentation of its showroom connected June 1 with caller flyable ships, single-player crushed racing and an updated dogfighting arena.

— Web3 crippled steadfast Fenix Games is teaming up with level Immutable to assistance crippled studios by “curating, advising and publishing best-in-class unrecorded services to Immutable’s ecosystem of games.”

— Nike’s NFTs volition commencement being incorporated into EA Sports games, according to a June 1 connection from the company. No connection yet connected which titles.