Quick take:
- Gojira Labs has announced animatronic NFTs.
- The new technology will be used by companies to turn static NFTs into 2D playable game characters.
- The first test for the “animatronic NFTs” will come when Gojira launches the Sprinft running game, which leverages NFTs from leading collections.
Gojira Labs has launched the “animatronic NFTs” (aNFTs) technology to help companies turn static NFTs into 2D animated playable game characters. The technology allows companies to use NFTs from popular collections in their gameplay, which can boost the onboarding of new users to new games.
Gojira’s new tech will be put to the test when the company launched the Sprinft running game, which leverages NFTs from some of the leading NFT collections including the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) by Yuga Labs and Reddit Collectible Avatars.
The multichain, multiplayer running game will allow holders of supported NFT collections to compete against each other. The game is developed in collaboration with Web3 brand incubator and product lab, Blokhaus and 100XP, a game studio that has made games such as Pigs at War and Tezotopia.
The New York-based Web3 company wants to use aNFTs to disrupt the blockchain gaming industry by bringing games to NFTs, rather than adding NFTs to games.
Speaking in an Interview with GamesBeat on Tuesday, Mark Soares, president of Gojira Labs said: “We’ve seen a lot of people try to bring NFTs to games. It just doesn’t work. I’m sure you’ve seen how gamers have objected to it.”
“And their arguments are perfectly logical, right? They objected to it because they’re tired of being monetized. And NFTs seemed like just another way to monetize them. So if I was them, I’d be annoyed too,” he said.
According to Soares, his company’s approach is uniquely important because it is trying to bring utility and entertainment to current or existing NFT collections, which already have massive communities.
Although Soares admits the game does not look great at the moment, he remains bullish that it is an easily executable innovative idea.
Soares likened Gojira Labs’ aNFTs to a “Frankenstein Monster” that moves, particularly with motion noticeable in arms, legs, eyes and other facial features.
Soares said the game will in the long-term consider animating 3D characters but in the short-term, the focus remains on 2D animations.
“If you have all the components of essentially a spreadsheet, but it’s a character spreadsheet, of all the body components, the game engine can animate them,” he said. “And as long as you follow the same format, you’ll always be able to animate them. It’s the simplicity that attracts me so much to the concept.”
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