Immutable & Polygon push web3 gaming further

🔮 Metaproof

Metaproof is a media company that covers the business of the metaverse. We keep you informed how the metaverse and web3 are changing YOUR industry.

✨ Top Picks

The Future, today. In just 3 minutes.

1/ Immutable and Polygon Labs team up to expand the web3 gaming ecosystem

Web3 gaming developer platform Immutable is powering its platform products via Polygon's zero-knowledge technology to simplify the onboarding process for game studios and developers in web3 gaming. A few key details:

• Immutable has launched a $500M venture fund for web3 games to support developers in creating innovative gaming experiences.

• It launched an all-in-one passport system that simplifies the sign-in and management process for web3 gamers.

• On the partnership front: Polygon has partnered with Nike, Reddit, Starbucks, Square Enix, and GameStop to develop NFT projects, while Immutable has tied up with GameStop, DC Comics, and Marvel to build out over 140 new titles building on the existing platform.

How partnerships like this will supercharge the growth and mainstream adoption of web3 gaming is a prospect worth following in 2023.

2/ Why Clinique’s next move in the metaverse is a winning formula for web3 retail

Clinique’s Clinique Lab just might be a first mover that’s worth emulating among retail brands, designing an all-immersive, multi-sensory gamified experience pairing retail with edutainment.

Here’s what the digital laboratory - with a specific focus on the brand’s hero product Moisture Surge - has to offer:

• Custom avatars alongside various zones including a museum, skin school providing video tutorials and interactive diagnostics, and customized skincare solutions from consultants in real time

• Games where participants can collect bubbles to win sample-size editions of focus products

• Mobile-first offering for greater immersion and efficiency, users jumping between zones in a single click in mobile or desktop format

The innovation is powered by web3 outfit Journee, which also crafted virtual showroom and metaverse experiences for the likes of H&M and BMW.

3/ Florida gov. Ron DeSantis proposes law to ban CBDCs

As the Biden administration mulls over a central bank digital currency, Republican governor and possible US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is quick to oppose the idea of a national central bank digital currency (CBDC) as money within his state.

Dubbing it a “reckless adoption of a 'centralized digital dollar' which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance," DeSantis proposes the CBDC ban law with the following specifics:

• Expressly prohibiting the use of a federally adopted CBDC as money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

• Prohibiting any CBDC issued by a foreign reserve or foreign sanctioned central bank

• Calling on other states to adopt similar prohibitions

DeSantis worries over both privacy concerns as well as a federal CBDC diminishing the role of community banks and credit unions.

4/ OpenAI’s GPT can create worlds in metaverse straight from text

In the continuing reign of AI, OpenAI puts its might on display: The developers reveal that its Oncyber can use an AI-powered tool called Magic Composer, allowing users to create full words in the metaverse with simple text commands.

Innovations like Oncyber, a platform that serves as a 3D world-building system with support for NFTs, offer hope for the metaverse’s increasing accessibility and mainstream adoption.

Meanwhile, former Google China president and prominent Chinese VC Lee Kai-fu launches the global AI company Project AI 2.0, said to build AI 2.0 platforms and productivity apps. Emphasizing it’s not just a Chinese ChatGPT, the announcement follows the entry of Chinese search engine giant Baidu into the market with its ChatGPT-like version dubbed as Ernie Bot - developments in the heady AI race that are worth a closer look.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Loneliest pub in the metaverse? Spend St. Patrick’s Day in The Sandbox. (Link)

• Dr Disrespect launches FPS featuring NFT integrations - a sign that trad gamers could be warming up to the idea of on-chain mechanics in gaming. (Link)

• Baby Doge Coin is bound to announce its first game, joining the ranks of canine-themed cryptos Shiba Inu and Floki. (Link)

• Chinese regulators approve 27 new video games, including titles from Tencent, which has swelling interest in VR and XR. (Link)

• Metaverse board game Meta World: My City debuts at GDC 2023. (Link)

• This “ProtectMe” tech shields children from online predators, scams, and cyberbullying when playing video games. (Link)

• Game designer and web3 entrepreneur Joe Payne visits a Humanities in the Metaverse college course. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Aéropostale offers immersive shopping, socializing and gaming in the metaverse as the first of a four-phase move in the virtual space. (Link)

• Preview Decentraland’s Metaverse Fashion Week 2023 lineup. (Link)

• OpenFashion harnesses generative AI for a wealth of fashion services and brands. (Link)

• The rise of AI fashion models = a new world order for creative industries? (Link)

• The fashion metaverse brings a wealth of data to understand consumer behaviors, habits, and product affinity. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Web3 golf metaverse Play Today streams the NSW Open Golf Championship. (Link)

• Manchester United's greatest-ever XI has been named by an AI website - Cristiano Ronaldo makes it, but not Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, or Wayne Rooney. (Link)

• Smarter predictions, improved interface, and more: How sports betting is getting a tech overhaul. (Link)

• This basketball app uses AR to improve your ball skills. (Link)

• Blockchain casual golf game BIRDIE SHOT is now on Google Play. (Link)

• How to become a VR designer, whether you’re keen to design gaming or sports experiences in the virtual realm. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Is the metaverse old news by now? Investments in metaverse startups and generative AI firms flip-flopped from 2022 to 2023. (Link)

• Labelcoin, the "Robinhood of Music,” enables fans to earn dividends from song royalties that can also be resold at any time in the future. (Link)

• UK-based EXIT Festival exits from traditional ticketing methods and enters the NFT world. (Link)

• This human-size robot now has “eyes” - make that expressive LED eyes - that show people where it’s going. (Link)

• Metaverse entertainment hub Dream Idols stages its first online concert C-Stage on March 24. (Link)

• Japan’s major mobile phone firms set their sights on metaverse-driven revenue complete with celebrity sightings and exclusive events. (Link)

• VR metaverse platform All Stars VR seeks to reinvent celebrity and fan interaction. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Emerging artist Devon DeJardin unleashes his debut NFT project Guardians. (Link)

• China's Tang West Market Museum is jumping into the metaverse with both feet. (Link)

• 2022’s chaos is fading in the rear view mirror, but the NFT market still has hurdles to overcome this year. (Link)

• NFT-labeled wine, anyone? (Link)

• Salesforce web3 pivot follows a survey finding: 45% of consumers are open to buying an NFT from their favorite brand. (Link)

• Blockchain infra provider Aura Network makes a bid in bringing NFTs to the masses. (Link)

🤖 AI

• AI may be the key to finding out if there's life on Mars or at least outside of Earth. (Link)

• It’s not a matter of if, but when: AI is taking over the world. (Link)

• AI is on track to curing cancer, predicting survival rate in a record-breaking 30 days. (Link)

• Can generative AI help publishers weather the stormy media market and make a tidy profit? (Link)

• Mika, the world's first AI CEO humanoid, says hello. (Link)

• In healthcare, AI can help predict patient readmission and analyze image data with ease. (Link)

• Discover Story Machine, an AI game creation platform. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Metaverse builder Croquet and game engine Unity announce the beta launch of their metaverse platform, set to debut at GDC 2023. (Link)

• Crypto trading firm Auros bounces back after the FTX fiasco with a $17M investment boost. (Link)

• EOS Network Ventures is dropping a cool $20M to make sure the EOS blockchain is packed with dapps and games. (Link)

• Pixelcraft Studios, the maker of metaverse game Aavegotchi, announces a $30M multiyear token sale. (Link)

• Irish video game firm Keywords Studios and tech company Spectrum Labs AI team up to give in-game moderation an AI boost. (Link)

• Thai media corporation T&B Media Global’s Translucia metaverse is blazing a trail with its pioneering new “Multiverse convergence” solution – a “metaverse built for good.” (Link)

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

📈 If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse 📈

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