Yuga Labs, the crypto tech startup that created the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series, announced Monday that it plans to acquire gaming and music firm Roar Studios. As a part of the acquisition, Roar Studios Founder and CEO Eric Reid will join Yuga Labs as the general manager of Otherside, Yuga Labs’ forthcoming blockchain-powered metaverse game.
“Our team’s mission is to empower players to create and be social in a community-driven, open-media experience, so our work fundamentally aligns with Yuga's larger Web3 metaverse strategy,” Reid said in a statement.
Reid added that when Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre and CTO Mike Seavers reached out to Roar Studios, Reid and his team “jumped at the opportunity” to work with Yuga.
The Roar founder previously worked in law and entertainment, acting as the COO and then Co-CEO of Hollywood production company Lakeshore Entertainment, makers of films like the “Underworld” franchise and “Million Dollar Baby.”
In 2021, Roar Studios raised $7 million from firms like Galaxy Interactive to build a “music metaverse” with the goal of allowing players with virtual avatars the ability to play music through their characters.
But Roar is more than just a music-focused metaverse company—it’s also leveraging AI in its tech.
Yuga Labs said in a statement that Roar has “deep technology and AI roots” and told Decrypt in an email that AI is a part of Roar’s “proprietary tech.” A representative from Yuga Labs added that the firm is not able to share details about how Otherside will leverage Roar’s AI tech just yet.
As Yuga continues to develop its ambitious game project, it’ll now have additional hands on deck to shape its Otherside.