Team Liquid is working with the developers of NFT game Illuvium, which has just launched in early access, to test its turn-based, player-vs-player (PVP) creature autobattler experience. Team Liquid founder and co-CEO Victor Goossens announced the collaboration Wednesday.
“We’ll be limit-testing and advising them on the PVP aspect of their game,” Goosens said in a video. “We’ve been incredibly impressed with the quality of the game from what we’ve seen so far.”
Team Liquid members like League of Legends player “Broxah” and content creator “Midbeast” will be among those from the esports organization checking out Illuvium, according to the organization’s CEO.
“We are confident that this will be a game that rewards skill and strategy," he explained, "much like many of the games that Liquid participates in today.”
Today we are excited to announce our partnership with @illuviumio 🔥
We are excited to playtest their new competitive PvP autobattler, expand our brand into their game universe, and guide their esports strategy into 2024. pic.twitter.com/aai7cGxWa0
Team Liquid, which raised $35 million in funding last year at a $415 million valuation, will also be working with Illuvium to develop the game’s esports scene and tournaments in 2024 by co-hosting an esports tournament with a $100,000 prize pool.
Team Liquid-themed Illuvium skin. Image: Team Liquid.
The game will also release Team Liquid-themed Illuvium NFTs in the form of character skins and avatars as part of the collaboration. Illuvium is built on Immutable X, an Ethereum scaling network focused on gaming.
“This collaboration is more than just two names shaking hands,” the Illuvium team wrote in a blog post Wednesday. “It's about setting a precedent for Web3 gaming in mainstream esports. It's about creating a world where gaming achievements translate to the real world, where every move could be the one that lands you something epic.”
Illuvium is a sci-fi fantasy NFT gaming IP with four games in development: Illuvium Arena, Overworld, Zero, and Beyond. While each of these titles are separate games, they do offer some interoperability and cross-game rewards.
The Illuvium team has also released its own Ethereum ERC-20 token, ILV, and its own marketplace, the Illuvidex. There’s also a community-based voting system in place with the Illuvium DAO, which suggests new initiatives for the Illuvium ecosystem.
After years of developmen...
Like other esports organizations including TSM and M80, Team Liquid has been exploring crypto’s potential crossovers with competitive gaming. Earlier this year on a panel at the 3XP conference, Team Liquid’s Web3 Senior Partnerships Manager Ross Groves told Decrypt that the org is “breaking into Web3 games.”
“We want to really just be able to bring our fans into Web3 and give them a safe way to onboard and to try these great new games that we see coming around,” Groves said.
Solana meme coin Bonk launched its very own video game on Monday: Bonk Arena, developed by studio Bravo Ready, known for the Solana extraction shooter, BR1: Infinite. This marks the first officially licensed game for the popular Solana meme coin, after the project has dipped its toes in countless other crypto ventures.
Bonk Arena is a fast-paced, top-down arcade shooter, playable via web browsers and the official Phantom wallet mobile app. It will also be released on the upcoming handheld PSG1...
It's tough to keep tabs on the ever-changing crypto gaming space, thanks to the constant flow of news: everything from big game launches and fun degen experiments to token price swings and occasional project collapses. It's a lot to follow.
Luckily, we're plugged in at Decrypt's GG. We cover the biggest happenings throughout the week, and then this weekly roundup provides a quick way to catch up, as well as find a bunch of other little bits of news from throughout the week.
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