Konami becomes latest video game maker to enter the NFT space

Game development companies have become the latest brands to develop a liking for non-fungible tokens. Japan-based video game developer and publisher Konami made headlines at the end of last week after announcing it was auctioning NFTs based on Castlevania.

Elsewhere, The Wall Street Journal recently published a report detailing that GameStop is soon launching an NFT division as it pushes into this burgeoning blockchain space. It appeared that the announcement sent a wave of upward momentum in the market. Some parties, however, took issue, saying that the resulting surge in GameStop market prices was probably inspired by other factors, not the WSJ report.

Konami stages NFT entry with Castlevania commemorative NFTs

Japanese video game company Konami bowed to the NFT frenzy last Thursday as it announced entry into the space via the launch of NFTs based on the nostalgic Castlevania series. 14 NFTs will be offered to users via auction, with just a single copy of each available for purchase.

An image of Konami's website displaying the memorial NFTs

The auction will be held this Wednesday and will last for just four hours. A number of users have already submitted their offers on the collectables on OpenSea. Konami said the collection would feature scenes from the series' entries in the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and its Japanese version, the Famicom.

The NFTs will be purely commemorative (Castlevania’s 35^th anniversary) and won’t have any in-game utility. Konami consequently noted that it will not guarantee an upswing in the value of the NFTs. Gaming companies that have dived into the space, such as Ubisoft, have launched projects that offer NFTs usable in existing video games. Several other game developers, including Square Enix, GameStop, and Electronic Arts, have also established this ‘positive' stance towards NFTs in games.

LinksDAO plans to acquire real-life Golf Course

LinksDAO recently concluded an NFT sale in which more than 9000 NFTs from its debut collection were purchased. The sale proceeds are to be channeled into acquiring an actual golf course. The project lead Mike Ludas, however, said more cash would have to be raised to achieve the community's dream.

LinksDAO allowed minting of its two NFTs, the Global Membership and Leisure Membership. A total of 9,090 units sold out in a matter of hours netting in $10.5 million. The decentralized autonomous organization said that these NFTs would enable holders to gain exclusive rights. These include membership rights of the first real-life golf club that LinksDAO purchases and access to member-only Discord channels.

The global community plans to take advantage of the growing DAO ecosystem to create a modern golf and leisure club. The club will leverage Gary Vaynerchuk's Flyfish Club model, which requires an NFT purchase to gain club membership, and ConstitutionDAO's model of collective effort and funding towards a shared ambition. Ludas explained that, in taking this approach, the organization was in a position to combine the best of both worlds in creating a special and large creation.

New generation Tycoons in Asia venturing into NFTs

Kiat Lim, son of stockbroker Peter Lim, recently launched a blockchain-powered private digital community. The younger Lim teamed up with Elroy Cheo, who hails from a family associated with edible oils company Mewah International. The new platform, ARC Community, would be a locus for entrepreneurs and offer a first-of-a-kind avenue to incorporate NFT membership for creators.

Cheo explained that the community would support the push for collaborative initiatives between users, such that NFT members would be able to access the shared value beneath it. The community would exclusively involve Web3 developers, social influencers, venture capitalists, and Asian entrepreneurs as part of its membership list.

The announcement also outlined that users with the ARC app would be prioritized in the coming ARC Access NFT drop. They would also be able to float questions on the wall for the larger community to answer. All conversations would be required to remain within the confines of the ARC community.

GameStop stock surges on NFT reports

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that as part of a turnaround plan, GameStop is developing an NFT division. This revelation saw the video game company's stocks jump up by more than 25% in price on Thursday. The company has reportedly hired over 20 people that would work under the division.

Some users argued that the market price action was not related to the announcement by the Wall Street Journal. They held that the WSJ did not particularly name any sources, which raised skepticism on whether the WSJ was actually the cause or just a face cover for something else behind the curtains.

GameStop has seemingly been building its NFT portfolio over the last year. Several reports show that the firm was advertising job openings for Web3 developers, product marketers, and software engineers rooted in NFTs.

Polygon NFT sales on OpenSea in January projected to eclipse December's high

OpenSea might have not yet clocked August's $3.4 billion all-time high of sales, but projections show that significant growth is expected, more so in the Polygon network. The sales volume of OpenSea Polygon Monthly NFTs stood at 685,044 as of writing.

OpenSea Polygon Monthly NFTs sold

If this growth were to go on, there would be an increase of 10% in sales volume compared to last month's figure. Last month, Polygon sold just shy of 2 million NFTs, which marked a 60% rise on the figures recorded in November.

In separate news, Polygon, which was developed as an Ethereum layer two scaling solution, clogged between Tuesday and Friday. Market analysts attributed the congestion to the increasing number of gamers stacking up on the ecosystem. Last week, Polygon saw an influx of players from the game Sunflower Farmers, who caused significant congestion on the network.