BRUSSELS, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Microsoft (MSFT.O) is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal.
The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks, the people said.
The EU antitrust watchdog, which has set an April 11 deadline for its decision on the deal, declined to comment.
Microsoft said: “We’re continuing to work with the European Commission to address any marketplace concerns. Our goal is to bring more games to more people, and this deal will further that goal.”
The U.S. software giant and Xbox maker announced the acquisition in January last year to help it compete better with leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T).
U.S. and UK regulators, however, have voiced concerns, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission going to court to block the deal.
Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU regulators in an attempt to avert a statement of charge and shorten the regulatory process, other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in November.
The EU competition enforcer, however, is not expected to be open to remedies without first sending out its charge sheet, although there are ongoing informal discussions on concessions, the people said.
Microsoft last month reached a 10-year deal with Nintendo (7974.T) to make “Call of Duty” available on Nintendo consoles, saying it was open to a similar agreement with Sony, which is critical of the acquisition.
The deal has received the green light without conditions in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Serbia.
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee
Editing by Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Dec 20 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) was hit on Tuesday in U.S. court with a private consumer lawsuit claiming the technology company’s $69 billion bid to purchase “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) will unlawfully squelch competition in the video game industry.
The complaint filed in federal court in California comes about two weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a case with an administrative law judge seeking to stop Microsoft, owner of the Xbox console, from completing the largest-ever acquisition in the video-gaming market.
The private lawsuit also seeks an order blocking Microsoft from acquiring Activision. It was filed on behalf of 10 video game players in California, New Mexico and New Jersey.
The proposed acquisition would give Microsoft “far-outsized market power in the video game industry,” the complaint alleged, “with the ability to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition.”
Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
A Microsoft representative on Tuesday defended the deal, saying in a statement that it “will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers.” After the FTC sued, Microsoft President Brad Smith said, “We have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.”
In a statement, plaintiffs’ attorney Joseph Saveri in San Francisco said, “As the video game industry continues to grow and evolve, it’s critical that we protect the market from monopolistic mergers that will harm consumers in the long run.”
Private plaintiffs can pursue antitrust claims in U.S. court, even while a related U.S. agency case is pending. The takeover, announced in January, also faces antitrust scrutiny in the European Union.
The FTC previously said it sued to stop “Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio.” The agency said the merger would harm competition among rival gaming platforms from Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.T) and Sony Group Corp (6758.T).
Reporting by Mike Scarcella; editing by Leigh Jones, Cynthia Osterman and Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Moderna, Pfizer up as FDA authorizes updated COVID boosters
Exxon climbs after boosting buyback program
Indexes up: Dow 0.55%, S&P 0.75%, Nasdaq 1.13%
Dec 8 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 (.SPX) ended higher on Thursday, snapping a five-session losing streak, as investors interpreted data showing a rise in weekly jobless claims as a sign the pace of interest rate hikes could soon slow.
Wall Street’s main indexes had come under pressure in recent days, with the S&P 500 shedding 3.6% since the beginning of December on expectations of a longer rate-hike cycle and downbeat economic views from some top company executives.
Such thinking had also weighed on the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), which had posted four straight losing sessions prior to Thursday’s advance on the tech-heavy index.
Stocks rose as investors cheered data showing the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits increased moderately last week, while unemployment rolls hit a 10-month high toward the end of November.
The report follows data last Friday that showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in November and increased wages, spurring fears that the Fed might stick to its aggressive stance to tame decades-high inflation.
Markets have been swayed by data releases in recent days, with investors lacking certainty ahead of Federal Reserve guidance next week on interest rates.
Such behavior means Friday’s producer price index and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey will likely dictate whether Wall Street can build on Thursday’s rally.
“The market has to adjust to the fact that we’re moving from a stimulus-based economy – both fiscal and monetary – into a fundamentals-based economy, and that’s what we’re grappling with right now,” said Wiley Angell, chief market strategist at Ziegler Capital Management.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 183.56 points, or 0.55%, to close at 33,781.48; the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 29.59 points, or 0.75%, to finish at 3,963.51; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 123.45 points, or 1.13%, at 11,082.00.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 7, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, led by a 1.6% gain in technology stocks (.SPLRCT).
Most mega-cap technology and growth stocks gained. Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) rose between 1.2% and 6.5%.
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) ended 1.2% higher, despite giving up some intraday gains after the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint aimed at blocking the tech giant’s $69 billion bid to buy Activision Blizzard Inc . The “Call of Duty” games maker closed 1.5% lower.
The energy index (.SPNY) was an exception, slipping 0.5%, despite Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) gaining 0.7% after announcing it would expand its $30-billion share repurchase program. The sector had been under pressure in recent sessions as commodity prices slipped: U.S. crude is now hovering near its level at the start of 2022.
Meanwhile, Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) advanced 3.2% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized COVID-19 shots from the vaccine maker that target both the original coronavirus and Omicron sub-variants for use in children as young as six months old.
The regulator also approved similar guidance for fellow COVID vaccine maker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), which rose 3.1%, and its partner BioNTech, whose U.S.-listed shares gained 5.6%.
Rent the Runway Inc (RENT.O) posted its biggest ever one-day gain, jumping 74.3%, after the clothing rental firm raised its 2022 revenue forecast.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.07 billion shares, compared with the 10.90 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 232 new lows.
Reporting by Shubham Batra, Ankika Biswas, Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi, Sriraj Kalluvila, Anil D’Silva and Richard Chang
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Nov 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) $69 billion takeover bid for video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Politico reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
A lawsuit challenging the deal is not guaranteed, and the FTC’s four commissioners have yet to vote out a complaint or meet with lawyers for the companies, the report said, adding that the FTC staff reviewing the deal are skeptical of the companies’ arguments.
The FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
“We are committed to continuing to work cooperatively with regulators around the globe to allow the transaction to proceed, but won’t hesitate to fight to defend the transaction if required,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said. Any suggestion that the transaction could lead to anticompetitive effects is “completely absurd,” the spokesperson added.
Shares of Activision fell about 2% in extended trading after closing 1% higher.
Microsoft, maker of the Xbox game console, announced in January the deal to buy Activision, the maker of “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush” games, in the biggest gaming industry deal in history as global technology giants staked their claims to a virtual future.
[1/4] Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Microsoft is betting on the acquisition to help it compete better with videogame leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T).
The deal is also facing scrutiny outside the U.S. The EU opened a full-scale investigation earlier this month. The EU competition enforcer said it would decide by March 23, 2023, whether to clear or block the deal.
Britain’s antitrust watchdog in September said it would launch a full-scale probe.
The acquisition could damage the industry if Microsoft refused to give rivals access to Activision’s best-selling games, Britain’s antitrust regulator has said.
The deal has drawn criticism from Sony, maker of the Playstation console, citing Microsoft’s control of games like “Call of Duty.”
“Sony, as the industry leader, says it is worried about ‘Call of Duty,’ but we’ve said we are committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation,” Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith has said.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said: “We are prepared to address the concerns of regulators, including the FTC, and Sony to ensure the deal closes with confidence. We’ll still trail Sony and Tencent in the market after the deal closes, and together Activision and Xbox will benefit gamers and developers and make the industry more competitive.”
Reporting by Tiyashi Dattaa and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Leslie Adler
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HONG KONG, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Sony Group Corp (6758.T) said it plans to expand a programme to identify and incubate Chinese-made games, in a race with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to tap China’s gaming market.
The programme will invest more than 1 million yuan ($140,080) in each game it enrols, and will not only fund small teams but also big teams with dozens of engineers or more, Bao Bo, Sony’s director of China game production, said
The Japanese tech giant’s plans were made public during an event live-streamed on Tuesday from the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu to restart the China Hero Project programme, which ground to a halt due to COVID-19.
“The scale of the third phase will far exceed the previous two,” Bao said, adding that Sony will publish some games and its PlayStation Studios will support enrolled projects.
Sony said that it will be the publisher of Lost Soul Aside and Convallaria, two games enrolled in the previous two phases.
The China Hero Project unveiled its first two batches of games in 2017 and 2019 and has supported 17 titles, of which seven have reached the market.
Bao told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that the new batch aims to include 10 titles or more, and it welcomes games of all genres.
It marks the latest in Sony’s years-long approach to China, which ultimately led it to a lucrative exclusivity deal with the Chinese hit game “Genshin Impact” outside of the China Hero Project. Little known before its 2019 launch, it became of the world’s most profitable games.
Reuters reported last month that Sony’s success with “Genshin Impact” has driven Microsoft to aggressively woo Chinese game developers with big licensing deals.
To accelerate its expansion, Sony announced that it has formed the “China Game Production” team to oversee Chinese-made games. The Shanghai branch of Sony’s gaming-focused subsidiary, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) now employs just under 100 people after it entered China in 2014.
Tatsuo Eguchi, president of SIE Shanghai，said the success of Genshin Impact convinced Sony’s management that Chinese games are important, adding that Sony is allocating more resources than ever there. He also said that Sony’s partnership with Genshin Impact’s developer, miHoYO, is going strong.
Sony sells the PlayStation (PS) consoles in China, where people have traditionally preferred playing mobile-based games.
It has sold more than 3.5 million PS4 consoles in China and Jim Ryan, CEO of SIE, said it had sold about 670,000 units of PS5 there since its Chinese launch in May 2021.
Eguchi said that Sony’s goal is to sell twice as many PS5 consoles as it had for the PS4 and believed the China Hero Project could help meet this goal.
“We want gamers around the world to better understand the creativity that comes from China. I have always had a dream which is for console gaming to become a regular part of daily entertainment for Chinese people,” he said.
(This story has been corrected to say just under (not more than) 100 people, in paragraph 10)
($1 = 7.1388 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Alexander Smith and Louise Heavens
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Nov 17 (Reuters) – Blizzard Entertainment (ATVI.O) and NetEase (9999.HK) caused dismay among thousands of gamers on Thursday by saying hits such as ‘World of Warcraft’ will not be available in China from next year as a 14-year partnership ended.
NetEase shares closed 9% lower in Hong Kong after Blizzard said it was unable to reach a deal with the Hangzhou-based company that was consistent with the California-based firm’s “operating principles and commitments to players and employees”.
Blizzard’s announcement, which gave no further detail, was the top trending topic on China’s Weibo platform with more than 100 million views as users expressed shock and sadness. Many said they had played its games for more than a decade.
“My youth was heavily marked by playing Hearthstone,” said one, while another lamented: “I’m so sad. I started playing Blizzard games from 2008… how do I say good bye?”.
Blizzard said new sales would be suspended in the coming days and players would receive further details.
The games to be suspended by midnight on Jan. 24 include ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Hearthstone’, ‘Warcraft III: Reforged’, Overwatch’, the ‘StarCraft’ series, ‘Diablo III’, and ‘Heroes of the Storm’, Blizzard said.
NetEase rose to become China’s second-biggest gaming company behind Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) in large part due to the deals it clinched in 2008 to be Blizzard’s publishing partner in China, when Blizzard ended its deal with The9 Ltd (NCTY.O).
NetEase later issued a statement in Chinese saying it was sorry to see Blizzard’s disclosure, while confirming that the two firms were unable to agree on key terms of cooperation.
In a statement in English, NetEase said that ending the licence agreements, which are set to expire on Jan. 23, would have no “material impact” on its results.
“We will continue our promise to serve our players well until the last minute. We will make sure our players’ data and assets are well protected in all of our games,” NetEase CEO William Ding said in a statement.
NetEase said the recently published ‘Diablo Immortal’, co-developed by NetEase and Blizzard, is covered by a separate long-term agreement, allowing its service to continue in China.
It said Blizzard’s games contributed a low-single-digit percentage to its total net revenue and net income in 2021 and the first nine months of 2022.
In a research report on Nov. 9, Daiwa Capital Markets estimated that the absence of Blizzard games could lower NetEase’s revenue by 6-8% next year.
This was based on an estimate that licensed games account for around 10% of NetEase’s total revenue and Blizzard accounts for 60-80% of licensed games.
Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Savio D’Souza, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Alexander Smith
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Nov 14 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said it bought more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW), , a rare significant foray into the technology sector by billionaire Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.
The news sent shares in TSMC up more than 6% in Taiwan on Tuesday, as it boosted investor sentiment for the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which saw its shares hit a two-year low last month due to a sharp slowdown in global chip demand.
In a Monday regulatory filing describing its U.S.-listed equity investments as of Sept. 30, Berkshire said it owned about 60.1 million American depositary shares of TSMC.
Berkshire also disclosed new stakes of $297 million in building materials company Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LPX.N) and $13 million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc (JEF.N). It exited an investment in Store Capital Corp (STOR.N), a real estate company that agreed in September to be taken private.
The filing did not specify whether Buffett or his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made specific purchases and sales. Investors often try to piggy back on what Berkshire buys. Larger investments are normally Buffett’s.
While Berkshire does not normally make big technology bets, it often prefers companies it perceives to have competitive advantages, often through their size.
TSMC, which makes chips for the likes of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Qulacomm (QCOM.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), posted an 80% jump in quarterly profit last month, but struck a more cautious note than usual on upcoming demand.
“I suspect Berkshire has a belief that the world cannot do without the products manufactured by Taiwan Semi,” said Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner, Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which owns Berkshire shares.
“Only a small number of companies that can amass the capital to deliver semiconductors, which are increasingly central to people’s lives,” he added.
Berkshire has had mixed success in technology.
Its more than six-year wager during the last decade in IBM Corp (IBM.N) did not pan out, but Berkshire is sitting on huge unrealized gains on its $126.5 billion stake in Apple, which Buffett views more as a consumer products company.
Apple is by far the largest investment in Berkshire’s $306.2 billion equity portfolio.
Berkshire disclosed the TSMC stake about 2-1/2 months after it began reducing a decade-old, multi-billion dollar stake in BYD Co (002594.SZ), China’s largest electric car company.
In the third quarter, Berkshire added to its stakes in Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), Celanese Corp (CE.N), Paramount Global (PARA.O) and RH (RH.N).
It also sold shares of Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), General Motors Co (GM.N), Kroger Co (KR.N) and US Bancorp (USB.N).
Buffett, 92, has run Berkshire since 1965. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also owns dozens of businesses such as the BNSF railroad, the Geico auto insurer, several energy and industrial companies, Fruit of the Loom and Dairy Queen.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Bradley Perrett
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TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Sony Group Corp’s (6758.T) gaming business is looking at fresh investment to bolster its push into PC and mobile, a senior executive said, as the PlayStation 5 maker competes for talent with deep-pocketed rivals and as industry dealmaking heats up.
“Further investments in areas that will strengthen the expansion on to PC, on to mobile and into live services, that’s definitely a possibility for us,” Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, told Reuters in an interview without providing further detail.
Sony, whose studios are known for single player console games such as “Spider-Man” and “God of War”, has outlined ambitious plans to release titles on PC and mobile and offer live service games, which provide continuous updated play.
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The radical shift is reflected in its recent deals including the $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, the studio behind the multiplayer “Destiny” franchise, which Sony operates outside its PlayStation Studios network.
Other investments include the purchase of a minority stake in Japanese developer FromSoftware, whose action role playing game “Elden Ring” has sold more than 16.6 million units.
“You should think of collaborations on the game development side first and foremost, but it’s also not unthinkable with our PlayStation Productions efforts that we explore opportunities,” Hulst said of the FromSoftware investment.
Sony is producing a growing number of game adaptations, with this year’s “Uncharted” movie grossing more than $400 million globally and a TV series based on “The Last of Us” franchise from its Naughty Dog studio launching on HBO next year.
Hulst, who is based in the Netherlands and took up his post in 2019, has overseen the growth of PlayStation Studios to 19 studios, with additions including Nixxes, which ports console games to PC, and mobile developer Savage Game Studios.
KEY DIFFERENTIATOR
Given the scope of the transformation targeted by the gaming business, analysts expect further dealmaking from Sony.
“I think that they’re still going to add studios,” said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.
The strength of PlayStation’s studio network has drawn praise as a key differentiator with Xbox maker Microsoft (MSFT.O), which is trying to buy Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O).
Sony gaming chief Jim Ryan has raised objection about the $69 billion mega-deal’s potential impact on PlayStation users.
“If Sony can pull off what they did with single player experiences but (as) multiplayer experiences across platforms, on the PC, on consoles and maybe even on the phone, then all bets are off,” said Toto, pointing to the success of online games such as Fortnite from Epic Games.
Sony’s push on to other platforms comes as it has struggled to produce enough PlayStation 5 units due to supply chain snarls. Its in-house studios are also developing titles for the next generation PlayStation VR2 headset, due to launch early next year.
Such headsets, which have attracted investment from players including Facebook parent Meta (META.O), are yet to break through and become a primary method for playing games. Pricing for the device has not been announced.
While “Horizon Forbidden West”, which launched in February, is “an open world and that’s not necessarily very suitable to a PSVR2 game,” Sony is designing “bespoke” titles such as “Horizon Call of the Mountain” for the system, Hulst said.
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Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman
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A Google sign is pictured outside the Google office in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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NEW DELHI, July 29 (Reuters) – India blocked a popular battle-royale format game from Krafton Inc (259960.KS), a South Korean company backed by China’s Tencent (0700.HK), using a law it has invoked since 2020 to ban Chinese apps on national security concerns, a source said.
Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) was removed from Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google Play Store and Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) App Store as of Thursday evening in India.
The removal of BGMI, which had more than 100 million users in India, comes after India’s 2020 ban of another Krafton title, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
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The PUBG crackdown was part of New Delhi’s ban of more than 100 mobile apps of Chinese origins, following a months-long border standoff between the nuclear-armed rivals.
The ban has expanded since to cover more than 300 apps, including popular gaming app ‘Free Fire’, owned by Singapore’s technology group Sea Ltd (SE.N).
Tencent held a 13.5% stake in Krafton as of end-March through an investment vehicle, according to Krafton’s regulatory filing.
Krafton shares slumped more than 9% on the news on Friday, later paring losses to trade down 4.5% as of afternoon trade in Seoul. The company said in May India accounted for a high single digit percentage of its revenue in the first quarter of this year.
A Google spokesperson said it blocked the game following a government directive, while India’s IT ministry and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
In Seoul, a Krafton spokesperson said the developer was talking to relevant authorities and companies to figure out the exact situation regarding the suspension in the two major app stores in India.
“The government does not intervene in which apps can function and which cannot. They intervene in digital security and privacy concerns, and BGMI complies with all guidelines. MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) has also noted that PUBG and BGMI are different games,” Krafton’s India CEO Sean Hyunil Sohn told news portal TechCrunch earlier this week.
‘CHINA INFLUENCE’
India invoked a section of its IT law to impose the ban, the source, who had direct knowledge but declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
Section 69A of India’s IT law allows the government to block public access to content in the interest of national security, among other reasons. Orders issued under the section are generally confidential in nature.
Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) and non-profit Prahar had repeatedly asked the government to investigate “China influence” of BGMI, Prahar president Abhay Mishra said. SJM is the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an influential Hindu nationalist group close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.
“In the so-called new avatar, the BGMI was no different from erstwhile PUBG with Tencent still controlling it in the background,” Mishra said.
The ban elicited strong online reactions from popular gamers in India on Twitter and YouTube.
“I hope our government understands that thousands of esports athletes and content creators and their life is dependent on BGMI,” tweeted Abhijeet Andhare, a Twitter user with more than 92,000 followers.
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Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi, Joyce Lee in Seoul; Additional reporting by Nupur Anand; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Clarence Fernandez and Muralikumar Anantharaman
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A representation of cryptocurrency Ethereum is seen next to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of Yuga Labs “Bored Ape Yacht Club” collection displayed on its website, in this illustration picture taken March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
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LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) – The company behind the “Bored Ape” series of NFTs has raised around $285 million worth of cryptocurrency by selling tokens which represent land in a virtual world game it says it is building.
Last year, U.S. start-up Yuga Labs created the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, blockchain-based tokens representing a set of 10,000 computer-generated cartoon apes.
As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – crypto assets that represent digital files such as images, video, or items in an online game – exploded in popularity, Bored Ape prices surged to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars each. read more
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They became one of the most prominent NFT brands, with Apes sold at top auction houses and owned by celebrities including Paris Hilton and Madonna. read more
Now, Yuga Labs – which raised $450 million in March in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz – has set its sights on the so-called “metaverse”. read more
In an online sale on April 30, Yuga Labs sold NFTs called “Otherdeeds”, which it said could be exchanged as plots of virtual land in a future Bored Ape-themed online environment called “Otherside.”
The “Otherdeeds” could only be bought using the project’s associated cryptocurrency, called ApeCoin, which launched in March.
There were 55,000 Otherdeeds for sale, priced at 305 ApeCoin each, and the company wrote on Twitter that these had sold out.
This means the sale raked in 16,775,000 ApeCoin, worth around $285 million as of Sunday, according to Reuters calculations based on the price of ApeCoin on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase at 1210 GMT.
It was not clear how the funds would be distributed, although the company said the ApeCoin would be “locked up” for one year.
The sale indicates the continued high demand for speculative, high-risk crypto assets related to online virtual worlds. NFTs are largely unregulated, and reports of scams, fakes and market manipulation are common. read more
While many are baffled by the idea of paying real money for land which does not physically exist, some virtual land NFTs have already fetched millions of dollars. read more
The Otherside metaverse will be a multi-player gaming environment, according to its website, which says it is currently under development.
Yuga Labs declined to say how many people were working on building Otherside or when it would be launched.
Yuga Labs’ Otherdeeds sale comes shortly after the Bored Ape Yacht Club official Instagram account was hacked and a phishing link posted, allowing scammers to steal victims’ NFTs.
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Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Hugh Lawson
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.