Notre Game, an Animoca Brands firm, is developing an MMA mobile strategic combat game using NFTs in collaboration with Singaporean MMA brand One Championship. The One Fight Arena game will be released in early 2024, with early player testing beginning later this year.
The athletes in the game will become NFTs, providing owners with provable authenticity and character rarity statistics. One Fight Arena will also be available as a free-to-play mobile game for people who prefer to play without using tokens.
According to the statement, the One game will include the brand’s roster of diverse fighters and will focus on “strategic gameplay” from a first-person perspective. The game also seeks to recreate each fighter’s experience, beginning with their unique fighting career.
While little more is known about the One Game, One Championship co-founder and Group President Hua Fung Teh believes it will provide MMA fans a fresh experience.
Animoca Brands plans to raise $1 billion for its metaverse investing fund early this year, down from an earlier target of $2 billion. “We had initially looked at a target of $1 billion; whether it goes upsized or downsized, we don’t know yet,” Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu said in a Bloomberg Twitter Spaces debate. “Given the market circumstances, it could be less.” Siu earlier told Nikkei that the Animoca Capital fund might raise up to $1 billion.
“We’re thrilled to be working with an industry leader in Animoca Brands to launch One Fight Arena, our first Web3-enhanced video game,” Teh said in a statement. “This collaboration will allow us to engage with our global fanbase on a deeper level.”
Yat Siu, Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, had a similar viewpoint on why the game is being built with Web3 components.
“Our partnership with One to create One Fight Arena will enable fans of the world’s largest martial arts organization to access a novel gaming experience with true digital ownership at its core,” Siu said.
The involvement of Animoca and One comes as Asia becomes a more important market for—and producer of—Web3 games. For example, DappRadar research published this month indicated that Asia might eventually control 80% of the global Web3 gaming business, a sentiment shared by other industry leaders in recent months.
