blockworks.co
Sony Group’s internet services division is offering a Web3 incubation program in partnership with multi-chain decentralized app (dapp) hub Astar Network.
The program will be jointly hosted by Singapore-based Startale Labs, a company led by Astar’s CEO Sota Watanabe, and will run from mid-March to mid-June. Startale Labs is a developer of dapps and other infrastructure like wallets.
In April last year, Sony Network Communications launched a Singapore-based business to explore NFT-related development outsourcing and consulting.
The three-month incubation program will begin accepting applications on Feb. 17 and close on March 6. Most of the program will be conducted online, with communication about mentoring and Web3 sessions on Slack. The demo day will be in person at Sony Group’s headquarters in Tokyo during Japan Blockchain Week in mid-June.
Watanabe said 10 to 15 Web3 projects from around the world will be selected for the program, which coincides with an effort to attract developers in partnership with Toyota.
Global VC firms and Web3 companies will participate in the business and technology strategy sessions. Participants will also have access to making direct contacts and getting feedback from companies like Web3 Foundation and Alchemy.
Sony will consider projects that show promise for investment opportunities.
The Japanese conglomerate was already actively exploring opportunities in the Web3 space. In November, its subsidiary Sony Interactive Entertainment published a patent that suggested NFTs could soon be integrated into the company’s line of video game consoles, PlayStation.
The Sony patent, “Tracking Unique In-Game Digital Assets Using Tokens on a Distributed Ledger,” covers a system for tracking digital assets associated with video games.
The digital assets may be in-game digital assets like in-game items or characters, assets representing moments of gameplay like video clips or images, the patent says.
“Individuals often find it meaningful to own or use unique physical items related to respected celebrities or activities,” a background note of the patent says, citing baseball memorabilia as an example.
Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami and Sega are among other gaming companies that have launched NFT projects.
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