decrypt.co
Notre Game, an Animoca Brands company, is making a mixed martial arts (MMA) mobile strategy fighting game with NFTs alongside the Singaporean MMA brand One Championship. The One Fight Arena game is currently slated for an early 2024 launch, with early player testing beginning later this year.
The game’s athletes will become NFTs in the game to provide owners with verifiable authenticity and statistics on character rarity. One Fight Arena will also be released as a free-to-play mobile game for those looking to play entirely for free with no token elements in the mix.
The One game will include the brand’s roster of different fighters and will focus on “strategic gameplay” via a first-person point of view, according to the announcement. The game also intends to simulate each fighter’s experience, starting from the very beginning of their respective fighting careers.
While not much else has been revealed about the One game, One Championship co-founder and Group President Hua Fung Teh believes it’s a way to give MMA fans a new experience.
“We’re thrilled to work with an industry leader in Animoca Brands to launch One Fight Arena, our first Web3-enhanced video game,” Teh said in a statement. “This partnership will give us the opportunity to engage with our global fanbase at a deeper level.”
Animoca Brands’ Executive Chairman Yat Siu shared a similar stance on why the game is being developed with Web3 elements.
“Our partnership with One to create One Fight Arena will enable the fans of the world’s largest martial arts organization to access a novel gaming experience with true digital ownership at its core,” Siu said in a statement.
Animoca and One’s play comes as Asia is increasingly a prime market for—and producer of—Web3 games. For instance, a DappRadar report this month stated that Asia could eventually dominate 80% of the entire Web3 gaming market, a sentiment other industry players have echoed in recent months.