Hoping to expand its footprint and user base, the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection has announced a new on-chain game that will be launched in the first quarter of 2024. Pudgy World Alpha is claimed to be a “new era of blockchain-backed experiences” that will make Pudgy Penguins a three-pronged product: a game, a toy and an NFT collection.
The native Web3 digital collectibles have already crossed over from on-chain to the real world, as a collection of physical Pudgy Toys launched in Walmart stores in the U.S. in September. The toys have opened the doors of Web3 to consumers who prefer physical products and disrupted the competing toy market by introducing a new form of ownership and digital experience.
“Pudgy World is the digital experience that closes the loop for our physical products. By having Pudgy World and merchandise that are easily accessible and marketed to the masses, we serve as the first NFT and blockchain touchpoint for the public.”
Pudgy Penguins is one of the first projects to attempt to combine the three product types to appeal to the highest number of people.
Many companies in the physical toy market are working to incorporate technology into their products to maintain their relevance in an increasingly digital world. Pudgy Penguins seamlessly merges technology with real-world items by giving owners of Pudgy Toys their own NFT.
Digital collectibles projects are increasingly introducing new experiences to their communities to attract more buyers. With Pudgy World and Pudgy Toys, owners of the NFT collection have a new exclusive experience, combining both the physical and digital.
Closing the circle, on-chain gaming projects are also improving their reach and mechanics to become more appealing to players used to Web2 interfaces in order to grow their user base. By making merchandise available to millions of people in brick-and-mortar stores, Pudgy World hopes to onboard a new demographic into Web3 games.
In the announcement of the new game on X, the team said, “Providing a seamless and immersive on-chain experience between the physical and digital is core to our mission, and we are excited to take the next leap in bringing blockchain technology to the rest of the World.”
Clothing giant Zara has recently announced a series of t-shirts inspired by the Okay Bears NFT collection. Like them, other Web3 projects are likely to follow the path of Pudgy Penguins in bringing a new era of Web3 mainstream adoption and merging of real-life and on-chain worlds.
