Animoca Brands, who recently secured a partnership with Formula 1® to develop a blockchain game, announced a collaboration with MLB Champions developer Lucid Sight, and its acquisition of Football-Stars creator Stryking Entertainment.

In press releases on April 3-4, the Hong Kong-based game developer announced deals that will position it at the forefront of the blockchain gaming industry.

On Wednesday, Animoca Brands became the exclusive partner of MLB Champions developer Lucid Sight to promote and distribute Lucid Sight games in Asia. The partnership, while giving Animoca Brands a share of revenue the games generate in Asia, also gives them the right to use assets from Lucid Sight’s games in at least two blockchain-based titles.

Co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu, expressed his excitement at the partnership:

“We are proud to partner with Lucid Sight and its deeply experienced game development team as we continue to work with major brands to create blockchain-based true digital ownership of in-game assets. Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan – territories that are also pioneers in blockchain adoption – and we see high potential for MLB Champions™ in the region.”

Lucid Sight are currently working on a number of titles, including Ethereum-powered MMOs Crypto Space Commander and Cryptic Conjure. The development team recently raised $11 million to launch Scarcity Engine, designed to bridge the gap between blockchain and traditional gaming platforms, and is expected later this year.

Stryking Acquisition

On Thursday, Animoca Brands announced its full acquisition of Stryking Entertainment — creators of the popular fantasy sports game Football Stars — for a total of €3 million.

Through this acquisition, Animoca Brands seeks to develop the game further — having raised $4.6 million AUD to do so — by introducing blockchain gaming elements such as collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on football players and clubs.

Stryking, a German-based company, is licensed to use all club logos and player images from the Bundesliga, Germany’s top football league; as well as owning a license from the most successful club in German football history, Bayern Munich to produce dedicated content for fans. Indeed, the club will be promoting Football Stars to their global fanbase, which includes over 60 million social media followers.

CEO of Stryking Dirk Weyel revealed they are “thrilled about the partnership”, citing Animoca Brands’ knowledge of NFT-based games and their access to Asian markets. He added:

“Together, we are building the next generation of NFT-based collectible card games in partnership with powerful sports brands. We strongly believe in the first mover advantage that Animoca Brands has established in the fast-growing blockchain gaming segment and look forward to the exciting work and opportunities ahead of us.”

Blockchain Sports Giants

Animoca Brands is well on its way to becoming an extremely prominent figure in blockchain gaming, particularly in the sports genre. The company made headlines last week when they partnered with motor sports behemoth Formula 1® to create the blockchain game F1® Delta Time.