Move
over,
Club
Penguin.
Pudgy
Penguins,
the
NFT-linked
toys
that
waddled
into
Walmart
earlier
this
year,
are
marching
into
a
new
industry:
online
gaming.
They’ll
be
chilling
in
“Pudgy
World”
–
an
interactive
digital
playground
for
Pudgy
Penguins
NFT
holders
and
toy
owners
as
well
as
the
uninitiated.
The
platform’s
early-access
version
will
launch
sometime
before
next
April,
offering
players
both
narrative-driven
and
open-ended
gameplay
options,
Pudgy
Penguins
CEO
Luca
Netz
said
Saturday
at
contemporary
art
convention
Art
Basel
in
Miami.
“Pudgy
Penguin
fans
have
long
been
waiting
for
more
ways
to
interact
with
their
characters,”
Netz
said
in
a
statement.
“Having
a
place
like
Pudgy
World
will
allow
players
to
take
their
fandom
to
the
next
level.”
Launched
in
July
2021,
the
NFT
project
of
chubby
flightless
Antarctic
creatures
endured
a
period
of
internal
backbiting
involving
management
changes,
before
recovering
and
ultimately,
in
September,
announcing
a
line
of
tangible,
in-real-life
toys,
including
plushies
and
figurines,
to
be
sold
across
2,000
Walmarts
in
the
U.S.
The
deal
marked
one
of
the
first
major
breakthroughs
by
an
NFT
brand
into
mainstream
consumer
culture.
The
toys
are
expected
to
rake
in
more
than
$10
million
in
sales
during
the
second
half
of
this
year,
Netz
told
TechCrunch.
Pudgy
World’s
debut
comes
as
toymakers
increasingly
roll
out
tangible
toys
alongside
virtual
gameplay
tie-ins
for
a
generation
of
digital-native
consumers.
Last
summer,
toy
maker
Spin
Master
released
Bitzee,
a
tamagotchi-like
virtual
pet
that
comes
in
a
handheld
box.
Meanwhile,
Hot
Wheels
earlier
this
year
debuted
its
Rift
Rally
Game,
an
immersive
virtual
world
accessible
to
owners
of
its
toy-car
kit.
Each
Pudgy
Penguins
toy
will
come
with
a
scannable
code
containing
a
birth
certificate
for
a
digital
‘Forever
Pudgy,’
or
a
unique
character
that
lives
inside
Pudgy
World,
CoinDesk
previously
reported.
Players
can
explore
Pudgy
World
as
their
own
customizable
characters,
according
to
Pudgy
Penguins.
The
virtual
world
will
also
feature
the
brand’s
first
“Hero
Characters:”
Pudgy
and
Peaches,
the
company
said.
The
Pudgy
Penguins
NFT
collection
first
dropped
in
July
2021,
selling
out
within
minutes.
Since
then,
the
collection
has
grown
to
8,888
NFTs
held
by
more
than
4,000
people,
Open
Sea
data
shows.
The
collection’s
floor
price
is
roughly
$27,000,
up
from
$90
more
than
two
years
ago.
The
collection’s
market
cap
stands
at
nearly
$250
million,
CoinGecko
data
shows.