Club Penguin, move over. The NFT-connected toys known as Pudgy Penguins, which made an appearance at Walmart earlier this year, are now advancing into the online gaming market.Their hangout will be “Pudgy World,” an interactive virtual playground accessible to both non-fans and Pudgy Penguins NFT holders and owners of toys.The Pudgy Penguins CEO, Luca Netz, announced on Saturday at the contemporary art conference Art Basel in Miami that the platform’s early-access version will launch before April of next year, providing players with both narrative-driven and open-ended gameplay choices.
“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 fat, non-flying Antarctic creatures suffered from internal backbiting and management changes for a while before rebounding and, in September, announcing a line of real, tangible toys, such as plush toys and figurines, that would be available for purchase at 2,000 Walmart stores nationwide.One of the NFT brand’s first significant forays into popular consumer culture occurred with this arrangement.
According to Netz, TechCrunch, the toys are anticipated to generate sales of over $10 million in the second half of this year.The release of Pudgy World coincides with toy companies releasing more physical toys that are connected to virtual games for a generation of kids who grew up with technology.Toy manufacturer Spin Master introduced Bitzee, a virtual pet that resembles a tamagotchi and comes in a portable box, last summer.In the meanwhile, users of Hot Wheels’ toy-car kit can enter an immersive virtual environment called Rift Rally Game, which was introduced earlier this year.As previously reported by CoinDesk, every Pudgy Penguins toy will include a scannable code that contains a birth certificate for a digital “Forever Pudgy,” or a special character that resides inside Pudgy World.
According to Pudgy Penguins, players can explore Pudgy World as their own customisable characters.According to the firm, Pudgy and Peaches, the brand’s original “Hero Characters,” will also be present in the virtual world.When the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection debuted in July 2021, it sold out in a matter of minutes.According to Open Sea data, since then, the collection has expanded to 8,888 NFTs owned by over 4,000 individuals.The floor price of the collection has increased from $90 more than two years ago to about $27,000.According to CoinGecko data, the market capitalization of the collection is around $250 million.