Epic Games Launches First NFT Game, ‘Blankos Block Party’

Epic Games has been one of the few major traditional game developers and publishers in the market to show a clear interest in NFTs. While the tier 1 gaming company hasn’t been particularly aggressive in the space yet, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has a notorious pro-developer attitude, and has expressed that NFTs can prove very useful in games – given enough time and development.

While Epic has likely hedged its bets, and will likely be enough to be a “second mover” — not quite the first to jump in, but certainly not the last — there’s been some traction this week as Epic has listed their first ever NFT game, “Blanko’s Block Party,” on the Epic Games Store.

Epic games and Blanko’s Block Party

Game studio Mythical Games unleashed Blanko’s Block Party about two years ago with an open beta, and Mythical has since claimed that over one million players have engaged with the title. Today, the Epic Games Store added Blanko’s Block Party to its offerings, making the title the first Web3 or NFT-based title to see the Epic Games storefront.

We first covered Mythical’s vision for Blanko, and Web3 gaming at large, back in 2018 when the company completed a $16 million fundraising round. The game takes a very Roblox-esque presentation with the allure of a vinyl toy culture that is probably best visually compared to real life through brands like Medicom’s BE@RBRICKs, Funko Pop and the like. NFTs are not required to play the game, but give users personalization plus-ups, much like those available in mainstream titles like Fortnite or CS:GO.

In 2020, Blanko’s Block Party was in open beta. The past two years have seen a number of new partnerships, including artist partners such as Deadmau5 and brand partners such as Burberry.

Sweeney’s attitude

Epic Games hosting Blankos is certainly the biggest story of the year so far for Mythical, and arguably one of the biggest stories of the year for Web3 games.

Flagship Microsoft (MSFT) title Minecraft has shown reluctance to integrate or support NFTs, but Epic Games has shown that their door is open. | Source: NASDAQ: MSFT on TradingView.com

Featured image from blankos.com, Charts from TradingView.com

The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.

This op-ed represents the views of the author, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Bitcoinist. Bitcoinist is an advocate of creative and financial freedom alike.