LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today at the 2021 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), broadcast around the globe, Mythical Games announced the Early Access phase of its free-to-play open-world multiplayer game Blankos Block Party, and revealed upcoming collaborations with some of the biggest names in fashion, music and art. From Burberry to deadmau5, these high-profile collaborations intersect with the world of playable NFTs through collectible digital vinyl toys and accessories that allow players to unlock the value of their time and monetary investments in Blankos Block Party’s play-to-earn economy. Today’s announcements come on the heels of Mythical’s Series B financing, in which it raised $75 million from investors including WestCap, 01advisors and Gary Vaynerchuk’s VaynerFund. Watch the full keynote here.
The playable NFTs in Blankos Block Party have the same utility as any character or accessory you might buy or earn in another game, but because of the blockchain technology behind them, players actually own what they buy and can sell them in real-money transactions when they no longer want or need them, unlocking the value of their time and money spent. In most games, the billions of dollars players have invested in digital items are locked away from them, with no way to benefit or recoup their costs; the content and value are inaccessible to players beyond occasional gameplay advantages or selling for in-game currency because their purchase is actually just a lease or licensing agreement. But in Blankos Block Party, collectors truly own their items and can take an active role in increasing the rarity of their digital collectibles through customization, upgrades, competing in special events and more, giving them the opportunity to profit from their gameplay.
The inclusive world of Blankos Block Party is styled like a giant block party, where players can compete in and explore a variety of gameplay types, including racing, shooting, tag, collection and more, across minigames built by Mythical, or by other players. With a simple-to-use and intuitive build mode where imagination is the only limit, anyone can create and share their own unique levels - no coding skills or private servers needed!
Gamers can tune in on Friday, June 18 to watch and even join some of their favorite streamers in Blankos, including Karl Jacob’s karlnetwork, Captain Sparklez and KaraCorvus for the chance to get a playable NFT Twitch Drop.
“We’re gamers ourselves, so one of our biggest priorities with Blankos Block Party is to create a fun, engaging space for players to interact with and explore, but we also see player ownership as the future of games,” said John Linden, CEO of Mythical. “Being featured at E3, announcing our first partnerships with world-famous brands and creators, and having one of the first NFT drops on Twitch - this is a huge moment for Mythical and a big step forward in our goal of making player-owned economies and play-to-earn games a reality. Our ecosystem introduces digital item fluidity that unlocks the value of a player’s collection and gives them the freedom of ownership; gone are the days of a player’s inventory being filled with items they never use anymore or rare collectibles they can only display. Through Blankos Block Party and the Mythical Marketplace, players are invited into the economy and provided a safe, trusted way to verify and sell their in-game goods for real money - essentially opening up a way to earn not just items, but income through gameplay."
Mythical announced several upcoming collaborations at E3, including:
- deadmau5 x Blankos: Joel Zimmerman, more commonly known as deadmau5 (pronounced ‘dead mouse’), is one of the world’s most respected electronic music producers of modern times. The multiple JUNO Award-winning and GRAMMY®-nominated artist is collaborating with Mythical on a Blanko and accessory package modeled after his beloved cat, Professor Meowingtons, and the infamous deadmau5 helmet. The collab will drop in Summer 2021.
- Burberry x Blankos: Burberry is a global luxury brand, headquartered in London. Founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry, the brand leverages the strength of its heritage to make luxury clothing, leather goods, accessories, fragrance and beauty products that marry the finest craftsmanship and design with digital innovation. As an outerwear brand founded by a bold thinker, Burberry was the outfitter of choice for explorers who pioneered aviation and arctic exploration. Burberry has always given its customers the freedom to venture into new environments and the courage to step into the unknown. With its upcoming Blankos NFT drop, releasing in Summer 2021, Burberry is forging a new path into the gaming industry.
- The Marathon Clothing x Blankos: The brand conceptualized and owned by the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, and carried on by his brother Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom, will lend its forward-thinking creative vision to Blankos later this year.
“Pushing boundaries and discovering new ways to innovate with our communities have always been at the heart of what we do as a brand,” said Rod Manly, chief marketing officer at Burberry. “Being a part of this creative and pioneering community with Mythical Games is an incredible synergy for us and a perfect evolution of our existing engagement with the gaming communities. Launching our limited-edition Burberry Blanko in Blankos Block Party is our first exploration into the world of NFTs; unlocking an entire new platform of possibilities, empowering digital natives and gamers to own a piece of our brand and to actively engage and participate with our house codes. We are incredibly excited to embark on this ground-breaking journey into the future of digital ownership in gaming.”
“What Mythical is doing with Blankos is at the forefront of what’s next in gaming,” said Deadmau5. “Not only will players get to play a cool game, they’ll get access to a unique NFT offering for the mau5 world. The technology is awesome.”
Mythical, who has previously worked with world-famous vinyl toy designers including Pete Fowler, Jon-Paul Kaiser, Junko Mizuno and Tara McPherson, also announced new artist collabs including:
- El Grand Chamaco: An illustrator based in the small village of Los Ramones, El Grand Chamaco’s artworks are inspired by his Mexican roots, adopting the colorful vibrant palette of the culture into his 3D graphics. After years of perfecting his style, he gained his fame as a prominent illustrator and character designer—reimagining pop culture characters into his own depiction.
- Hackatao: Hackatao, an artist duo born in Milan in 2007, has pioneered the crypto art space since 2018 with their unmistakable style. Their name is derived from "Hack" for the pleasure of discovering what’s hidden under the skin; "Tao" for Yin and Yang, their creative dynamic balance.
- Michael Lau: Often called “the Godfather of Toy Figures,” acclaimed Hong Kong–based artist Michael Lau is renowned for his collectable vinyl toys and graffiti-style illustrations. His award-winning work has had a significant effect on toy manufacturers, as well as street culture, including artists and musicians, throughout the world.
- Quiccs: Quiccs Maiquez is a visual artist who works in several mediums. Associated with the street art collective known as Pilipinas Street Plan and a creator for Adidas, his work is extremely vibrant and energetic, speaking to the youthful creative spirit that underlies Quiccs' many passions.
- Thomas Han: L.A.-based artist Thomas Han, known for his colorful , psychedelic aesthetic, and character-centric work, creates pieces with a deceptively cute appearance hiding a dark undertone of destruction and hedonism.
“Blankos Block Party caught our attention because we feel their digital vinyl toys are the virtual cousins of our Podmork statues,” said artist duo Hackatao. “Our art reveals an unconscious flow of what lies beneath the skin and we are bringing that vibe to our Blankos collaboration, which we think will resonate strongly with the game’s creative community. We also wanted to work with Mythical because they are raising the fidelity of blockchain games and, as artists and collectors ourselves, the power and possibility of playable NFTs excites us.”
Blankos Block Party and the Mythical Marketplace are built on a private EOSIO blockchain using a Proof of Authority model that is more environmentally friendly and sustainable than the Proof of Work model (neither the game nor Blankos NFTs require any crypto mining). With Blankos Block Party and its Marketplace, Mythical aims to drive mass adoption of ownership in games through NFTs and blockchain technology, opening the door to a new kind of global game economy where creators are owners and players are asset holders. In the recent Open Beta, the Blankos community held more than 100,000 playable NFTs; as the game's audience continues to grow, earlier assets and specialized releases will become more scarce and likely more valuable in the secondary market, creating rarity on a mass market scale.
The Series B round announced last week brings Mythical’s total funding raised to $120 million, which it will use to further drive mass adoption of ownership in games through playable NFTs with the growth of Blankos Block Party, expansion to other gaming platforms, and new projects launching later this year and in 2022.
Players can sign up now to join Blankos Block Party in Early Access on PC. The Mythical Marketplace, where players can buy and sell Blankos in peer-to-peer transactions for real money, is currently in its Alpha phase and will continue rolling out to players this summer.
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About Mythical Games:
Acknowledged by Forbes Disruptive Technology Companies To Watch in 2019 and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas 2021, Mythical is a next-gen games technology company creating a universal gaming ecosystem by leveraging blockchain technology and NFTs for tools that enable players, creators, artists, brands and game developers to become stakeholders and owners in new game economies.
Led by gaming industry veterans, the team specializes in building games around player-owned economies and has helped develop major franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Marvel Strike Force and Skylanders and a marketplace team of experts from Stubhub, Charles Schwab and QuantCo.
Blankos Block Party is developed by Mythical in partnership with Third Kind Games, and will be self-published by Mythical.
About Third Kind Games
Third Kind Games is an independent UK videogame studio based in Leamington Spa. Founded by veterans of the gaming industry, with an impressive track record of developing critically acclaimed AAA games, for the likes of Activision, Sony, Nintendo, Codemasters, Crytek, and many more for well over a decade.
For more information, visit https://www.thirdkindgames.com or follow Third Kind on Twitter.
