Blockchain
CONFIDENTIAL CREATIVE AND NC LABS ANNOUNCE ANIMATED SERIES, “BLOCKCHAIN BUDDIES” — PIONEERING DECENTRALIZED ENTERTAINMENT WITH A LINE OF INTERACTIVE NFT PROJECTS
Known for their animated work with Journey, Maroon 5, P. Diddy, and Peacock Kids/DreamWorks TV, the partners today announced a full team of creatives and advisors for the interactive animated NFT project
Confidential Creative has partnered with NC Labs to produce an animated NFT project called “Blockchain Buddies,” the first in a line of original intellectual properties under a soon to be announced decentralized entertainment studio. The project will be a first of its kind interactive animated project, with NFT holding community members empowered to shape the future of the creative universe.
Confidential Creative is co-founded by Andrew Seth Cohen and Ryan Kieffer. NC Labs is co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Francisco Lopes, Harrison Shulman and Francisco Schmidberger.
Other launch partners include lead developer João Abrantes, writer Brandon F. Johnson, and A-list entertainment lawyer Jason Liberman. Advisors on the project also include NFT influencers and analysts, including iAmFuture, Preston Johnson (aka SportsCheetah formerly of ESPN and co-creator of PUNKS Comic), and members of The Last Slice collective.
As part of the announcement, the Blockchain Buddies team has shared its first piece of concept art, showing the world of Genesis City where characters and other kinds of IP will live. Designed by YueTong Tsen, the piece will also be later auctioned off as a 1/1 NFT. The project launches with a discord channel led by veteran moderator Peachy. Additional details on the project will be released on social media via Twitter @BCB_NFT and discord (join here: https://discord.gg/A7QbDvUmtd) with an incentive structure for reveals. To start, the first Character Design illustration, done by Ashton Holmes, will be revealed as newcomers join the Blockchain Buddies Discord community. Additional reveals and updates will be forthcoming as the community grows–with giveaways, competitions, live events and more to come.
Lopes and Shulman previously created the first NFT marketplace with legal licensing and patent-pending smart contracts. Lopes is also the co-founder of LINK Agency, a TikTok-focused marketing firm that has generated over 3 billion organic impressions for its clients, while Shulman previously led go-to-market strategies for Sony PlayStation while a consultant at EY. Lopes graduated from Stanford’s MBA program and Masters in Physics Engineer from Tecnico, University of Lisbon, and Shulman has attended Columbia’s MBA program and graduated from Cornell University.
Cohen and Kieffer founded Confidential Creative in 2018 as a creative agency and production company specializing in animation. Positioned at the intersection of the music, television, video game, eSports, and film industries, the company develops, produces and promotes strategic animated content. Current and past clients include Journey, Maroon 5, NBCUniversal, Peacock Kids/DreamWorks TV, Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talk” series, Interscope Records, P. Diddy’s Revolt TV, A&E/History Channel, eSports teams SK Gaming and Alliance, Kesha, Louis the Child, Brownies & Lemonade, lovelytheband and more. Their core team of artists come from across the world, which gives their content international flavor and maximizes its impact.
Abrantes was pursuing a PhD in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at EPFL before switching paths to found Optimal Labs, a company on a mission to grow safer, healthier food by deploying fully autonomous indoor farms outside every city on earth. Optimal is backed by leading tech VCs, including Founders Fund, who backed companies such as SpaceX, Palantir and Square from the start. He has a Masters in Physics from Tecnico, University of Lisbon.
Liberman is an attorney and partner at The Corporate Practice based in Los Angeles. Known for his work representing A-list musical artists, he specializes in corporate and business transaction law, estate planning and employment law. Johnson is a screenwriter, animation director and experiential story creative developing slates of projects alongside talent, executives and production groups for streaming, film and interactive mediums. Johnson also operates as a Team Lead for Fiverr’s Community Growth Program, hosting events and fostering relationships between sponsors, freelancers and supporters of the Gig Economy.
Cohen and Kieffer are also known for their work with BEAR NFT, a full service NFT agency and Metavere PR and event production company, that they co-founded with Blake Berlinger and Joseph Schwartz. BEAR NFT spearheaded the first ever multi-artist live performance music and arts festival in Decentraland, “TO THE MOON,” which drew over 700 attedees in early July 2021 and featured performances and curated NFTs by Ookay, Win and Woo, Autograf, SNBRN, Fred Thurst (as Dr. Fresch). They also recently organized the premiere Decentraland Halloween party and concert, “NFTS ARE DEAD,” which drew over 1,000 attendees and featured a custom Hell-themed venue build and horror maze designed in conjunction with The Last Slice. BEAR NFT also handled marketing and press promotion for Banquet Labs’ noted Apollo 11-themed virtual activation in Decetraland, produced in partnership with the Aldrin Family Foundation, which featured the launch of a new spaced themed-fashion brand, including virtual wearables, by noted fashion designer Nick Graham.
Additional information on the Blockchain Buddies project can be found on their website or discord. Interested community members can also follow on social media on Twitter at @BCB_NFT for regular updates and announcements.
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2025 BGA State of the Industry Report
MENA Emerges as Global Growth Engine for Blockchain Gaming, BGA 2025 Report Finds
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has emerged as the fastest-rising region in blockchain gaming, now representing nearly one-fifth of all industry professionals surveyed by the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA), according to the newly released 2025 BGA State of the Industry Report.
The findings were unveiled on stage at the Global Blockchain Show Abu Dhabi 2025 by Sebastien Borget, Co-President of the BGA and Co-Founder of The Sandbox, during a panel discussion titled ‘Web3 Gaming’s Big Bet’ with Yat Siu, Chairman of Animoca Brands, and Cathy Hackl, CEO of Future Dynamics, moderated by Wissam Younane, CEO, Entrepreneur Middle East.
“Sharing this year’s BGA State of the Industry Report in Abu Dhabi shows the promise and huge potential of blockchain gaming’s next phase, and MENA’s rapid growth is a big signal that new regions around the world are stepping into leadership roles,” said Borget. “What we’re seeing in the data is an industry becoming more global, more disciplined, and more focused on building great games for real players.”
MENA’s representation has surged from virtually no presence in the survey sample just five years ago — under 1% in 2021 — to 19.8% of respondents in 2025, marking the most pronounced regional shift since the survey began. When combined with Africa’s steady growth, rising from 0.5% in 2021 to 5.5% in 2025, the two regions now account for more than a quarter of all global responses to the survey.
This momentum reflects a broader realignment in the gaming and technology landscape. MENA has become one of the world’s fastest-growing gaming markets, underpinned by a youthful, digitally-native population and extensive government investment into gaming, esports, and digital infrastructure. As global capital increasingly flows into the region through strategic acquisitions, large-scale development initiatives, and major esports events, blockchain gaming’s rising professional footprint signals that MENA is actively shaping the future of the sector.
The BGA’s growth across MENA and Africa has been strongly attributed to the leadership and regional advocacy of Yasmina Kazitani, who was elected by the BGA membership as the organization’s first female Co-President in March 2025.
An Algerian-born ecosystem builder with deep ties across both regions, Kazitani has focused on community partnerships and grassroots outreach in emerging markets, broadening participation while championing access for previously underrepresented groups. She is also a long-standing advocate for gender diversity and inclusion as Co-Founder of the Women in Web3 Alliance, working to reduce barriers to entry and elevate female leadership within the industry.
“The survey results reflect what we see on the ground: new communities with new talent and stewardship,” said Kazitani. “With more voices entering the conversation, we are reminded that diverse representation is essential because this is what influences the ideas, products, and priorities that will define our industry’s next phase. A broader range of perspectives strengthens decision-making, contributes to a more resilient ecosystem, and ultimately underpins a global industry that better reflects its players and creates games that resonate across cultures.”
This increasing focus on diversity and broader participation was reflected directly in the survey methodology itself. For the first time, the BGA survey was offered in multiple languages beyond English, resulting in nearly a quarter of responses being submitted in other languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese, with the majority received in Arabic. This expansion has provided a more accurate picture of industry participation while lowering barriers to inclusion in non-English-speaking markets.
Beyond its geographic findings, the report provides a comprehensive snapshot of a maturing industry navigating a challenging market environment. Respondents highlight rising confidence in regulatory clarity as a key driver of growth, alongside an increasing focus on high-quality game development and sustainable business models. At the same time, industry professionals identify scams and fraud as the greatest threats to credibility, funding scarcity as the most pressing operational constraint, and AI-enabled exploitation as a growing concern.
Key takeaways from the BGA 2025 State of the Industry Report are highlighted below:
Respondent Demographics
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19.8% of respondents come from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), up from under 1% in 2021.
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22.7% female participation marks the highest level recorded in the survey’s history.
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32.6% of respondents work in studios or publishing, dominating industry representation.
Industry Drivers
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64.4% expect policy and regulation to have a positive impact on industry development.
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29.5% cite high-quality game launches as the primary driver of future industry success.
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27.5% point to sustainable, revenue-driven business models as a key growth factor.
Industry Challenges
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36.0% view scams and fraud as the greatest threat to industry credibility.
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32.6% report lack of funding or investment as their company’s biggest operational challenge.
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38.9% fear AI-enabled cheating, bots, and exploits as the largest risk of AI adoption.
The post MENA Emerges as Global Growth Engine for Blockchain Gaming, BGA 2025 Report Finds appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.
Prize AI Technologies, a pioneering Web3 company that integrates AI with physical entertainment machines and blockchain rewards, has launched $PRIZE utility token presale, raising over $100,000 in the first week. Targeting the $400 billion global arcade, casino, and vending market, Prize AI Technologies has built a full-stack ecosystem combining a consumer app, operator dashboard, staking and CertiK-audited smart contracts to reward customers, optimise operations and automate loyalty.
The $PRIZE Token Powers a comprehensive consumer app that enables direct connection to arcade machines, vending units and casino equipment. The platform supports fiat and crypto payments with integrated wallet and bank-withdrawal features, automatically delivering 4-cent crypto rewards per dollar spent. Users receive location-based alerts for nearby machines, promotions and giveaways through the app’s intelligent notification system.
The platform provides an AI-driven dashboard for venue operators, delivering insights on customer behaviour, peak hours and machine profitability. The system enables automated, real-time marketing campaigns with performance tracking capabilities and includes anomaly detection with proactive maintenance alerts. Through transparent profit-sharing, net profits flow directly to token holders via smart contracts.
The infrastructure features staking capabilities offering up to 33% APR real yields derived from verified machine revenue, all secured through a CertiK-audited innovative contract framework.
Presale participants can access Stage 1 pricing at $0.01 per token. The company has launched a $1.5 million airdrop, distributing 5000 tokens each to 2000 eligible users, with a double airdrop bonus of 10,000 tokens for purchases over $100. A 6 million token giveaway will also award 20 winners with 300,000 tokens each.
“We are modernizing an industry that is lagging in tech. With AI and $PRIZE, everyday machines become powerful marketing and rewards engines,” said a prize AI Technologies spokesperson.
The market opportunity spans a $400 billion industry with 1.9% CAGR growth over five years. Prize AI Technologies has selected Australia as its pilot market, leveraging over 200,000 arcade and vending machines. Future expansion phases target Japan’s $22.4 billion gaming market with 6.9% CAGR growth and Southeast Asia’s $14.8 billion gaming segment.
Prize AI Technologies delivers decentralised, AI-powered marketing, rewards and analytics tools worldwide for entertainment venues.
The post Prize AI Technologies Launches $PRIZE Token Presale appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Blockchain
Sovrun’s Vision Meets Hyperliquid’s Infrastructure and Virtuals’ AI: A New Era for Gaming
Sovrun’s vision takes a bold step forward with its groundbreaking milestone: one of the first gaming projects to secure a listing on Hyperliquid, a high-performance decentralized exchange redefining liquidity for digital assets.
Liquidity is the backbone of successful gaming economies. Hyperliquid is designed to not only deliver liquidity but also visibility for growing ecosystems, transforming game economies into robust financial systems.
Sovrun, formerly BreederDAO, helped define the rise of blockchain games by developing modular smart contracts that augmented, optimized, and automated in-game functionalities opening up unprecedented opportunities in gaming. Sovrun is well known for its Axie Infinity proprietary breeding bots that allowed them to supply over 120,000 in-game assets to 40,000 players, boosting player liquidity and driving growth.
In their next phase, Sovrun is empowering not only asset creation, but the co-creation of entire virtual worlds using blockchain, AI and modular infrastructure. Backed by prominent investors like a16z, Delphi Digital, Longhash and more, Sovrun is building an ecosystem where gaming communities can collaboratively create, govern, and evolve their digital experiences, broadening the possibilities of creator-driven economies.
Securing a listing on HyperLiquid is just the first step as they plan to strategically build fully on-chain gaming within the cutting-edge infrastructure of HyperEVM, an upcoming component of the HyperLiquid ecosystem. Sovrun’s L2 testnet is now fully live, and is one of the first Layer2s on Hyperliquid. By integrating HyperLiquid’s institutional-grade infrastructure with Sovrun’s growing platform, the project is setting the stage for a seamless convergence of gaming, blockchain, and financial liquidity.
Sovrun and Virtuals Joint Venture
While the HyperLiquid partnership is turning heads, the joint venture between Virtuals Protocol and Sovrun, known as Ready Gamer, is set to power up gaming by integrating AI-powered experiences into web3 ecosystems. Imagine an RPG where NPCs remember your choices across in-game years, their attitudes shifting dynamically, or a strategy game where AI opponents learn and adapt to your tactics with every session. Virtuals’ GAME framework, a decision-making engine enabling AI agents with dynamic interaction, forms the foundation of this collaboration.
Together, Virtuals and Sovrun are delivering unscripted, personalized, and deeply immersive gaming experiences.
Autonomous Worlds (AW), or self-sustaining, player driven ecosystems, are the focus as Sovrun unlocks new dimensions of interaction and scalability, still sorely lacking in the gaming ecosystem. Through Sovrun’s AW architecture, players and creators can shape, grow, and evolve their virtual worlds making them genuine architects of their gaming experiences.
Traditional games struggle with a heavy demand for fresh content, but AW offers a community led model where game elements can be continuously expanded and reshaped by the players themselves. But what exactly does that mean?
The Sovrun Participation Layer allows communities to engage and influence game economies, and Sovrun is acquiring assets of top projects like My Pet Hooligan, Pixels, and Azra Games to name a few. In the crowd-built virtual world EVE Frontier for example, Sovrun developed a system that allowed for the development of eSports ecosystems into the game itself.
Now, by integrating with HyperEVM, tapping into the HyperLiquid ecosystem, and partnering with Virtuals, Sovrun is amplifying its mission to create a self-sustaining ecosystem where creators don’t just participate in autonomous worlds—they build them. This collaboration ensures that Sovrun is not only positioned as a leader in Web3 gaming, but also as a catalyst for the global adoption of decentralized gaming economies. HyperEVM’s ability to support high-scale, on-chain transactions ensures Sovrun’s platform can meet the demands of a rapidly evolving digital economy while the joint venture with Virtuals adds an immersive layer of dynamic interactions set to reshape web3 gaming.
The post Sovrun’s Vision Meets Hyperliquid’s Infrastructure and Virtuals’ AI: A New Era for Gaming appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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