In the opulent, virtual halls of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, a storm is brewing, and it’s not the kind that can be solved with a digital raincoat. Yuga Labs, the once $4 billion behemoth behind the NFT sensation, has hit an iceberg, and it’s called “doing too much.”
CEO Daniel Alegre, in a heartfelt email, shared a tale of a startup that perhaps sailed too close to the sun, embarking on numerous projects that, while brimming with good intentions, spread the team thinner than the plot of a bad soap opera. The result? A restructuring that saw some of the crew forced to walk the plank, albeit with likely a golden parachute attached.
While the exact number of those set adrift remains as murky as the depths of the ocean, it’s clear that the U.S.-based employees are the ones currently treading water, with international teams still clinging to the mast, awaiting their fate.
Co-founder Greg Solano took to Twitter, lamenting the “shit day” and expressing pain at parting ways with team members who had battled through the digital storms with them. But fear not, for the ship will sail on, albeit with a leaner, meaner crew, ready to navigate through the treacherous waters of the NFT ocean.
Related news: Slipping on Banana Peels: Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Descent into the NFT Jungle
The Unveiling of Yuga Labs’ Metaverse, ‘Otherside
The game that Yuga Labs is working on is called “Otherside.” It is an upcoming metaverse game, which seems to be a significant focus for the company moving forward. The CEO, Daniel Alegre, mentioned that Yuga Labs is “going all-in on our Otherside strategy,” implying that it is a pivotal project for them. All ongoing digital content from the company will tie into this metaverse platform, and teams focused on other projects, like the NFT avatar project Meebits and the 10KTF digital apparel project, will be integrated into Otherside.
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In September, Yuga Labs announced various technical and creative partnerships for the development of Otherside, and more recently, the company announced a strategic investment in one of those firms, spatial computing startup Hadean. This indicates a robust development strategy and a commitment to ensuring the game has a strong technical foundation.
However, the CEO acknowledged that Yuga Labs hasn’t been “building in public” with Otherside as much as it planned to, but assured that further updates on the metaverse platform will be coming. The specifics of the game, its mechanics, storyline, and other details are not thoroughly discussed in the article, and it seems like more information might be released in the future.
The metaverse, in general, refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of physical and virtual reality. This includes the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet. As many companies are venturing into creating or being part of the metaverse, it will be interesting to see how Yuga Labs positions “Otherside” in this rapidly evolving space.
In a world where NFT collectibles have seen their values plummet like a stone in water, and where the once-mighty Bored Apes and other “blue chip” NFTs have seen their prices dive deeper than the Titanic, Yuga Labs is battening down the hatches, trimming the fat, and preparing to navigate through the choppy waters of a weakened NFT market.
Will the Bored Ape Yacht Club find new, prosperous lands, or will it sink into the abyss of forgotten crypto projects? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: it’s never dull in the high seas of the cryptocurrency world.
The featured image was taken on Hindustantimes/Bloomberg
