Yuga Labs Sells Rights to HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara to Faraway

Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has sold rights to two games to the Faraway gaming studio.

We have some exciting news to share. Our friends @Farawaygg are acquiring the HV-MTL and LoTM brands, where they’ll focus on rewarding these communities. To help manage this transition, @EverydayZukini will be joining the Faraway team as the new CPO.

More info in the thread… https://t.co/twXnFsUYG1

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) April 17, 2024

Faraway confirmed securing the rights to the two games: HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara. As part of this move, the gaming officer at Yuga Labs, Spencer Tucker, will serve as the head of product at the gaming studio to ensure continuity between games.

Yuga Labs Sells Rights to Two Games to Faraway

The partnership between Yuga Labs and Faraway comes as the CEO of the company, Greg Solano, promised to give more freedom to the BAYC team. Solano hopes that by doing this, the team will focus more on the native offerings and have more flexibility in achieving their goals.

This is not the first time that Faraway and Yuga Labs are working together. Previously, Faraway has worked on a game known as Serum City that is based on the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFT collection Yuga Labs.

As part of this new initiative, Faraway has promised users access to reward points when they acquire HV-MTL and LoTM NFTs. The company plans to build upon the foundation offered by Yuga Labs to scale the games to new heights.

HV-MTL Points:

– All HVs will be receiving a new metadata field called “HV-MTL Points.” Your HV’s Class, Companion, and Powerscore all play a role in determining your point baseline.

– The evolution to EVO-2, along with the consumed Amp + Rarity type will also have a meaningful…

— Faraway (@farawaygg) April 17, 2024

“As we take charge of HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara, our immediate goal is to drive as much utility as possible to the primary NFTs that make up these collections,” Faraway said. “Our plan is to supplement new activations with interoperability across our network.”

Faraway comes with extensive experience in the gaming industry. The company includes a team of more than 10 developers, designers, and producers. It is also backed by some of the largest venture capital firms in Web3 gaming including a16z and Sequoia Capital Leon Bet.

The Faraway team also noted that it will be working closely with Yuga Labs to improve synergy and interoperability. The platforms will work in sync to ensure more benefits for users, while also meeting the evolving needs of the community.

Yuga Labs to Pay More Focus to NFTs

As aforementioned, Yuga Labs is planning to pay more attention to NFTs after selling rights to the two games. The shift in focus comes at a crucial time when the NFT market is witnessing a slump in trading volumes and prices.

BAYCs are some of the most valuable and popular NFT collections, but they are not trading anywhere close to their record highs. The NFTs have a floor price of 11.55 ETH, which is 92% below the all-time high price of 153 ETH in May 2022.

Data from CryptoSlam also shows that in the last 30 days, NFT sales volumes have dropped by 38%. The BAYC NFTs are also facing massive competition from the rise of Bitcoin ordinals, whose popularity has seen them dominate the NFT market for weeks.