The collaborations just keep coming for metaverse developer Animoca Brands as they announce their next big partnership, this time with top digital chess experience developer Play Magnus Group.
Play Magnus Group is a chess-based company inspired and co-founded by reigning five-time world chess champion and chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and established back in 2013.
With a goal to help “define the future of chess” PMG’s line of products includes various tools aimed at helping players to learn and become masters of the game.
PMG’s offerings also include the Champions Chess Tour, a prestigious online chess tour created initially as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now become one of the most anticipated pro chess tournaments in the world.
The group is a leading developer of digital chess experiences that allow players to play, learn and watch the sport in the virtual realm. This latest partnership with Animoca looks to serve as an opener for the game of chess to enter a new digital space.
The partnership is facilitated by Lympo, Animoca’s sports-based subsidiary and will expand the chess experience in the metaverse to include the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
For this partnership, Animoca Brands will develop and generate chess tour metaverse experiences in The Sandbox, one of the metaverse games in Animoca’s portfolio — which has also been forging collaborations and partnerships with big brands.
Earlier this year Sandbox announced partnerships with Warner Music Group and the Rabbid Rabbits franchise by Ubisoft for future metaverse related developments that could include virtual theme parks, music venues and other experiences.
Of course with the metaverse at its core, NFTs will also be a major part of this partnership. Lympo, Animoca’s sport-based subsidiary, will be creating NFT assets such as digital collectible cards tied to pro chess players in the Meltwater Champions Chess tour as part of the Champions Chess Tour NFT collection.
A special utility token will also be created which fans can use to interact and socialize with their favorite pro chess players who are participating in the tournament.
Together with the NFT collection and the social tokens, a new NFT or metaverse game inspired by chess is also reportedly under development by Lympo, although details have not been provided about it just yet.