Porsche ends ‘low effort’ NFT mint early, Oreo dunks into the Metaverse and more

Porsche criticized for ‘low effort’ NFTs, ends mint early

Car manufacturer Porsche had to cut short a nonfungible token (NFT) mint of its famous white 911 model only two days after the public mint started, saying its “holders have spoken.”

The Jan. 23 launch was seen by some as a huge flop for Porsche with just 2,040 of the 7,500 NFTs available having been sold at the time of writing.

Our holders have spoken. We’re going to cut our supply and stop the mint to move forward with creating the best experience for an exclusive community. More info in the next hours.

— PORSCHΞ (@eth_porsche) January 24, 2023

The mint was widely criticized by the crypto community for being “low effort,” “tone deaf” and overpriced. The price of the NFTs were set at 0.911 Ether (ETH) ($1,417).

Really sad. No community. No comms. No value. Glad our community hasn’t fallen for it. Big brands should take note. This is a valuable lesson for them. Extracting value not gonna cut it.

— Staś May (@haymaker_studio) January 24, 2023

Sales on secondary markets have been undercutting the live mint, with some selling for as little as 0.86 ETH.

After announcing it would cut the supply, Porsche clarified that minting would still be open until 11am UTC on Jan. 25. The collection recorded a surge of FOMO buying which temporarily drove up the floor price.

Crazy sequence of events w/ @eth_porsche

– Tweet on supply cut & stopping mint- FP swells by .3 ETH- Everyone realizes mint is still open- Everyone mints #NFTs & sell immediately- FP returns to mint price

Winners?

– Porsche for selling ~160 NFTs in <1 hour- Shrewd traders pic.twitter.com/p1Kch1OrLH

— metaversatile.eth (@metaversatile_) January 24, 2023

Get Stuf’d: Oreo launches a Metaverse…and a really big cookie

Cookie company Oreo launched its own Metaverse, the OREOVERSE, an interactive digital world where cookie lovers can play cookie-themed games and enter into a sweepstake.

Introducing our newest Limited Edition OREO Cookie: The Most OREO OREO This OREO cookie features ‘Most Stuf’ creme with bits of OREO wafer.

With a cookie so meta, it’s only right that we’re dunking into the Metaverse with our very own OREOVERSE: https://t.co/v15kHRyxDu pic.twitter.com/yVfcFCDV7a

— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) January 24, 2023

The OREOVERSE is on desktop, mobile and in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, where users with a Meta Quest headset can enter the Metaverse and experience it in virtual reality (VR).

Oreo enlisted the services of TV personality Martha Stewart along with her gardener and friend Ryan McCallister to endorse the Oreo-inspired digital world.

The grand prize for the sweepstake gives users the chance to win $50,000 amongst a range of smaller prizes.

The Metaverse announcement was paired with the unveiling of its latest limited-edition cookie called the “Most OREO OREO” which has a “Most Stuf” creme center — filled with bits of Oreo.

Nike kicks off NFT marketplace with Air Force 1’s

In its first collection of NFTs on its “.SWOOSH Studio” NFT marketplace, Nike is set to launch a NFT collection influenced by its iconic Air Force 1 sneakers following a community vote.

The Polygon (MATIC)-based NFTs will go live on Jan. 25 according to a Jan. 23 tweet by Jasmine Gao, Nike Virtual Studios’ senior product manager.

.SWOOSH Studio, Nike’s home for virtual co-creation, launches this Wednesday 1/25

Last month, the .SWOOSH community voted on their favorite AF1 sneakers to influence the upcoming Our Force 1 collection journey.

Now, get ready to build it with us. pic.twitter.com/to3VyBgbSJ

— Jasminelil.SWOOSH (@jgao) January 24, 2023

Nike announced the upcoming NFT marketplace on Nov. 14 last year, which Nike Virtual Studios general manager Ron Faris claimed would help “onboard the next million” into the “wonderful world of web3 and digital assets.”

It aims to be a community-driven platform for Web3 digital art, with members given the chance to help co-create virtual creations with the global fashion brand through community challenges.

According to the Nov. 14 press release, members who win the challenge will also be able to earn royalties on the virtual product they help create.

Nike also suggested that digital wearables would eventually be usable in games and other “immersive experiences.”

Twitch co-founder’s Fractal brings its games to Polygon

The gaming company Fractal will be expanding its F Studio product suite to the Polygon blockchain and is bringing along 30 Polygon gaming partners for the ride.

❄️ FRACTAL IS EXPANDING TO POLYGON ️@fractalwagmi mints, tournaments, marketplace, and studio are now available #onPolygon

Excited to announce the launch with Fractal’s 30 Polygon partners. Watch the video reveal pic.twitter.com/VuIRThkof5

— Polygon Gaming (@PolygonGaming) January 24, 2023

The partners include games such as Phantom Galaxies, Life Beyond, League of Kingdoms, Blast Royale and Sunflower Land.

Fractal is an NFT gaming marketplace founded by Twitch co-founder Justin Kan and provides a launchpad for new projects as well as facilitating tournaments.

It also boasts a software development kit allowing developers to build in-game marketplaces where players are able to buy and sell NFTs in-game, rather than needing to go through Fractal’s marketplace.

The platform originally started on the Solana (SOL) network, but according to a Jan. 23 report by VentureBeat, Fractal is expanding over to Polygon due to its speed, scalability and ability to accelerate game development with the security of the Ethereum network.

Polygon Gaming will be making a strategic investment in Fractal for an as yet undisclosed amount according to the report, in an effort to deepen the partnership between the two firms.

More Nifty News:

An up-and-coming NFT racing game called PetaRush sold out all the NFTs available through both its whitelist and public sales. The game allows users to integrate some NFT collections from outside the games’ ecosystem by pursuing partnerships that allow them to use the IP of other collections.

In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, the co-founder of the blockchain role-playing game Illuvium, Kieran Warwick, suggested casual gamers are “critical” to the success of blockchain games that utilize NFTs. Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Sui echoed the sentiment, claiming that all it would take is one good game to kick-start a blockchain gaming boom.