The Australian independent game studio Grease Monkey Games has just ramped up with the financial support of Fortnite developer Epic Games for its racing title Torque drift 2.
So only one of the biggest names in the mainstream gaming industry, then. It’s a nice little bombshell of news to end the week, and one that should have the thumbs of the crypto gaming faithful shaking with excitement.
As it is a game built on blockchain technology with play-and-earn/NFT economy, it may seriously hamper at least half of the mainstream game industry at the same time. It is well established that many within the legacy industry seem to think that NFTs and crypto games in general are a waste of space and effort.
That said, we know for a fact that there are several established AAA game developers with serious chops making the switch. For example, the founders of two major games in development, Civitas and Shrapnel.
Melbourne-based Grease Monkey Games also has extensive AAA game development experience and is now a subsidiary of formerly ASX-listed Animoca brands. The latter is one of the leading crypto game and NFT producers and venture capitalist backers.
Take a look at the trailer for the upcoming game… We can already see why it caught Epic’s attention…
Torque drift 2–@FormulaDriftis official #blockchain game–is revealed🔥
Discover the beginning of Torque Drift 2 via its official site: https://t.co/HwNAmqsTbc
⭐Official Discord channel: https://t.co/MFr5RzwJ6o#metaverse #motor sports #nft #Game development #derivative pic.twitter.com/OjqZeLS4kG
— Greasy Monkey Games (@GMGStudios) May 10, 2022
Epic Games funding will help develop drift physics
According to an announcement from Animoca Brands, Grease Monkey Games now joins a list of “Epic MegaGrant” recipients, which were awarded to notable personalities, Unreal Engine-using game companies in 89 countries. These grants can range from around $5,000 to $500,000.
Unreal Engine is a 3D graphics game engine first developed by Epic Games in 1998, which has become ubiquitous in the gaming industry since the overwhelming success of Battle Royale. Fortnite.
The Grease Monkey Games grant will be used to help fund the development of new drift physics in Torque drift 2which the company says will enable it to produce its “most immersive and realistic motorsport game to date”.
Torque drift 2 is the latest addition to the motorsport games portfolio of Grease Monkey Games and Animoca REVV Motorsport ecosystem.
As the announcement explains, “The game represents the next generation of motorsports products leveraging blockchain technology, where fully functional and playable NFTs are a core feature used to deliver true digital ownership of game assets to gamers. players”.
NFT cars, decals, paint jobs and more
The game, as the title suggests, will be a drifting motorsport title, which will include an initial tuning garage teaser feature available in the third quarter of this year ahead of the full release scheduled for sometime in 2024.
Player-owned NFT components will include cars, parts, decals, paint jobs, tweaks, and various items to enhance vehicles and profile position, as reported by Cointelegraph. All these NFTs, explains this article, can be bought and sold on the NFT market dedicated to the game.
This is a big step into the world of crypto/NFT not only for Epic Games, but also for Grease Monkey Games, which only joined Animoca in February this year, having already long since established itself as a mainstream gaming success with previous titles. Couple exhaustion and Torque driftwhich total more than 45 million downloads worldwide.
As for Animoca Brands, we know they have long been one of the biggest proponents of the digital property rights that NFTs represent and the power they potentially hold for gamers and the gaming industry.
Its president and founder Yat Siu preaches the subject very well here, in fact…
9/ I repeated just a day ago that most players don’t realize that all the items they play with and have won/paid for don’t belong to them unless you commit #blockchain @TheSandboxGame @the_phantom_g @OthersideMeta @AxieInfinity etc https://t.co/MWIvO9wdG8
—Yat Siu (@ysiu) July 21, 2022
