Turnt Gaming, a developer of interactive NFT-based entertainment products and media, today announced it has secured $4.3M in funding from Polygon’s gaming/NFT arm, Polygon Studios, and blockchain investor Shima Capital. These partnerships will accelerate community building for Taunt Battleworld, Turnt’s skill-based fighting game simulator featuring legendary boxing icon Floyd Mayweather and newly announced Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) legend Cris Cyborg. The game’s first NFT drop is scheduled for March 5, 2022. The event, dubbed the “Skull Pass Event,” will allow players to buy up to 2,500 NFT fighter passes that include one NFT fighter and other special benefits for players.
In a new study of 1,500 console and PC gamers, market research firm Interpret found that 56% of respondents who are aware of NFTs favor earning them in games, and 45% indicated that being able to earn NFTs through gaming would increase their current engagement levels. When implemented with the proper safeguards in place, NFT-based entertainment offerings such as Taunt Battleworld represent a new era in gaming delivering new experiences to sophisticated players.
Fueled by a stable of early community followers, Taunt Battleworld marks a new generation in gaming by being the first to combine multiple ways to play with its new “engage to earn” model. The game combines live interactive entertainment with the ability to own real fighters that can be purchased or earned within the game as NFTs.
Shreyansh Singh, Head of Investments at Polygon, said: “Not only are we partnering with Turnt Gaming to bring their NFT based game to life with our blockchain solution, but we are pleased to be a part of this funding round as well. We anticipate this funding to be just the start of a prosperous and successful relationship as we continue to support Polygon’s gaming sector with Taunt Battleworld.”
Yida Gao, General Partner of Shima Capital, said: “We as a company only back the most brilliant companies within blockchain and gaming. Turnt Gaming is an obvious choice to add to our portfolio. Its inaugural title Taunt Battleworld and its innovative Engage-to-Earn platform has the chance to drive access for millions of players into the Play-to-Earn space.”
Jeff Liboon, founder of Turnt Gaming, said. “These initial partnerships are just the first steps in our mission to provide the best interactive experiences within NFT gaming. We are grateful to have such impressive partners to support us on our journey and we look forward to the official launch of Taunt Battleword in the coming months.”