NFT toys startup Pudgy Penguins has set its sights on joining the virtual gaming industry with the Webkinz-like experience, a game the creators have named “Pudgy World.”
According to the company’s CEO Luca Schnetzler, the interactive virtual world powered by zksync will launch its alpha mode sometime in 2024, specifically before April, and will be available to Pudgy Penguin NFT holders.
They’ll be chilling in “Pudgy World” – an interactive digital playground for Pudgy Penguins NFT holders and toy owners as well as the uninitiated. The platform’s early-access version will launch sometime before next April, offering players both narrative-driven and open-ended gameplay options.”
Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Schnetzler Speaking at the Art Basel Miami 2023 event
Schnetzler believes Pudgy World will enable Pudgy Penguins “stans” to connect and “interact with their characters,” saying the virtual world is going to revolutionize their fandom. The NFTs, created from the real-life toy brand of plushies and figurines, were launched around July 2021 and have become quite a popular selection among NFT enthusiasts.
Per NFT marketplace OpenSea, there are currently about 8,888 Pudgy Penguin NFTs currently in possession of 4403 holders. The digital collections’ floor price is about 11.788 Ethereum (ETH), equivalent to approximately $27,000, data from NFTPriceFloor shows.
At the end of November, Pudgy Penguins announced its GIFs and Stickers had reached more than 10 billion views on GIPHY on X (formerly Twitter). The toy company said the views garnered allowed it to “cement the Pudgy Penguins IP in internet culture,” as a brand more people show interest in every day.
After management changes that almost tarnished the startup’s name, Pudgy Penguin-related assets saw a massive growth in sales, and it now aims to sell toys in about 2,000 Walmart stores across the U.S.
According to reports from the company, every Pudgy Penguins toy will include a scannable code that provides a digital ‘Forever Pudgy’ birth certificate or a distinctive character dwelling within the Pudgy World.
The company stated that Pudgy World players will have the opportunity to venture into the virtual world as unique characters of their own. Additionally, the virtual world will introduce the brand’s first-ever “Hero Characters,” named Pudgy and Peaches.
