Are Black Gamers Winning Big With NFT Business Partnerships?

CBx Vibe:Industry Baby” Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow

By Sabrina Lynch

  • Mythical Games has raised $75M to create a product where in-game avatars, in an open- world will become NFTs
  • Digital gaming industry hits $127B market size, but less than 7% of gamers are people of color

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) will soon change the financial futures for Black creators. Technology studio Mythical Games has raised $75 million to create a product where in-game avatars, in an open- world, will become NFTs. This recent news has given license to Black gamers in the digital gaming industry that’s hit a $127 billion market size, to have more autonomy to accrue financial wealth and independence from video game publishers.

Why This Matters: The introduction of NFTs into the gaming universe has significantly increased the lucrativeness of brand partnerships for Black creators, who are rarely given the media recognition they deserve. Only 2% of game developers worldwide identify as Black/African-American, a clear green light that a more equitable and inclusive gaming industry needs to take shape as a matter of complete urgency.  

Mythical, founded three years ago, was created with the sole purpose of making Blockchain a part of gaming, allowing Black creators the opportunity to be compensated for the characters they develop and build their own brand. Finally, they’re ushering in a new era of economic equity for People of Color in gaming,  particularly Gen Z. Now, it truly is a wait and see game, to see if other publishers will follow suit.

Although NFTs in games haven’t reached the leagues of gold-star video game series such as Halo or Grand Theft Auto, they could bring in big business that benefits Black gamers by allowing them to profit from wider functionality than pure game play. Corporate brands are also seeing the benefits of investing in diverse creators, Verizon (VZ -0.65%) recently announced its $1 million commitment to five historically Black colleges and universities in addition to  investing in building tech centers on campuses. Rappers are also jumping on the NFT bandwagon to balance out the holes in the income they lost during COVID. Grammy-nominated rapper Lil Yachty launched his own cryptocurrency, “$YACHTY” selling over a quarter of a million in  21 seconds.

Situational Awareness: NFTs offer a promising means of restoring financial agency to Black creators who are already experiencing monetary inequality. White male players are in a position to demand bigger and better deals than Black gamers who, unfairly, have not been able to acquire as much visibility or awareness on a national level. Add to this the existing obstacle of gender disparities in compensation between male & female gamers, leaving a significant increase in the level of urgency to create more gaming deals that sets creators up for success. 

CBx Vibe: “Industry Baby” Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow

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