The International Olympic Committee was the last organization to join the NFT frenzy. The association that organizes the Olympic Games announced on Thursday that they had released a mobile game based on the upcoming Beijing 2022 winter event. The game will feature NFTs and collectible crypto tokens designed to represent ownership of virtual properties.
Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022 was developed by nWay, a blockchain game studio owned by Hong Kong-based company Animoca Brands. nWay’s games reward users with NFTs as they progress, part of a rapidly growing game genre known as play-and-win.
Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022 will allow players to compete in several sporting events, including snowboarding and skiing. Users will also be able to equip their avatars with various custom skins. People will purchase digital versions of famous Olympic badges and trade them with other users on nWay’s marketplace. The digital pins will be licensed through the International Olympic Committee’s official licensing program, and the organization will receive royalties from each sale.
nWay CEO Taehoon Kim said the company’s new game would allow people to “own a piece of Olympic history”.
“We intend to support the game with continuous updates in the months to come, to keep the players engaged, and the Olympic spirit ongoing.”
An nWay spokesperson said the game is available in every country where the App Store and Google Play are available. This excludes both games that must be approved by Beijing authorities and China, which has strict regulations on crypto. The Chinese government took action last year to eliminate all crypto-related activities.
The launch took place the day before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee first unveiled its plans to enter the NFT space last year, introducing virtual pins collected or exchanged. With the new game, they hope to expand the audience for these pins.
