Warner Music Group partners with blockchain startup amid gaming push
Warner Music Group is looking to cash in on blockchain based gaming by striking a partnership with Splinterlands.
The two companies will collaborate to give Warner Music Group artists opportunities to create and develop unique, play-to-earn, arcade-style blockchain games according to today’s announcement.
Warner Music represents artists including Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Michael Bublé while blockchain start up Splinterlands operates a blockchain game by the same name, a fantasy-themed collectible card game with almost half a million daily players.
“I don’t think we can underestimate how massive the opportunity around play-to-earn gaming is,” said Oana Ruxandra, the chief digital officer for Warner Music. “Our partnership with Splinterlands pulls focus to our artists and their music as we all work together to develop and maintain tokenized games. As we build, we will be unlocking new revenue streams for our artists while further solidifying fans’ participation in value created.”
Play-to-earn games tap into blockchain technology to give players rewards, such as NFTs, that hold real-world value. Warner Music Group and Splinterfields see play-to-earn as a key part of the future for both gaming and crypto with blockchain games currently making up half of the entire blockchain industry’s usage according to Dappradar.
Not everyone is sold on the union of crypto and gaming however. Gaming companies looking to introduce NFTs to gameplay have received plenty of pushback from fans who oppose the monetisation of gaming assets like weapons, skyns and avatars.