3 - 4 minute read
Novel Labs and Mutant Cartel founder Lior Messika have announced the development of Serum City, a city builder game that will use ApeCoin as its primary in-game currency. Serum City is set in a dystopian world where Bored Apes are the “ruling class” and the Mutant Apes are the underlings, relegated to the fringes of society because they’ve consumed the Serum. The main storyline explores the Mutant Cartel Expanded Universe and the characters Blaksoot and Darkfang. In an interview with Decrypt, Messika revealed that the game will continue and expand upon Mutant Cartel’s lore, which he has developed and published in the form of comic strips and short video clips over the past 18 months.
The Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) set, which is considered less valuable and prominent than Yuga Labs’ primary Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, will be among a few NFT collections that will provide owners access to Serum City. Bored Ape holders will also have access, along with owners of Novel Labs’ own derivative Genesis Oath and Mutant Hound NFT collections that aren’t official Yuga creations. A Faraway representative confirmed to Decrypt that owning one of those NFTs is required to play the game at launch, but Serum City will gradually open up access with each new in-game season of content.
Messika sees Serum City as a way to fill a gap for Mutants in the broader Yuga Labs ecosystem. He is leaning into their outcast status and turning it into Web3 gaming lore. Serum City will be a transmedia type of play, according to Faraway co-founder Alex Paley, combining the elements of a game and a story. Paley also revealed that the game will have an illustrated or comic book-inspired aesthetic, as seen in the first in-game screenshot.
Building Serum City will be a richer and more appealing play experience than early NFT-based games, according to Messika. He is joining other Web3 game devs in attempting to push back against the simplistic and superficial nature of these games.
What does this mean for traders?
The announcement of Serum City and the integration of ApeCoin as a primary in-game currency is a positive development for Mutant Ape collectors and traders. The game’s storyline and aesthetic will likely increase demand for Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs, which have been less valuable and prominent than Yuga Labs’ primary Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Traders looking to invest in MAYC NFTs should keep an eye on the game’s development and the announcement of new in-game seasons of content, which will gradually open up access to Serum City. The game’s transmedia type of play and its potential for a richer and more appealing play experience than early NFT-based games could also increase demand for ApeCoin, the game’s primary in-game currency.
