The biggest martial arts organisation in the world, ONE Championship (ONE) has announced a new partnership with Animoca Brands, the company advancing digital property rights for gaming and the open metaverse, and Notre Game, an Animoca Brands subsidiary.
The deal has been signed in order to develop ONE Fight Arena, an NFT-powered mobile game featuring ONE’s extensive roster of world-class martial artists and intellectual property library.
Notre Game is developing ONE Fight Arena, which will begin player testing in Q4 2023, with a full worldwide release in Q1 2024. It will be accessible on Google Play and Apple’s App Store as a free-to-play mobile game.
Unlike typical sporting games, ONE Fight Arena will place a greater emphasis on strategic gameplay rather than just the action within the Circle. Gamers will be able to choose from a large roster of ONE athletes, including MMA icon and ONE Flyweight World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon, and many more. Players will be able to explore the distinctive world of martial arts and grow athletes from the start of their careers thanks to an authentic first-person point of view.
Hua Fung Teh, Co-Founder and Group President of ONE, said, “We’re thrilled to work with an industry leader in Animoca Brands to launch ONE Fight Arena, our first Web3-enhanced video game. This partnership will give us the opportunity to engage with our global fan base at a deeper level through a unique gaming experience.”
Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, commented, “Our partnership with ONE to create ONE Fight Arena will enable the fans of the world’s largest martial arts organization to access a novel gaming experience with true digital ownership at its core. We look forward to assisting ONE to more closely connect with its fans in deep and meaningful ways.”
Jiri Mikolas, CEO of Notre Game, added, “We’re thrilled to be a part of this collaboration. The values of Notre Game, like bringing innovative and bold projects with a strong focus on quality, align perfectly with the vision of this partnership. We’re looking forward to working with ONE and Animoca Brands to bring this project to life, reach the hearts of players around the world, and push the boundaries of mobile gaming.”
ONE Fight Arena will offer players the option of Web3 integration, which will employ blockchain technology and NFTs to enable players with actual digital ownership of specific game assets, such as ONE athletes as they show up in the game.
NFTs are digital assets and collectibles having physical attributes such as genuineness, scarcity, ownership, origin, and other properties that are independently guaranteed, validated, and secured on the blockchain. In contrast to most digital content, which is licenced to users on a temporary basis, NFTs are actually ownable – just like traditional physical assets.
Players who do not choose to participate in the Web3 layer will be still capable to play ONE Fight Arena as a typical free-to-play mobile game, without full ownership of their ONE digital assets.