Zynga, the publisher behind hit casual games like FarmVille and Words With Friends, has revealed its first Ethereum blockchain game called Sugartown.
In Sugartown, farm animals open a portal to another dimension, bringing creatures called Oras into a gamified world. Zynga plans to release the browser-based game at a later date.
There will be 10,000 Ora NFTs that give holders access to the free-to-play title. Players can also stake their Ora NFTs to earn in-game currency.
“Our ambition is to empower players through a sustainable Web3 platform full of fun games,” said Zynga’s VP of Web3 Gaming, Matt Wolf.
The company sees Sugartown appealing to native crypto users first before expanding to a more mainstream audience over time.
Zynga established itself with casual Facebook games in the late 2000s. It revealed plans to develop blockchain games in 2021, prior to its $12.7 billion acquisition by Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two.
Sugartown represents Zynga’s first foray into Web3 gaming, leveraging Ethereum NFTs as part of its play-to-earn mechanics. The title aims to attract crypto-native users as Zynga expands into the burgeoning blockchain gaming space.
