Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming

The Winter Olympics gets a new video game … featuring NFTs

Tomas Franzese
By

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid developer nWay and the International Olympic Committee have teamed up to announce Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022. This free-to-play mobile game launches today, but before you get too excited, know that this competitive multiplayer game is based around NFTs that give players an in-game advantage and have proven to be controversial recently.

Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022 features several sports minigames based on Olympic events like Snowboard Cross, Ski Cross, Skeleton, Slopestyle, and Slalom. Players can make customizable avatars and compete against other players in a series of randomized events, getting a gold medal if they are the last one standing. The developer even plans on constantly updating the game with new sports, events, and modes.

Recommended Videos

While it seems like the kind of harmless Olympics minigame collection we’ve seen before, it’s actually a play-to-earn game meant to bolster nWay’s Olympic NFT digital pins.

Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022, an NFT-based mobile game, features a skiing minigame.

Before the game’s release, nWay sold Olympic NFT digital pins on its nWayPlay marketplace. Players can earn and then sell these pins by playing Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022. In-game, these NFT digital pins will give players access to better rewards and even extend power-ups that make the player go faster, control better, and resist hazards.

Those who spend the most money on pins will theoretically do the best in the minigames. This all makes Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022 seem like a pay-to-win game, which would be antithetical to the friendly and respectful competition that the Olympic Games represent. It also shows how challenging it could be for game developers to incorporate NFTs without hurting the experience of those who don’t want to use them.

Olympic Games Jam: Beijing 2022 launches today for iOS and Android. 

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Tinder tests new ‘Feed’ feature, providing real-time updates on matches
Tinder

Sometimes, sending the first message on a dating app can be tough. In an effort to provide users with more information to pull from when crafting that first message, Tinder is testing a new feature called "Feed."

Located within your Match List, Feed allows you to see what your matches are up to in real time. As you scroll through Feed, you are able to see recent Tinder photos uploaded to their profile, new top artists and anthems they've set, and Instagram posts.

Read more
Flipboard rolls out new features to help boost visibility for publishers
flipboard

Flipboard on Tuesday announced the launch of its new self-service program that helps publishers with reader discovery and building new traffic. It has also introduced Reader Enhanced Display -- known as RED Bolt -- to make reader-friendly websites more visible on its platform.

With Flipboard -- available for iOS and Android -- you can find popular stories and news based on a variety of genres all in one app. It also allows you to build your own magazines focused on specific topics by filling them with content from any source, publication, or person. For those who share similar interests and passions, there's the option to follow each other through the app, where you're able to like or comment whatever is shared.

Read more
SoundHound redesigns its music discovery app, adds new discovery features
soundhound unveils 8

On Wednesday, SoundHound Inc. introduced a complete redesign to its music discovery app with the launch of SoundHound 8. The new features -- such as advanced music search, discovery, and connected streaming -- provide a more tailored experience based on the user's history.

Reminiscent of Shazam, SoundHound is specifically created to help you easily discover music playing around you. By tapping one button and having your phone to listen in for a few seconds, the app is able to identify exactly what song is playing. It will still recognize songs if you hum or sing into the app.

Read more