Yuga Labs’ latest game outperforming Dookey Dash, says gaming chief

Yuga Labs’ first big swing at gaming was already a success, but now the web3 studio best known for creating the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection said its latest video game Forge is retaining twice as many users as the previous title.

“For Forge, the retention rate is two times that of Dookey Dash, with a day 10 retention rate of 42%,” Yuga Labs Chief Gaming Officer Spencer Tucker told The Block. Tucker joined Yuga about a year ago after previously working at the mobile gaming studio Scopely.

Yuga launched Dookey Dash earlier this year and generated more than $110 million in trading volume for the game's Sewer Pass NFTs, according to CryptoSlam! data. Additionally, a well-known Fortnite gamer won the game’s short-lived contest, earning $1.6 million for his trouble. 

Tucker pointed out that not only did the vast majority of players who tried Dookey Dash not own a Yuga NFT, the game also led to many gamers setting up new wallets.

“Seventy-five percent of Dookey Dash players didn’t hold NFTs from Yuga’s ecosystem and we saw 40% growth in unique wallets,” he said.

After Dookey Dash, Yuga launched the first season of its new video game HV-MTL (or Heavy Metal) Forge in June. When playing the more socially-driven game users compete for the admiration of other players. In order to play, gamers need to own one of 30,000 HV-MTL NFTs which currently have a floor price of 0.57 ether (roughly $1,045) and have generated close to $64 million in trading volume since first launching in March, according to OpenSea data.

Forgetting the NFTs

HV-MTL Forge has six seasons and two modes, according to Yuga, with the second mode starting in the coming weeks.

Among the other top-tier NFT brands trying to leverage the popularity of its intellectual property while also expanding its reach, Yuga may be ahead in terms of engagement, if not certainly on economic terms, spurring tens of millions of dollars of trading of digital assets tied to gaming.

“We are expanding the definition of what digital collectibles are,” Tucker said. “You really forget you are interacting with NFTs when you enter our experiences.”