Welcome to the OpenSea digest. Let’s look back through the biggest NFT and web3 news of the week.

Azuki taps Stephen Fung to steer creative storytelling

Azuki announced Hong Kong-based actor and filmmaker Stephen Fung as its new creative partner this week. Known for his work on “Tai Chi Hero” and “Into the Badlands,” Fung will help shape the narrative and visual direction of Azuki’s anime-inspired NFT universe.

Gunzilla Games partners with Delphi Ventures for gaming future

Gunzilla Games, the studio behind the shooter game Off The Grid, has partnered with Delphi Ventures to back the newly formed GUNZ Foundation, which will reportedly oversee the rollout of its upcoming mainnet and token. 

Built on the open-source layer-one (L1) Avalanche, the GUNZ mainnet was built to support the use of interoperable in-game digital items. That means players can own their avatars’ skins and gear and buy and sell them across multiple titles in the ecosystem. This latest development signals a major step in supporting these strides toward sustainable gaming economies. 

Treasure DAO debuts Ethereum layer-two powered by ZKsync

Web3 gaming platform Treasure is building its own gaming layer-two (L2) on ZKsync’s Elastic Network. The goal is to boost gaming scalability and create a home for its expanding ecosystem of 15+ gaming titles, with more coming in Q1. 

Previously, Treasure built its games on the Arbitrum blockchain. In a tweet, Treasure DAO wrote its decision to switch to the Elastic Network represents “one of the largest ecosystem migrations in crypto history.” 

Mocaverse announces Moca 3.0 and sets stage for interoperability

Web3 venture studio Animoca Brands has officially launched Moca 3.0, a digital-identity framework designed to expand web3’s real-world applications. The platform offers functionality such as on-chain credit scores for decentralized finance (DeFi) loans, verified user data for targeted advertising, and interoperability across multiple blockchains.

Backed by Animoca’s network of over 540 partner companies, Mocaverse aims to streamline identity use cases like lending and loyalty rewards while also advancing the concept of decentralized credentials. 

Avalanche Foundation announces its biggest network upgrade yet

Avalanche Foundation has launched its latest update, Avalanche 9000, calling it the protocol’s most significant upgrade thus far. The changes are designed to reduce costs for deploying applications and lower transaction fees, thereby making it easier and cheaper for developers to build and scale applications. 

The update also introduces Interchain Messaging (ICM), a feature that allows different blockchains to communicate and work together. Avalanche says these improvements aim to attract developers and users by making the network more affordable and versatile.

Neon Machine appoints Ken Rosman as new CEO 

Neon Machine, the studio behind the blockchain-based first-person shooter Shrapnel, appointed gaming veteran Ken Rosman as its new CEO. 

Rosman, a former executive at Riot Games and Activision Blizzard, will lead the team as Shrapnel prepares for its release. His appointment brings major gaming industry influence to the project, which aligns with Neon Machine’s goal of redefining web3 gaming for mainstream audiences.

Tribute Brand acquires DRAUP to launch gamified virtual fashion platform

Leading digital fashion company Tribute Brand has acquired digital fashion house DRAUP, to create Fashion.Fun, a next-gen platform for virtual wearables. 

DRAUP, known for its community-driven art and tech couture, complements Tribute’s futuristic vision for fashion in both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) realms. Together, the two brands elevate virtual fashion more into the mainstream while galvanizing their strong community of web3 native supporters.