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

Off The Grid releases major Avalanche update for blockchain gamers

Off The Grid, a cyberpunk-themed battle royale game built on the Avalanche blockchain, has rolled out one of its most significant updates to date.

The update reportedly adds Midtown Harbour, a new dystopian playable region on the game’s map. It also introduces Nuestros Diablos, a new in-game gang that players can fight.

In addition, a new side mission called “Combat DJ” lets players battle for control of a DJ booth while earning loot.

The update also adds a new cybernetic arm weapon, the MaxiGun, which changes combat strategy for those who wear it.

All of these changes aim to improve gameplay while Off The Grid continues facilitating the exchange of in-game items like weapons, cyberlimbs, and skins on blockchain.

Pudgy Penguins to make ‘Lil Pudgys’ animated YouTube series

NFT collection Pudgy Penguins is expanding into digital entertainment. The project has partnered with TheSoul Publishing, a media company known for viral YouTube content, to create “Lil Pudgys,” a family-friendly animated series.

The show will reportedly air twice a week and take place in the fictional world of UnderBerg, where four penguin roommates named Atlas, Eureka, Snofia, and Springer embark on comedic adventures.

Pudgy’s move follows a growing trend of NFT projects adapting their IP into mainstream entertainment formats.

Snoop Dogg drops web3 music with Tune.FM partnership

Rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg is collaborating with Tune.FM, a blockchain-based music streaming platform built on Hedera, to distribute his music as exclusive NFTs.

Through this collaboration, Snoop Dogg will reportedly host fan experiences such as a private event at his house. Additional plans include live events and exclusive concerts, as well as artist-fan interactions and collectibles to the platform’s marketplace.

Base makes smart contract deployment easier with new dev tools

Base, a layer-two (L2) blockchain built on Ethereum and backed by crypto exchange Coinbase, just launched three major upgrades to improve scalability, speed, and usability. 

The new developer tools include a faster processing system called Flashblocks, which Base says reduces transaction wait times from 2 seconds to 200 milliseconds, along with new Base Appchains — custom blockchain networks for high-traffic apps — and Smart Wallet Sub Accounts, which help people manage multiple crypto accounts in one place.

These updates aim to make it easier for developers to build and scale decentralized applications (dApps) on Base while also improving user experience.

Zora launches $ZORA memecoin for marketplace users

Zora, an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace known for its open-source protocol, has released its community memecoin, $ZORA, to reward user participation. 

The token will serve as an incentive for artists, collectors, and contributors within the Zora ecosystem. $ZORA is planned to launch with a total supply of 10,000,000,000 on Base.

Ethereum TCG Parallel expands to mobile, crowns $100k winner

The Ethereum-based trading card game (TCG) Parallel hosted its first-ever Parallel League Championship in Las Vegas, where professional Hearthstone player Jaromír “Jarla” Vyskočil won the $100,000 grand prize.

The tournament featured 16 top players competing for a $250,000 prize pool after qualifying their way through a six-month league. 

During the event, Parallel announced it will launch on iOS and Android on March 18, an exciting move that expands the game beyond PC.

The team also announced a new third-person shooter game called Parallel: Sanctuary (previously known as its codename, Project Tau Ceti), which is being developed on Base’s B3 gaming network.

ETHDenver 2025 unpacked Ethereum’s future, DAOs, and AI

ETHDenver 2025 brought together blockchain developers, investors, and policymakers to discuss the future of Ethereum. 

Major themes discussed included improving interoperability, or the ability to move digital items from one chain to another, along with reducing Ethereum’s fragmentation across disparate scaling solutions, and generally making web3 applications easier for mainstream users.

Speakers like Ethereum Foundation co-founder and Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, and industry leaders from Optimism and Google emphasized collaboration and real-world uses for blockchain.

Throughout the four-day main event, discussions covered privacy, scaling solutions, crypto regulation, and AI-powered decentralized systems, with lively contributions shaping the direction of Ethereum and web3 for the year ahead.

OpenSea Engineering Manager James Uejio spoke about his journey building OS2 from the ground up - watch his session below!

Emily Xie exhibits AI artwork trained on her own code with MODEL-WIP

Emily Xie, a generative artist who combines code with cultural heritage throughout her work, has created a series of algorithmic artworks to train a custom AI model. The project is part of MODEL-WIP, an artist-led experiment exploring how AI can be used in creative expression.

MODEL-WIP saw the opportunity to put AI tooling into the hands of creators, enabling them to close the gap between how models currently perform and how artists would like them to perform. They allow artists to train AI on their own work, thus giving them more control over how their styles are replicated.

Xie’s collection, “Infinite Scroll,” will debut at bitforms gallery in New York City on March 6, where attendees can preview the AI model and its outputs.

Note: The mention of a token is for informational purposes only nor is it intended as financial or investment advice.