Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yatch Club (BAYC) and Cryptopunks NFT collections, yesterday announced over Twitter the appointment of Spencer Tucker as its first Chief Gaming Officer (CGO).
Tucker will oversee the firm’s web3 gaming initiatives, including the ambitious “Otherside” metaverse project. Earlier this year, the interoperable metaverse project made headlines after it managed to sell about $560 million worth of NFTs within 24 hours on the Ethereum blockchain.
The newly appointed CGO has nearly two decades of working experience in the gaming industry. In his earlier stints, he has served as the President of Games at mobile-video game company Scopely and Senior Vice President of Product at free-to-play gaming firm GREE.
“I am super stoked to partner with the Yuga team & community in building the most compelling and creative experiences across the Metaverse.” said Tucker in a Linkedin post. “I believe the future of gaming will be powered by player ownership, social collaboration, and creative expression. Where players meet, meld and materialize worlds, content, art, and experiences as eclectic and exciting as the people that game within them.”
In a press release, Yuga CEO Nicole Muniz said that even though the firm is known for its NFT collections, gaming will be the main area of focus moving forward. Yuga intends to “revolutionize the way we all think about web3 gaming through core principles such as ownership, utility, community, and storytelling.”
In March, Miami-based Yuga Labs raised $450M at $4B valuation in a seed round which saw participation from Animoca Brands, Coinbase, and FTX.
Despite the market downturn, Yuga has expanded its team of 10 members in January to about 70, including hires from top web2 tech firms such as Google, Twitter, and Microsoft. It aims to exceed 100 personnel by the end of 2022.
