Licensed Formula 1 NFT Game Will Be Shutting Down: Report

The licensed Formula 1 NFT game will be shutting down and Animoca Brands will give the holders replacement NFTs as well as other perks after the F1 license expires as we can see more today in our latest cryptocurrency news.

The Licensed Formula 1 NFT game Delta Time, will shut down this week. Animoca Brands will give the holders some replacements for another racing game and tokens for other benefits. Formula 1 was one of the first sports leagues that entered the blockcahin space with the launch of Animoca Brands’ F1 Delta Time game in 2019 but after three years, the ETH-based game is shutting down.

It is with deep regret that we announce that F1® Delta Time will cease operations on 16 March 2022. While we have not been able to renew our license, we will ensure that current owners of F1® Delta Time assets are rewarded for their loyalty and support.https://t.co/q8EspaC0Iv

— F1® Delta Time (@F1DeltaTime) March 15, 2022

Animoca announced the unexpected news and revealed that the game will cease all operations at the end of Wednesday. According to the blog post, the company hasn’t been able to renew the license with the racing league and it is still unclear how many total players the game amassed with the data from OpenSea suggesting that only 1800 unique wallets owned NFTs from the game. For the sudden demise of the game, there’s an interesting dilemma: what will happen when a licensed game or a dapp whcih has sold user-owned asses as NFTs to players, is shuttered because of an IP holder’s decision?

In this case, Animoca Brands wants to appease NFT owners by offering replacement NFTs in another crypto racing game dubbed REVV Racing as well as other perks and rewards in the wider gaming ecosystem that is built around the REVV token. The new game is an unlicensed driving game and it runs on Polygon which is a scaling solution for Ethereum. F1 Delta Time car owners will receive the NFT cars in REVV Racing instead for example the assets being used to earn the token rewards in a new staking pool.

Beyond REVV Racing, other Animoca-developed games which use the REVV token include the licensed games MotoGP Ignition and Formula E. F1 Delta Time was one of the first games on the marekt and the early NFT enthusiasts made some bigger bets on the game. For example, the investor MetaKovan bought the game’s single edition “1-1-1” car back in 2019 for 416 WETH was worth $113,000 at the time and was the biggest sale of the year. MetaKovan then even purchased Beeple’s “Everyday: The First 500 Days” for $69.3 million in 2021.

However, F1 Delta Time hasn’t generated a lot of trading action as some other games. Along with developing crypto games, Animoca Brands is also a leading investor in NFT and metaverse startups.