Indian game streaming platform launches esports NFTs with pro teams

Loco, an Indian game streaming platform, has announced the introduction of a non-fungible token (NFT) platform under its umbrella. Called ‘Legends’, the platform will go live next month, and is aimed at esports enthusiasts to get access to collectibles on popular esports titles and some of the popular esports teams in India. These NFTs can also be traded by users on the Loco Legends platform to participate in esports fantasy league tournaments, and win prizes.

In essence, Loco Legends works similar to how collectibles and fantasy league games have worked. For the platform, Loco said that it has partnered with over 50 prominent esports players and teams, as well as gaming influencers, who will be available to users of the platform as NFTs. These gamers and influencers will be collectibles on the platform, and can be traded, used or swapped by users in line with gaming tournaments.

In a release, Loco said that it has partnered with esport teams such as Godlike and 8bit, among others. The former, incidentally, had signed an exclusive partnership with Loco in January this year to stream all their gameplay on the platform, before scrapping the contract and signing with fellow Indian game streaming platform, Rooter, last month.

The move marks a new offering in an increasing game streaming and gaming ecosystem in India, which has been attracting a larger number of sponsors in recent times, alongside offering esports teams and gaming influencers big-money contracts.

The NFT offering by Loco will likely include a revenue share model with the game streamers on whom the NFTs will be based. Loco said that the NFT launch will see users getting a chance to shortlist themselves right now. When the platform is launched, the top 1,000 users will get access to free NFTs worth ₹500 each.

The launch of Loco’s esports NFT platform comes at a time when the interest around NFTs continue to decline. Data from NFT market tracker NonFungible states that as of today, daily NFT trading volumes around the world have declined by 92.8% since its peak in the past one year. Total NFT sales per day has also crashed – down from $418.2 million per day in August last year to $13.8 million last week.

To be sure, Loco is not the first company to introduce NFTs in gaming. Numerous gaming firms and tournament organizers around the world have included NFTs as in-game collectibles with specific value, which allows followers and players to earn through them. However, the Loco Legends platform does appear to be the first that enables a NFT-based fantasy gaming sub-section within a game streaming platform.