Yuga Labs Hires First Chief Gaming Officer: Who It Is And Why It's Important

Leading non-fungible token company Yuga Labs announced the hiring of a newly created position that will help with the company’s gaming ambitions.

What Happened: Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced its first-ever Chief Gaming Officer. The company hired Spencer Tucker for the role, a position that will oversee Yuga’s gaming initiatives.

Tucker will be responsible for overseeing the company’s Otherside metaverse project.

“Web3 is revolutionizing gaming, entertainment and community in much the same way the shift to mobile revolutionized communication,” Tucker said. “I am beyond excited to join the Yuga Labs team and to continue building toward the new era of interoperability and community-empowered growth in the Otherside metaverse.”

Tucker has over two decades of gaming industry experience, including roles with Scopely and Gree International Entertainment. 

The hiring comes as the company has placed heavy emphasis on its Otherside metaverse project and its future beyond being just a company with several NFT collections.

“Spencer brings a passion for and deep knowledge of gaming and shares our vision for the Otherside metaverse,” Yuga Labs CEO Nicole Muniz said. “Yuga today is known most prominently for being the home of Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks and Meebits, but Yuga is more than that. Gaming is one of our main focus areas.”

Muniz said Yuga Labs could “revolutionize the way” people think about Web3 gaming using items such as storytelling, ownership, utility and community to stand out.

Yuga Labs started the year with 10 workers and has grown to more than 70 employees. The company plans to have more than 100 full-time employees by the end of 2022.

Related Link: How To Buy NFTs 

Why It’s Important: Launched in April 2021, Bored Ape Yacht Club is now one of the most well-known and valuable NFT collections.

Yuga Labs expanded its offerings with the launches of Bored Ape Kennel Club and Mutant Ape Kennel Club. The company also offered NFTs of its Otherside metaverse project called Otherdeed for Otherside.

In March, Yuga Labs acquired the rights to two of the most well-known NFT collections ever in CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs.

Yuga Labs has shown off several demos of the Otherside metaverse, with holders of Yuga Labs NFTs able to take part in the demos.

The company has attracted investors, celebrities and NFT collectors with a project that has offered additional airdrops and grants IP rights of its collections to holders.

The Otherside metaverse was featured in a performance by Eminem and Snoop Dogg at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. Eminem and Snoop Dogg are among the celebrities who own Bored Ape NFTs.

Otherdeed for Otherside NFT sales volume surpassed $1 billion earlier this year and the project ranks sixth in all-time NFT sales by Cryptoslam. 

Yuga Labs was valued at $4 billion in March in a $450 million seed round.

Price Action: Bored Ape Yacht Club has a floor price of 73.7 Ethereum ETH/USD at the time of writing, or $105,875.21.

Otherdeed for Otherside has a floor price of 1.75 ETH, or around $2,507.

Photo: Created from LinkedIn image provided by Yuga Labs PR