After a long break, dotSwoosh, Nike’s virtual creation department, is back in the sporting goods manufacturer’s community. In a new one Blog post the company’s plans for 2024 are announced. Last year, the news that Nike wanted to conquer the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) caused a stir in the industry. After all, there is a global fan base that is willing to spend a lot of money on new sneakers with the famous Swoosh logo.
On the dotSwoosh platform, community members can interact with and purchase digital collectibles such as shoes and jerseys. The items will soon be able to be used in video games and for virtual experiences, which should allow players a new level of individualization. But that’s not all, because Nike is planning even more for 2024. What can fans and gamers really expect now?
How Nike found its way into the blockchain space
The sporting goods manufacturer’s first foray into the blockchain space came with the acquisition of RTFKT and the establishment of the dotSwoosh platform a few years ago. Nike has taken advantage of the latest NFT hype. Nevertheless, the company remained cautious in its approach to digital items and therefore did not only publish its virtual products on the blockchain.
While dotSwoosh initially introduced numerous digital sneaker NFTs on the Polygon network, an announcement in 2023 gave the community hope for possible NFT partnerships with EA Sports and Fortnite. However, the Fortnite collaboration ended up being just a normal digital collectibles sale that didn’t involve blockchain technology. The most recent announcement still leaves some things unclear, but there are at least some new insights.
“In-game wearables” are a top priority
One of the most important of these is the announcement of new “in-game wearables”. This makes a difference Nike blog post clearly between “digital collectibles” and the aforementioned “in-game wearables”. This distinction leaves open the possibility that the latter are not NFTs at all, but rather more similar to Nike’s collaboration with Fortnite 2023. dotSwoosh writes:
With the launch of a new line of virtual products – Nike In-Game Wearables – we will delve even deeper into the world of video games. In-game wearables are different from our digital collectibles (like OF1) because you can purchase and wear these collections directly in your favorite video games.
dotSwoosh, blog post from 01/13/24
In addition, it should also be possible to unlock exclusive clothing and shoes in the real world based on the items purchased in games. Nike is trying to intensively combine the real and virtual worlds. Another promise is even more limited physical products for members of the dotSwoosh community. They would get exclusive access if they had previously purchased in-game wearables or digital collectibles from Nike. The first product of this kind was the “Air Force 1 Low TINAJ” sneakers, which dropped last October for $120.
What else can we expect from dotSwoosh?
Last but not least, dotSwoosh announces that the artists responsible should be financially rewarded for their work more easily. To this end, users will probably be able to move their digital collectibles into their own wallets and later trade them on exchanges. However, Nike is not planning its own trading center, but rather wants to provide access to existing providers. According to dotSwoosh, customers do not need a special crypto wallet for this, but will be able to link their gaming account directly in the future.
Despite this exciting plan for 2024, it should be remembered that large companies like Meta and Reddit have already withdrawn from the NFT space due to lack of success and user criticism. But perhaps the enterprising sporting goods manufacturer can achieve what others have failed. One thing remains clear: Anyone who buys virtual products from Nike as an active member of the Swoosh community can later buy significantly more expensive physical products as a reward. From a business perspective, this is undoubtedly an attractive concept.
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