Bored Ape Metaverse Game 'Otherside' Launching With Amazon NFT Drop

In brief

Yuga Labs is launching the Koda Nexus, a social and interactive hub in its Otherside metaverse, on November 12.
The firm is also teaming with Amazon Gaming to launch a co-branded NFT avatar that can explore the metaverse.
The Otherside has been in development since 2022 after Yuga Labs sold tokenized plots of digital land called Otherdeeds.

Yuga Labs’ Otherside is opening up the Koda Nexus—a major social hub and the living center of its Bored Ape Yacht Club-themed metaverse—on November 12, the firm announced at its annual ApeFest event in Las Vegas over the weekend.

The open-world metaverse game has been in development since 2022, hosting multiple play tests and launching experimental game mode trials as it prepares to make a splash as an always-on, ever-evolving world.

The Nexus launch and social hub is just the first of the world’s three-layer approach, according to a newly shared release video. It is followed by a gaming layer filled with quests and battles built by developers and independent creators, and the Otherside Development Kit (ODK), a toolkit for building and publishing creations within the game world.

“Make no mistake, this isn’t just a release—it’s the foundation for a platform built for the future,” the video says.

In addition to the world launch, Yuga Labs also shared that the Otherside will be on the front page of Amazon Gaming, promoting its metaverse brand to the global retailers millions of users.

The firm will collaborate with Amazon to release an exclusive co-branded Voyager character called “Boximus” that can explore the Otherside metaverse, with purchases available on the Otherside brand store starting on Thursday.

“Amazon has over 300 million users, and we’re going to be selling digital assets to all of them,” said Yuga Labs Chief Creative Officer Michael Figge onstage at ApeFest.

Yuga is also working with artist Daniel Arsham on a limited edition, 300-piece Voyager collection that blends fine art with the interactive digital collectibles, evolving over time.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club-creator has landed other notable collaborations for its Otherside project in the past, including partnering with Gucci in April 2023 to launch Otherside-themed jewelry.

The firm’s metaverse had a massive 2022 launch that generated more than $560 million in sales in less than 24 hours, on top of burning $157 million in Ethereum after it created so much frenzy on the blockchain.

Last year, Yuga offloaded some of its other gaming properties to focus even deeper on its Otherside metaverse plans, and more recently parted with its acquired CryptoPunks, Meebits, and Moonbirds IP to refocus on the Bored Ape Yacht Club.