The Game set for Emmy Award consideration

Uniswap Labs may bag the crypto industry’s first Emmy Award for its recently acquired Crypto: The Game (CTG). The online survival game is a huge hit with degen gamers and a contender for an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Emerging Media Program category.

The game is based on a TV reality show format, pitting ten “tribes” of 80 players against each other as they struggle to survive daily “immunity challenges,” such as competing in arcade games or winning an online digital scavenger hunt.

Surviving Crypto: The Game

CTG players pay 0.1 Ether (ETH) to participate and the last survivor takes home the pot of entry money, minus a 10% fee that keeps the game running. The losing tribes are forced to vote members out of the game. Players can receive personal immunity by tweeting about playing. On the last day, previously eliminated players vote for one of the two last survivors.

Each season is ten days long. The game takes place in real time in a 24-hour cycle on the Base blockchain. Fans follow along on X or Farcaster and can listen to a podcast dedicated to the game.

CTG was introduced in January and is currently preparing to launch its third season. The season 1 prize amounted to around $150,000 and season 2 netted the winner $274,000 as the price of ETH climbed. Season 2 competitors bought out the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that gained them entry in 15 minutes. Players can sell their NFTs and the buyer receives their position in the game.

Lead developer Dylan Abruscato told Fortune that CTG players are members of the crypto X community, crypto influencers and other market players, plus 10%-15% “normies,” that is, people with no previous crypto exposure.

Uniswap gets in on the CTG action

On June 11, just before the Emmy nomination ballot lineup was announced, CTG was acquired by Uniswap Labs — best known for its Ethereum-based decentralized cryptocurrency exchange — for an undisclosed amount of cash, crypto and equity. Abruscato and the rest of the development team joined Uniswap to shepherd season 3 and work on other interactive experiences for the crypto community.

Related: Uniswap CEO warns US president to reverse course on crypto policies

CTG faces off against virtual reality experiences, Verizon’s Catch My iPhone game, the Billboard Music Awards and products from such personalities as horror film director Eli Roth, composer Jean-Michel Jarre, celebrity Lucy Liu and Claymation characters Wallace & Gromit for a place in the Emmy competition. Voting by members of a “peer group” lasts through June 25.

On June 12, Solana also branched out into an adjacent market when it debuted its customer loyalty marketing service Bond.

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