Yuga Labs Offloads Moonbirds to Orange Cap Games—What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

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In a move that will undoubtedly have crypto enthusiasts clutching their pearls, crypto gaming startup Orange Cap Games (OCG) has taken the reins of the intellectual property for the Ethereum-based Moonbirds NFT collection from Yuga Labs. It’s as if someone handed a golden egg to a chicken who’s only interested in playing video games.

OCG, in its infinite wisdom, revealed on May 30 that they’d snapped up not just Moonbirds, but also the Mythics and Oddities NFT collections from Yuga. What’s the price, you ask? Well, your guess is as good as ours—details were, predictably, kept under wraps. A little mystery is always good for business, right?

This acquisition comes just over a year after Yuga Labs itself got its mitts on these collections, thanks to their acquisition of PROOF, the company behind them, in February. The plot thickens—like a good stew that’s been left simmering for a year too long.

“Moonbirds deserve a team whose whole world revolves around birds, and I can’t think of anyone better than Orange Cap Games to help them spread their wings,” said Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano, in what can only be described as an absolutely *cracking* endorsement of OCG’s bird-handling expertise. He went on to note that Yuga Labs, with laser-like precision, is focusing on its original collections—yes, the high-priced, ever-so-elusive Bored Ape Yacht Club and its spin-offs, including the gloriously niche Mutant Ape Yacht Club. The metaverse, of course, is still under construction, with the aptly named Otherside—presumably a place where digital apes can run free.

But fear not, dear reader. Moonbirds will still make their way to Otherside, and any new on-chain assets that come to life will be hosted either on Ethereum or Yuga’s very own ApeChain. Because what would a metaverse be without a chain of apes, right? It’s almost as if we’re living in the future, or perhaps a fever dream.

The market, ever the unpredictable beast, responded with gusto, sending Moonbirds’ price soaring more than threefold to 0.9 ETH after the announcement. But, let’s not pop the champagne just yet. They’re still down a nearly *tragic* 98% from their all-time high of 38.5 ETH in April 2022—proof that timing, like most things in life, is everything.

The Never-Ending Yuga Labs Sell-Off Saga

But wait, there’s more! Yuga Labs has been on a bit of an intellectual property fire sale recently, as the NFT market continues its long, slow crawl towards mediocrity. It’s almost as if they’ve realized they’ve been holding onto too many pixelated collectibles and are looking to slim down their portfolio.

Earlier this month, they sold the IP for CryptoPunks—widely considered the ‘OG’ of NFT collections—to the Infinite Node Foundation, a nonprofit. Of course, the terms were as mysterious as ever. No one’s saying how much, but we can all assume it was at least more than a couple of bucks.

In February, The Meebit Company acquired the Meebits collection from Yuga Labs, though they wisely left Yuga with a minority stake. And, just to keep us on our toes, venture firm 1confirmation also got in on the action.

And for the cherry on top, Yuga sold off the IPs of two of its games, HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara, because nothing says “let’s refocus” like unloading your game collection.

Meanwhile, over at Disney, they’re playing the long game with their partnership with Dapper Labs (those lovely folks who brought us NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties). In a shocking twist, Disney+ subscribers will now get a digital pin every month. It’s the loyalty program no one knew they needed, but here we are.

In case you were wondering, there’s a glimmer of hope for the NFT market. May saw a 50% increase in unique NFT buyers, bringing the total to 936,000. NFT volume also saw a nice little uptick, hitting $430 million—a modest 15% increase from April. Perhaps, just perhaps, the NFT ship isn’t sinking after all.

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2025-06-02 09:56