TL;DR
Pudgy Penguins is an OG PFP collection dating back to July 2021, that has changed ownership, survived market challenges, and expanded successfully into producing physical toys. Recently, the project generated further interest with the creation of a parent company called Igloo, which also takes in IP licensing company OverpassIP, and which has plans to create a new Web3 ecosystem. Furthermore, Pudgy Penguins is working with gaming studio Mythical Games to develop a mobile-based game.
There’s been doom and gloom around NFTs this year, with major projects–including the biggest hitters CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club–enduring some huge price corrections, but are there any legacy projects to get excited about? The answer to that is yes, it seems that way, as we can see if we switch our attention to OG collection Pudgy Penguins, so let’s take a look at the project’s latest plans.
How Pudgy Penguins Expanded Beyond NFTs
Before we dive into the newest developments for Pudgies, a quick refresher on how the project began and what has happened up to now.
Consisting of 8,888 cartoon penguin PFPs, Pudgy Penguins first launched in July 2021 when NFTs were booming and the market was insanely bullish. After a good start though, the project soon ran into problems amid allegations of serious mismanagement, which eventually led to a complete takeover by entrepreneur Luca Netz, at the end of 2022.
Netz’s acquisition has subsequently unfolded in an extremely positive way, as he expanded Pudgy Penguins into becoming a successful physical toy brand, while maintaining the NFT connection through Web3 platform Pudgy World.
Pudgy Penguins and Igloo
The latest big news from the Pudgy Penguins camp is that the project–along with NFT IP licensing platform OverpassIP–has created a parent company called Igloo that appears to have major Web3 ambitions.
According to Igloo’s own announcements on Twitter, the plan is to “create the largest onchain community, driving the consumer crypto revolution”, and it appears that there’s a focus on user onboarding. This makes sense, as Pudgy Penguins’ earlier crossover into physical toys saw the brand take a very mainstream approach, with merchandise for sale in Walmart and Target, but all the while making sure that the NFT component of the project remains central.
In more detail, Igloo explained that it will “create an end-to-end ecosystem for new people to come into crypto, non-dilutively”, suggesting that reducing friction will be key. Igloo also outlined how the various parts of the venture will fit together, sketching out a structure in which Pudgy Penguins act as a top layer funnel, while OverpassID and Igloo’s future products and brands sit below this entry point.
And intriguingly, there is also a ‘redacted’ component to the plan (according to an illustrative diagram) that appears to link up Pudgies and Overpass, with Igloo stating, “over the coming months, we will complete this loop”, creating anticipation for a part still to come, although at this point no-one is quite sure what that part might look like.
Overall, while there are mysterious gaps to what was revealed (which isn’t unusual when it comes to NFT-related announcements), the overall sense is of a project that has Pudgy Penguins as its focal point, and that may be looking to replicate the Pudgy Penguins formula for other brands, while a key part of that process seems to be the building of Web3 components into products for mainstream consumption.
It should also be noted, by the way, that Igloo’s website stands out in terms of design and creates an impressively stylish first impression, demonstrating that the company–like Pudgy Penguins itself–is capable of expertly well-aimed execution.
Mythical Games Partnership
The Igloo information comes soon after another bullish announcement for Pudgies, as at the end of May, the project released details of a partnership with Web3 gaming studio Mythical Games, which is behind major titles NFL Rivals and Blankos Block Party.
The plan is to create a mobile-based game built on Mythical Games’ own Mythos Chain, which operates within the Polkadot ecosystem, thereby marking a change of direction from Pudgy Penguins after Pudgy World was developed on the Ethereum Layer-2 ZKsync.
It appears that Pudgies NFT holders will have access to previews as the game is built, and may be able to influence how the game develops by providing feedback, with the project targeting a full release sometime in 2025. Overall, this looks like a very mutually beneficial partnership, as Mythical Games gains from Pudgy Penguins’ positioning in both NFTs and physical toys, while Pudgy Penguins can tap into Mythical Games’ proven technical and creative expertise.
Pudgy Penguins Sales and Prices
As for how this stream of positive announcements has affected the PFP collection at the heart of it all, Pudgy Penguins NFTs have done over $8.1 million in sales over the past thirty days, which is a monthly increase of 25%.
That’s a good uptick, but the picture is less clear when it comes to floor prices, which have climbed from a low of 7.3 ETH in mid-June to 9.15 ETH at the time of writing, although the floor price had been at around 10 ETH at the end of May, and hit a 20 ETH peak in March this year.
However, another factor affecting the price of NFTs across the board is the conclusion of Season 3 points farming on NFT marketplace Blur, an event that has created significant volatility, and with that in mind, it appears that the Igloo announcement has had a positive impact on prices.
Additionally, Pudgy Penguins has a high enough profile and enough forward momentum that VanEck has adopted one as its Twitter PFP, and if the Igloo plans pan out well from here, Penguins may become a more ubiquitous sight.
