Baobab Studios is taking its animated storytelling to a new platform today by introducing Momoguro, a digital collectibles game based on Web3 technology.

The company is working on the title with technology firm Web3 ImmutableX, which scales blockchain gaming for mainstream consumers.

The project was created by designers Nico Casavecchia and Martin Allais. Momoguro is part of Baobab’s ongoing mission to inspire the world to dream, generate a sense of wonder and make people matter through storytelling, said Maureen Fan, CEO of Baobab Studios, in an interview with GamesBeat. . (We’re planning to have Fan speak at our GamesBeat Summit: Into the Metaverse 3 online event on February 1-2.)

“Web3 is really exciting for us because it’s another medium for us and really aligns with our mission statement, which is to inspire the world to dream, bring out their sense of wonder, and make it matter,” Fan said. “And that last sentence, which is to make you matter, is what I feel sets us apart from other animation studios because we want the audience to be a part of the experience, whether it’s a character or if it just means you’re the community. In fact, you can influence what happens and how we build that story. So it was natural for us to be a part of Web3 because it really helps with that mission and allows the community to be on the ground floor.”

As with all Baobab franchises, Momoguro is a whole new universe. Its story and characters transcend any medium and will flow from digital collectibles to the metaverse, TV/movies, books and more, Fan said.

In the game, players will collect creatures with unique powers in the fantastic world of Momoguro. In this story-driven world, players fuse their collectibles with creatures, called Momos, to gain their abilities and become ultra-powerful Momobeasts. Baobab showed off a bit of the game at the Art Basel event in Miami.

“I am personally excited about the endless combinations I can create. Because you have these Momos that have different abilities. And so you discover them in the world. And you can decide which Momos you want to use,” Fan said. “This fantastic world is super fun. And I just want to be there all the time.”

You can also undertake quests to unlock clues, uncover long-forgotten secrets, and join Momos in defending the world from selfish forces that seek to divide it.

“In an increasingly divisive world, we believe in Momoguro’s message of supporting the community,” Fan said. “Digital collectibles allow a community to get on the ground floor in creating a new universe. By empowering players to be a part of the game’s story, Momoguro encourages us to believe that we are stronger together.”

The move is a pivot for Baobab, which started making interactive movies for virtual reality. Baobab’s leaders include Fan, who previously worked at Zynga; Eric Darnell, creator of movies like Antz and the Madagascar Serie; and storytelling tech veteran Larry Cutler, formerly at Pixar.

But this all fits into the grand plan, Fan said. This is because the company has always wanted its intellectual properties to reach a wide variety of platforms, not just reside on cutting-edge platforms like virtual reality.

“We always thought that VR was an entry point for us,” Fan said. “I always wanted to create an animation studio that created characters and stories that went beyond an individual medium. But VR was super awesome. Because no one had an advantage. Virtual reality was a technological disruption. So I thought of a way that we could create great stories and characters, and then put those great stories and characters into many different mediums.”

Momoguro world and Baobab digital collectible game will launch in early 2023, followed by others
digital collectibles, integration with metaverse platforms, and an expansion of the Momoguro franchise
through media and entertainment.

“We are excited to partner with Baobab Studios to enhance their player experience and unlock a new universe of creative games for the community,” said Tim Steudler, Head of Game Business Development at
ImmutableX, in a statement. “Digital collectibles are the future of entertainment, and the Baobab team has a long history of creating compelling, award-winning stories and characters in worlds where you can be a part of history.”

Part of the reason Baobab is making such a partnership is that it is not a Web3 company, Fan said. Alex Tinsman, director of the community, said the company did research on Web3 and its own target audience. And he found that its appeal lies with lore-driven communities, Web3 gamers, and enthusiasts. He found some interesting crossovers in that regard. Enthusiasts in particular understood what it means to have a digital identity and digital assets, and to truly own in-game assets.

Baobab Studios has released eight projects to date; Invasion!, Asteroids!, Jack, Crow: The Legend, Bonfire, Baba Yag, Paper Birds and Namoo. All received critical acclaim and commercial success, the company said. The works have been viewed millions of times.

The studio’s intellectual property is currently being adapted into books (MacMillan, Penguin Random House), movies
(Roth/Kirsch, Disney), original series with premium streamers and games.

“We always put our intellectual property across different mediums because we believe that great stories and characters transcend any individual medium,” Fan said.

Baobab’s most recent release, the Oscar-nominated Namoo, was acquired by Warner 150 earlier this year and is now streaming exclusively on HBO Max.

“We have an incredible gaming team, which I don’t think we’ve shared with everyone,” Fan said.

Over the past year, the company has hired a number of game developers who have worked in the past at Zynga, Wizards of the Coast, Disney, Electronic Arts, and more.

As for the metaverse, Fan said it depends on how you define it. It doesn’t have to be about VR, although that can be a part of it.

“The way I define the metaverse is as a digital destination where people hang out and be entertained in a virtual world. That’s how I define it. And yes, you want interactivity when you have things to do. And you are connecting with other humans, whether they are your friends or strangers. But you want to do that in a world with great stories and characters. So that’s what we see ourselves doing, bringing the great narrative structure of movies and TV and a lot of the traditional stuff together with the interactivity of games and having it all in one medium.”