The intersection of NFTs and games is an uneasy one. Critics see the potential for exploitative game mechanics, and many games are merely economic engines with rudimentary game mechanics attached. Often missing: Attention to world-building and storytelling.  

The Atmos Labs team, however, has put storytelling at the center of its strategy. Enthusiasts recently responded by completely buying up not just one but two related NFT offerings in one weekend.

The first is the inaugural edition of a nine-issue comic book series, delivered as a Digital Collector’s Edition NFT. With 175 years of cumulative experience in comics and a creative team led by industry veteran Tommy Lee Edwards, Atmos introduced its sci-fi-fueled vision of metaverse-native sports (MNS) with Atmos:Exordium Chapter 01. 

From the description:

“Trained from birth by an off-world cult, rookie ExoGP racer Addy Aker has escaped her fate and fled to the planet Atmos, seeking to disappear into the planet’s shadowy criminal underworld. Stumbling instead into the ranks of Atmos’s legendary ExoGP racing league, she will find herself pitted against the most tenacious and talented pilots in the galaxy.“

The Digital Collector’s Edition includes an invite to a private writer’s channel in the Atmos Discord, where people can get behind-the-scenes looks at how the series was created, view concept art, character designs, script excerpts, and more.

The second is the “MKIV Datacard” — a kind of in-universe mint pass — that was quietly introduced during Atmos’s early phases. Early adopters who held these Datacards were not only automatically airdropped one copy of the comic, but had a greater chance of getting one of the variant covers in the collection. The remaining Datacards sold out quickly upon the launch of the comic. 

Over that weekend, the Datacard and the Digital Collector’s Edition of Chapter 1 reached #2 and #8, respectively, on OpenSea. Pre-orders of the Web 1.0 version delivered via Amazon reached #1 in the category of Sports Graphic Novels.