Activision Blizzard chief operating officer Daniel Alegre is to become chief executive of ‘Bored Ape’ creator Yuga Labs, moving at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Yuga Labs made a name for itself via the popular Bored Ape and CryptoPunks NFTs, and, under Alegre work to develop further a vision for a “a truly interoperable metaverse”, it said in a statement.
Whilst it sees Alegre move onto pastures new, Activision’s future remains somewhat up in the air.
Microsoft is facing a block on its proposed acquisition of Activision by the FTC, which has scrutinised the transaction for potential negative impact on competition in video games sector – as it sees some of the biggest AAA game titles going under the umbrella of one of the largest console makers.
Additionally, another potential point of friction comes as a number of American customers launched legal action, claiming that the combination of Microsoft and Activision will create a monopoly.
Yuga Labs has, separately, faced its own legal issues as it recently received accusations that it used celebrity-based promotions to inflate prices in the bored ape NFT series.