Stella Artois today became the first global beer brand to enter the world of virtual horse racing by teaming up with digital horse racing platform, ZED RUN to auction 50 rare NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) racehorses – complete with five limited edition Stella Artois skins.
Coinciding with the busiest part of the UK’s summer racing season, the racehorses will be auctioned off between 15 and 19 June, giving racing fanatics the chance to collect, trade, race, and even put the ‘thoroughbreds’ to stud, all in the ZED RUN metaverse which is built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Virtual horse racing is a rapidly growing craze within esports, with some NFT digital racehorses now being sold for over £100,000.
NFTs are commonly powered by the Ethereum blockchain – which allows users to have total ownership of their digital racehorse (NFT) and accrue real earnings through racing, breeding and putting horses to stud, replicating the real world of championship horse racing.
Alongside the auction, Stella Artois will also be unveiling a first of its kind branded 3D racetrack where ZED RUN players will come together to race their horses in the uniquely designed ‘Racing in the Life Artois’ metaverse.
This latest move follows Stella Artois’ recent Stella Tips campaign when the brand launched its first NFTs and is part of Budweiser Brewing Group UK & Ireland’s move to replicate their position as one of the leading sponsors of sport, in the digital sporting metaverse.
“As one of the biggest sponsors of premium sporting events, Stella Artois has partnered with leading digital horse racing platform ZED RUN to offer an online equivalent to esports fans” said Global Head of Technology and Innovation at AB InBev, Lindsey McInerney. “With our virtual experiment, “Racing In The Life Artois”, were bringing the art and elegance of Stella Artois and its “The Life Artois” platform to a new audience, offering players the chance to buy, race, and breed their very own NFT thoroughbreds in a ‘metaverse’ that replicates the real world of championship horse racing.”