Deadmau5’s Pixelynx Unveils NFT Scavenger Hunt: ‘Rock Band Meets Pokémon Go’

Some music fans first step into metaverse-and first experience of owning one NFT— can come through a Pokémon Go-like augmented reality (AR) game. At least that’s the hope of Pixelynx, one Web3 startup co-founded by electronic music icons Joel “Deadmau5” Zimmerman and Richie Hawtin.

Pixelynx announced today that it will begin rolling out its Elynxir music metaverse gaming platform this week with the launch of an AR scavenger hunt throughout Miami Beach, beginning in conjunction with the annual Art Basel event.

Inder Phull, co-founder and CEO of Pixelnyx, described the scavenger hunt mission – dubbed Go Astral – as a “Rock Band meets Pokémon Go experience”, referring to the two successful video game brands. Elynxir’s platform is built on Polygonone Ethereum scaling network.

Similar to Pokémon Go, the Elynxir app will overlay digital content on top of users’ real-world surroundings when viewed through a smartphone, allowing them to interact with music-themed elements of the world. During the treasure hunt, users will try to win one of 20 fractionalized parts of an NFT from what the company says is an existing “blue chip” profile picture (PFP) project.

By owning one of these fractional NFTs, players can help shape the future of a virtual musician that will be introduced on the Elynxir platform. Phull said the goal is to gamify the concepts of coordination and collaboration so that these early adopters can develop a virtual artist that can potentially thrive within the upcoming music metaverse platform.

“What we want is to give a number of winners the promise of a voice, in a way, to this virtual act,” he explained, “and then have the community collaborate and make suggestions about how this virtual artist will evolve.”

This is not the first instance of an NFT-powered virtual band or artist. Kingdomfor example, is a major-label virtual band made up of characters inspired by Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT avatars, with Grammy-winning musicians Hit-Boy and James Fauntleroy write the music. Producer Timbaland, meanwhile, launched his own record label for Bored Ape-based artists.

In this case, Phull said Deadmau5 and Hawtin could be among the artists to eventually collaborate with Elynxir’s virtual act, plus Pixelynx has collaborated with a number of labels including Spinnin’ Records (part of Warner Music Group) and Mau5trap Records. Eventually, the virtual artist will join others to form a supergroup on the music metaverse platform.

Elynxir’s AR app uses the Niantic Lightship engine from Pokémon Go developer Niantic, and that studio also invested in Pixelynx. The real dynamic should be familiar to anyone who has played the awesome Nintendo collaboration, but with a look unique to Elynxir. Phull says the AR app is designed to help new users to Web3 and NFT.

“It’s super easy in terms of onboarding,” he said. “The idea is that you can basically get your first NFT for free. The idea is just to start giving fans a new way to get a digital collectible, and then slowly onboard the ecosystem where we have more products and experiences that we’re going to start to release next year.”

Elynixr will be a multi-platform music-centric metaverse experience, with the AR app – which will offer additional functionality beyond this initial scavenger hunt – as just one part of the overall equation. A more lavish digital experience is being built with the Unreal Engine, and will feature user-generated content and opportunities for fans to collaborate with musicians.

“We’re really excited to explore this intersection of music, gaming and Web3, thinking: How do you want to grow the music industry?” Phull said. “Gaming really presents the tracks for music to grow and become something much more than just a static format.”

Deadmau5 has followed a number of NFT collaborations of late, including drops in Web3 games such as Blanko’s Block Party and The sandbox. Pixelynx previously released reactive music NFTs which will serve as early access enters Elynxir.

Founded in 2020, the firm raised $4.5 million last year in a seed round led by well-known metaverse investor Animoca brands, with participation from Solana Ventures, Everyrealm and others. Alameda Research, the trading firm that played a key role in the recent collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, also invested in the round.

Phull said the electronic musician built the first playable version of Pixelynx’s platform, and that he and Hawtin (aka Plastikman) are both immersed in building Elynxir into the metaverse destination for music enthusiasts. They are also “developing their own technology,” Phull added, which Pixelynx then plans to incorporate into its ecosystem.

“They are deeply involved as technologists and musicians,” Phull asserted.

Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to clarify Pixelynx’s record label partnerships.