Jan 3rd 2023

Virtual pets have been around for decades, but with NFTs, we set to own our online cats and dogs this year, not just play with them, says Leah Callon-Butler.

Crouched at the ocean’s edge, her skeletal figure was a rude juxtaposition against the idyllic scenery of Seven Commandos Beach, a tiny island skirting the west Philippine archipelago. Once a tourist hotspot with hundreds of visitors dropping delicious pizza crusts and burger scraps daily, none had stepped foot there since the country closed over a year earlier.

Just a 10-minute boat ride from the place where my boyfriend and I had bunkered amid the pandemic, we had headed there for an afternoon for snorkeling and sunsets only to find a hungry old dog instead. Kneeling to meet her, I traced my fingers over her dirty, straw-like fur and nubby ribs. The animal was starving to death, but she somehow wagged her tail, and in that moment, we knew we weren’t leaving that island without her and her two babies in tow.

-

Newfound friends

Over the next year, we treated them as our own. We fed them only the best food, got them the veterinary attention they needed and spoiled them silly with squeaky toys and bones from the butcher and all the things that doggy dreams are made of. The whole exercise cost a bomb, but we didn’t care. It was high-COVID-19 and they provided us with a much-needed respite from lockdown life. Between tummy rubs, new tricks and those little things they do to let you know how much they love you, the time we spent with them was priceless.

It was always the plan to get them adopted. While we would have preferred to keep them, sadly, pet ownership doesn't gel well with a career that calls for constant global travel; I’m sure crypto people can relate. And now, with borders open, we are rarely at home. So, of course, I’m grateful that we were able to find forever homes for our rescue dogs, but saying goodbye was immensely difficult, and now there’s a giant gaping hole in my life where my pets used to be. Which may offer a clue about why I’ve become increasingly obsessed with my Crypto Unicorns.

Digital unicorns

Built on Polygon, Crypto Unicorns is a farming game of which I was first a player, and then later, an investor and adviser. I don’t know how many people care to hear my stories of farming nail seeds and picking up rainbow poop – but I tell them anyway.

Every chance I get, I’m whipping out my phone to bring up OpenSea to show off my collection of these adorable NFT (non-fungible token) pets. By now, I’ve collected way too many unicorns to remember each one by name, but I have my favorites. Like Pinstripe Atticus, a baby Double Mythic that I bred all by myself. In the game, they do the cutest things; like yesterday, Minty Raja was licking his crotch with his leg over his head, just like a cat. I’d never seen him do that before; developers must have pushed an update. I rushed to open QuickTime so that I could capture the precious moment, but I wasn’t quick enough.

The Web3 experience

Web3, as a collection of blockchain-based software including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, facilitates the decentralization of internet-based platforms in a way that wasn’t possible before, so that digital pet owners can take personal control of their pets. As per our pet store analogy, an NFT pet lives in the owner’s self-controlled crypto wallet instead of being stuck inside a game.

Now, with your Web2-pet-owner-hat still on, imagine you showed up to the pet store only to find that it was closed. Or worse, there’s a sign on the door saying the store has shut permanently with your puppy inside. No matter how much time you spent together, no matter how many tricks you taught them, all you have left are memories.

This is the frustration and devastation experienced by players of Web2 games that go down for extended periods of time or shutter altogether, and the graveyard of games past is strewn with tombstones of virtual pet titles. Like Club Penguin, a Disney-owned social network that had 200 million users in 2013, but didn’t allow any of them to port over their game items or coins when a new site was launched in 2017.

The concept of ownership is fundamental to our relationship with pets. You give it a name. You are responsible for it. It relies on you for food, shelter, medicine and love. You protect it. You are its owner. And wherever property rights are critical, there is an excellent use case for Web3. So it isn’t surprising that there are already loads of pet projects popping up with NFTs at the core.