Racing and motorsports game publisher, The Tiny Digital Factory announced on Tuesday, December 13, that as part of a brand new collaboration with luxury car maker Aston Martin, 3,000 Polygon-based NFTs will be making their debut and available for fans to buy and race in the next-gen mobile metaverse, Infinite Drive. 

The initial collection includes the new Aston Martin Vantage V8 Coupe, the Vantage GT3 racing model, and the 1980 Vantage V8 famously seen in the 15th James Bond film, The Living Daylights. 

Future owners can immediately take their Aston Martin NFT into the closed Alpha of the Infinite Drive metaverse (on iOS and Android) and race their hearts out against the community on officially licensed tracks. 

“Our vision for Infinite Drive has always been two-fold: enabling players to own and trade their dream car collections as so many of us have done using diecast models in real life; and to experience the sensation of taking them onto the track. It’s truly remarkable that this vision has resonated so strongly with one of the world’s leading carmakers in Aston Martin – so much so that they have chosen to launch their first ever NFT cars with us,” said Stéphane Baudet, founder and CEO at The Tiny Digital Factory. 

Baudet, who is also the former creative director of the Test Drive Unlimited franchise, says that she believes Infinite Drive will become a “poster child” for a meaningful application of Web3-enabled tech in gaming. He is a gaming industry veteran who is behind some of the world’s most popular franchises like F1 and V-Rally. 

Urvit Goel, VP Business Development, Gaming & Platform at Polygon shared his enthusiasm for helping to make the project “one of the first mass-market web3 smash hits.”

“Polygon aims to accelerate the development of exciting blockchain-based games, and Infinite Drive certainly fits that description. Following their successful initial mint back in August, Infinite Drive is primed to really take off in 2023 and we’re excited that the first ever Aston Martin NFT cars will be available on Polygon.”

Last week, Starbucks officially rolled out ‘Odyssey,’ its new Web3 rewards program, in partnership with Polygon and Nifty Gateway. The coffee chain first announced Odyssey back in September as an extension of its leading Starbucks Rewards program that allows for its members to participate in a series of journeys that earn them points and NFTs.

The first wave of the digital collectibles are now available to those on the whitelist, while the general sale begins on December 19. 

The full game will be free-to-play on iOS and Android platforms and is expected to release in early 2023, with a roadmap including an in-game collectibles marketplace, esports events, and an economy that Tiny Digital Factory says will enable holders to lease their “collectible” cars to other players and share in the winnings like a real-world racing team. 

In other NFT news, NFT Yearbook is already archiving the rich culture of Web3.