BAYC creator Yuga Labs completes restructuring to focus on metaverse

Yuga Labs, the company behind the major nonfungible token (NFT) project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), has completed restructuring amid the ongoing challenges in the industry.

Yuga Labs CEO Daniel Alegre took to X (formerly Twitter) on Oct. 17 to report that the company has finalized its restructuring, which was announced in early October.

“We now begin the task of refining the focus with our new team configurations,” Alegre said, reiterating that the company will prioritize the execution of Otherside, a gamified and interoperable metaverse project that Yuga started in March 2022.

Alegre emphasized that building an “immersive metaverse” platform is hard both technically and creatively, adding:

“Otherside is a very important bet for Yuga and when our creative team brought the concept for Meetropolis up to my leadership team, making it a tentpole experience for Otherside felt like a slam dunk.”

Yuga Labs co-founder Greg Solano previously announced the company’s restructuring on Oct. 6, stating that Yuga “needed to make some changes” in order to ensure that it’s set up for long-term success.

“With this reorg, Yuga is still over 120 employees, and is focused on specific priorities,” Solano said. He didn’t specify how many people had to leave Yuga Labs as part of the restructuring.

Alegre also assured that his top priority during restructuring was to “ensure that those leaving Yuga are treated with the respect and gratitude they deserve.” He claimed that Yuga’s transition package included “generous severance,” the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act coverage and assistance in finding new job opportunities. The CEO added:

“It’s a challenging time, not only for our industry but also for the global economy. […] The restructure today impacts U.S. team members, and we are actively reviewing the impact on our international teams.”

Yuga Labs did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Related: Microsoft’s Activision buy may see more metaverse in the office and crypto in gaming

The news comes amid a U.S. appeals court on Oct. 16 expressing skepticism about an attempt to dismiss Yuga Labs’ trademark lawsuit against artist Ryder Ripps over his copies of Yuga’s BAYC NFTs.

Previously, a group of BAYC investors filed a class-action lawsuit against Yuga Labs and fine arts auction house Sotheby’s in August 2023, alleging that the auction house helped Yuga Labs “deceptively promote” the NFT collection.

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