BBC Studios takes first steps in blockchain gaming with Doctor Who: Worlds Apart

Reality Gaming Group has secured an exclusive global license from BBC Studios to develop and publish a ground-breaking digital trading card game based on global hit television series Doctor Who.

The partnership will enable fans to collect and trade digital versions of their favourite characters for the first time, before adventuring through the Doctor Who: Worlds Apart game as the Doctor, battling friends in turn-based contests. The new title also marks the BBC’s first move into the blockchain gaming space.

Each trading card a player collects will be tokenised into a non-fungible token (NFT) secured and protected on the blockchain, which means there can be no copies or disputes about ownership. Doctor Who: Worlds Apart players will own unique digital collectable items which can be used in the game or traded with other players.

As with physical trading cards, some will be rarer than others, and all will feature Doctors, companions, allies, and enemies from across Doctor Who’s expansive history.

Limited edition packs containing five digital cards will be available for fans to buy from October 2020. Once these limited-edition cards have sold out, they will not be available to purchase again, except by trading with others.

The accompanying Doctor Who: Worlds Apart trading card game will be released for PC in 2021 with mobile to follow, allowing players to go head-to-head with their card collections. More cards will also be made available at launch.

UK-based publisher Reality Gaming Group’s Digital Asset Trading (DAT) Platform uses blockchain technology to turn any IP into a rare and collectable digital asset that can be traded between fans using dedicated marketplaces. Its debut title, mobile AR combat game Reality Clash, was released in 2019 and has been noted for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when AR, VR, geo-location and blockchain technology are combined.

Tony Pearce, co-founder of Reality Gaming Group, said: “We are tremendously excited to be working with BBC Studios to bring Doctor Who’s huge global community an exciting new digital experience based on a pastime we all know and love – trading cards.

“The cards used in Doctor Who: Worlds Apart are both functional and collectible, so fans can actually own a piece of the game while they play.”

John Kavanagh, licensing manager, gaming and interactive, BBC Studios, said: “This is what BBC Studios does so well, exploring new technologies and bringing our most iconic brand to an area of the gaming industry which we’re sure will engage and thrill fans.”

More information about Doctor Who: Worlds Apart can be found at: https://doctorwho-worldsapart.com