Yuga Labs sells Moonbirds IP to Orange Hat Game

Yuga Labs recently sold the intellectual property of the Moonbirds NFT series to new players in the Crypto gaming space – Orange Cap Games.

The deal marks Yuga Labs’ third major divestment of the high-profile NFT series in 2025 after Cryptopunks and Meebits sales earlier this year.

Although financial terms are not disclosed, the sale marks a continuous shift in Yuga Labs’ strategy as it narrows its focus to its core products, including its flagship boring APE brand and long-awaited other human metagames.

Why Yuga Labs sells Moonbirds?

Yuga Labs purchased Moonbirds as part of the proof of purchase in February 2024, when the NFT market was still recovering after a sharp decline. The deal is seen as an effort to consolidate a promising NFT IP under a roof. Kevin Rose, the co-founder of Proof and a well-known figure in Web3, joined Yuga as an advisor after the acquisition.

However, in recent months, Yuga Labs has made it clear that it intends to refocus its efforts on its original project. In addition to Moonbirds, it also passes control over Meebits and Cryptopunks IPs, which were obtained from the larval lab in 2022. These moves reflect internal policy shifts, prioritizing the development of boring Ape Yacht Club and others while staying away from managing external collections.

The company said the Moonbirds brand will benefit from a team that is entirely committed to it – something Yuga Labs no longer offers.

What expectations will Orange Cap games bring?

Orange Cap Games is a relatively new contestant in the crypto game scene, known for Vibes TCG, a trading card game centered around the Pudgy Penguins theme and launched on the Ethereum Layer 2 network summary.

Although the company has not outlined Moonbirds’ specific plans, it shows that any future blockchain-based content will be launched on layer 1 chains or Apechain, or Apechain is an Ethereum-based layer 2 network powered by Yuga Labs. The studio has not announced whether to integrate Moonbirds into future games or adapt to other formats such as collectibles or interactive media.

In an article on X, Yuga Labs CEO Greg Solano praised Orange Cap’s leadership, calling them “smart” and “detail-oriented: builders: builders, and suggested that the studio be a better long-term residence for the project.

What’s next for Moonbirds?

Despite ownership, the Moonbirds role is expected to appear in Yuga Labs’ long-running Metaverse project, which is still actively developing.

Launched in April 2022, Moonbirds is hyped, generating more than $280 million in junior and middle school deals in a few days. The series is considered a flagship project that raised about $60 million in funding to build a wider ecosystem of content and events. However, with market interest in the second half of 2022 and throughout 2023, it proved to face criticism from holders and eventually sold the IP to Yuga Labs earlier the following year.

Now, under the new owner, the Moonbirds IP (along with its affiliated myths and weird collections) will now be managed by Orange Cap Games, which has become the developer of digital and physical transaction card games.