Shalini Nagarajan

A legal dispute among Gala Games’ top executives casts uncertainty over the blockchain gaming company’s future.



On Aug. 31, Eric Schiermeyer and Wright Thurston, co-founders of Gala Games, sued each other, alleging theft of company assets amounting to millions.



In his <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qpsaRIPB80aQqtf72aHUbKBinbvzWt6s/view">legal complaint</a>, Schiermeyer alleges that Thurston and his investment entity, True North United, misappropriated $130 million in <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/gala">GALA</a> tokens.&nbsp;



Although Thurston initially claimed the tokens would be securely stored for Gala Games&#8217; benefit, he and True North later engaged in complex, deceptive transactions to transfer and either exchange or sell the tokens, the lawsuit claims.



Thurston was further accused of taking licenses for operating &#8220;nodes&#8221; in the Gala ecosystem, which generate GALA tokens, and selling them while pocketing the earnings.



Schiermeyer additionally referenced an SEC lawsuit against Thurston and his firm Green United, alleging that they deceived investors through an unauthorized investment offering known as &#8220;Green Boxes&#8221; or &#8220;Green Nodes.&#8221;



“Indeed, Thurston has founded numerous companies, most of which have ended up in litigation, insolvent, bankrupt, and/or sued by the SEC,” Schiermeyer’s lawyers said.



He also alleges that Thurston has been a largely absent director and has compensated himself at a rate more than ten times higher than what Schiermeyer has received.



In a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PQH9lEWnT0JjIWJbkMycp2Ip13SYJv27/view">counterclaim</a>, Thurston accused Schiermeyer of mismanaging Blockchain Game Partners, the registered name for Gala Games, including the wasteful expenditure of $600 million in company assets.



Thurston further alleged he diverted millions in company funds for personal use and set up businesses in Switzerland and Dubai to capitalize on opportunities that should have belonged to the company.



The lawsuit also alleges that Schiermeyer operated Gala Games independently, ignoring Thurston, and denied both Thurston and his investment vehicle access to company records despite requests.



Schiermeyer and Thurston each seek to remove their counterpart as director of the company.



The Gala token has experienced an -25% over the past month and last traded at around $0.016 as of Monday at 7:00 am ET, near its 2023 open price.



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Gala Games’ founders engulfed in legal feud

Sebastian Sinclair

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_6201f17d77026" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Gala Games confirmed Monday it will allocate $5 billion to further its NFT ambitions in the coming year, split between gaming, music, movies and theme park NFTs</li>
 <li>The Gala Games token, GALA, has a fully diluted valuation of $16.73 billion with about 15% of its supply currently circulating</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Blockchain gaming studio Gala Games confirmed Monday it will allocate $5 billion within the next year to expand its NFT offerings.



The startup will begin pouring capital into music, movies and theme park NFTs (non-fungible tokens), a source told Blockworks on Monday. The figure was later confirmed by Gala Games&#8217; President of Blockchain Jason Brink.



Out of the $5 billion allocated to Gala Games&#8217; NFT expansion, $2 billion is expected to go to gaming. A further $1 billion will be allocated for the studio&#8217;s music ambitions, as well as $1 billion for movies. Gala theme park NFTs will pick up the remaining $1 billion.



NFTs are unique crypto assets providing proof of authenticity and ownership. They are tradable on marketplaces including OpenSea and LooksRare. The marketplace value for NFTs hit a staggering $41 billion by the end of 2021.



When asked about the developments, Brink said:



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;Those were some of the numbers shared with the Gala Gold community, and we certainly look forward to helping that unfold with the community in the future.&#8221;</blockquote>



Brink declined to comment further on the future plans, saying his studio needed to save &#8220;some stuff for the Gala Gold community.&#8221;



Blockworks&#8217; anonymous source also said rapper Snoop Dogg may release an &#8220;NFT album&#8221; on the platform shortly before the album is released elsewhere as part of the effort.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">When you have an awesome photo opportunity with <a href="https://twitter.com/SnoopDogg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SnoopDogg</a> but the newscast in the background just doesn&#39;t want to behave. <a href="https://t.co/6lpjnaDweH">pic.twitter.com/6lpjnaDweH</a>&mdash; Jason Brink aka BitBender (@BitBenderBrink) <a href="https://twitter.com/BitBenderBrink/status/1490847722487705600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Snoop, who is no stranger to crypto, reportedly began collecting NFTs last year under the pseudonym Cozomo de&#8217; Medici. The artist also posted a <a href="https://twitter.com/SnoopDogg/status/1358141965930426368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1358141965930426368%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.coindesk.com%2Fmarkets%2F2021%2F02%2F07%2Fdogecoin-smokes-its-all-time-high-after-snoop-dogg-becomes-snoop-doge%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a> in February 2021 featuring the head of a Shibu Inu superimposed on his body from his album R&amp;G (Rhythm &amp; Gangsta): The Masterpiece.



&#8220;As for Snoop, keep watching and make sure to pick up his album when it comes out, whether it&#8217;s as an NFT or otherwise,&#8221; said Brink.



Gala Games recently launched a $100 million <a href="https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/12/13/gala-games-announces-100-million-blockchain-fund-alongside-new-play-to-earn-games-from" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blockchain gaming fund</a> with crypto investment firm C2 Ventures focusing on investment in game developers and projects building atop the blockchain.



The platform&#8217;s token, GALA, currently carries a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, and a fully diluted valuation of $16.73 billion, trading at a price of $0.33 per token, <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/gala" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to CoinGecko</a>, down about 60% from its all-time high set on Nov. 26, 2021.



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