Originally reported by CryptoNewsZ, December 2019.
Microsoft and Enjin Launch Azure Heroes
Microsoft announced a strategic collaboration with Singapore-based blockchain gaming platform Enjin to launch a community incentive programme called Azure Heroes. The programme was designed to recognise the contributions of Microsoft Azure community members — developers, educators, and advocates — who help grow and strengthen the Azure cloud computing ecosystem.
The partnership represented a notable real-world application of blockchain-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by a major enterprise technology company, at a time when NFT adoption outside of gaming circles was still rare.
How the Azure Heroes Reward Scheme Works
Community members who contribute meaningfully to the Azure ecosystem are eligible to receive collectible digital tokens shaped as badgers. These badgers serve as verifiable, blockchain-backed acknowledgements of contribution. According to Microsoft’s official blog at the time, five distinct badger types were defined:
- Inclusive Leader – recognising those who foster inclusion in the community
- Content Hero – awarded for creating valuable technical content
- Community Hero – for outstanding community engagement and support
- Mentor – for guiding and educating others in the Azure ecosystem
- Maker – for building projects and demos with Azure technologies
Microsoft described the initiative as follows:
“Microsoft and Enjin have collaborated in a local pilot to create a blockchain-based recognition programme. The Azure Heroes badgers were created in a number of original and unique designs which have been tokenised into a digital asset on the Ethereum public blockchain.”
Microsoft official blog
Technical Implementation: NFTs on Ethereum via Enjin
The Azure Heroes badgers were implemented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum public blockchain, using Enjin’s token infrastructure. The total supply of badgers was capped at 11,700 tokens, with the Maker badger accounting for the largest share at 10,000 units.
Key token properties include:
- Non-fungible: Each badger is a unique, distinguishable token rather than an interchangeable currency unit.
- Self-custodied: Recipients store their badgers in their own Enjin Wallet, maintaining full ownership.
- Transferable: Owners can send badgers to any Ethereum address.
- Burnable: Owners can permanently destroy (burn) their tokens if they choose.
Enjin’s platform provided the tooling to mint, manage, and distribute these tokens at scale, while the Ethereum blockchain provided the immutable public ledger to verify ownership and provenance.
Pilot Scope: Western European Rollout
At the time of the announcement, the Azure Heroes programme was explicitly described as a pilot scheme, limited to selected Western European countries. Microsoft positioned this as an exploratory phase to assess the operational and community impact before a potential broader rollout.
Market Impact on Enjin’s Token (ENJ)
Following Microsoft’s announcement of the collaboration, Enjin’s native cryptocurrency token (ENJ) reportedly experienced significant price appreciation, with its market capitalisation rising to approximately $67 million on the back of a reported 42% increase in value. The surge reflected market enthusiasm for enterprise adoption of blockchain infrastructure.
Broader Context: Enjin’s Growing Enterprise Profile
The Microsoft partnership was not an isolated event for Enjin. Around the same period, leading venture capital fund Blockchain Ventures reportedly acquired a stake in Enjin, citing the company’s innovative approach to integrating blockchain technology into the gaming industry.
Microsoft also separately collaborated with game developer Eidos and gamebook publisher Fabled on a blockchain-based card dueling game inspired by Way of the Tiger, the well-known gamebook series first published in 1985. This further demonstrated Microsoft’s willingness to explore blockchain applications across both enterprise and entertainment verticals.
Why This Matters for DevOps and Cloud Engineers
The Azure Heroes programme is an early example of using public blockchain infrastructure — specifically Ethereum-based NFTs — to solve a practical problem in developer community management: verifiable, portable, and tamper-proof recognition of contribution. Unlike a badge system tied to a proprietary platform, an on-chain token cannot be revoked by a central authority and travels with the recipient’s wallet across platforms.
For DevOps practitioners and cloud architects, this raises interesting architectural questions about how contribution recognition, certification, and permissioning systems might evolve using decentralised identity and token standards such as ERC-721 and ERC-1155 — the latter being co-authored by Enjin’s team.