crypto games

‘Tens of millions’ to enter Web3 through gaming in 2024 — GameFi execs

December 17, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Free-to-play Web3 games hold the key to mass adoption, YGG co-founder

November 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Gabby Dizon, the founder and CEO of Yield Guild Games says a renewed focus on free-to-play gaming will help put a booster on Web3 game adoption.

Next year’s most successful Web3 games will pivot from play-to-earn (P2E) to instead focus on being completely free-to-play to dr in players, says Yield Guild Games CEO and co-founder Gabby Dizon.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Dizon said unlike games such as Axie Infinity — which require players to purchase at least three Axie nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to play — the new wave of hyper-successful Web3 games will seek to remove as many of the financial and technical barriers to entry as possible.

“There's this big realization that for millions of people to be able to get into a game, they have to be free-to-play first.”

“There's an evolution of the business model where the games are free to play, and then at some point along the way while you're playing, then you're able to mint an NFT or start earning tokens, but a lot of new games aren't really starting with requiring NFT ownership at the start,” he said.

This shift towards a free-to-play model is part of a wider effort from Web3 game developers to put gameplay first and tokenomics second, Dizon explained.

He added the shift forms a large part of the solution to speculative Web3 gaming bubbles. By creating games that players want to keep playing, they’ll reinvest their capital in the game and prevent the in-game economy from becoming a cash-generating machine, Dizon sa.

Running near-parallel to the decline in crypto prices, blockchain games witnessed their own downturn as players and revenues trickled out of the ecosystem following the sudden collapse in Axie Infinity-related asset values in late 2021.

Surveys from October 2022 showed that even the most adamant crypto gamers were leaving in droves citing the over-financialization of gameplay, lack of fun,and confusion around crypto wallet tech.

Dizon thinks all of that is about to change.

“After Axie became popular two years ago, a lot of very experienced teams took a look at its rapid ascent and thought: 'Now it's a real industry, maybe I could do better by making my own game,'” he said.

“A lot of these teams got funding in late 2021 and for a really good game, it typically takes maybe 2 to 3 years to make.”

For the past 18 months, Dizon and other Web3 gaming industry leaders have been eagerly awaiting the launch of a series of new Web3 games in Q4 such as the Nov. 16 open beta Epic Games store launch of the blockchain-based trading card game Parallel.

PRIME time is almost here. https://t.co/fXBVvboxx6
— Gabby Dizon | YGG ️⚔️ (@gabusch) November 19, 2023

“Expect to see lots of really high-quality games, with high-quality teams behind them as well as new experiments in tokenomics and earning models,” he said.

Dizon pointed to the introduction of the ERC-6551 token standard or “token bound” accounts in gaming as a reason to be excited about blockchain-based games in the future as some developers are using it to thread artificial intelligence into games.

“You can actually start attaching AI behaviors to your avatar and you can give it instructions: ‘I want you to go out to the world, craft me a gun, kill some monsters, and then bring the treasure back,’” Dizon said. “Then, a few hours later, you can check the wallet that's embedded in it and it's like, oh, I got these things back.”

Dizon believes this kind of automation will greatly reduce the amount of “grinding” needed in games — allowing players to jump in for the fun parts while leaving the boring stuff to AI.

“I think it's going to be the start of a new game genre of you interacting with AI and not having to play the game all day,” he said. “You set parameters for the AI and just let it do things in the game world.”

“It's going to get really interesting, man.”

Magazine: Asia Express: No civil protection for crypto in China, $300K to list coins in Hong Kong?

Zebedee Inks Deal With Mobile Game Studio Viker to Add BTC Rewards to Solitaire, Sudoku, Missing Letters

July 26, 2022 Bitcoin.com

VC firm Konvoy launches new $150M fund, eyes blockchain-based games

July 7, 2022 Coin Telegraph

VC firm Konvoy launches new 0M fund, eyes blockchain-based games

Axie Infinity

Gaming venture capital firm Konvoy launches new $150 million fund, with a portion set to be invested in cryptocurrency and blockchain-based games.

Venture capital firm Konvoy Ventures is set to fork out at least $30 million to back various cryptocurrency and blockchain-based games.

The American firm announced the launch of Konvoy Fund III, with $150 million in capital that it plans to invest in a variety of platforms and technologies in the global gaming sector. According to Bloomberg, up to 30% ($45 million) of the fund will be allocated to the crypto and blockchain gaming space.

Konvoy is no stranger to the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based games. The firm boasts an impressive portfolio of gaming companies and projects which it has funded, including the likes of Axie Infinity creators Sky Mavis, Metaverse avatar platform Ready Player Me and open-world NFT game Genopets.

The firm has invested in a total of 35 companies to date through its first two funds across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia.

Interest in blockchain-based games has increased over the past year, with play-to-earn and NFT-featuring games big focal points in the industry. There has been no shortage of funding either, with Konvoy’s latest fund following a $32 million investment made by Animoca Brands, Samsung Next and WeMade into Planetarium Labs.

A recent report from DappRadar also outlined continued interest in GameFi projects. The likes of A16z and Dapper Labs have pledged around $1.3B in investments in GameFi and Metaverse projects and technologies.

What is Vulcan Forged (PYR) and how to make money playing it?

June 21, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Vulcan Forged is a play-to-earn game that allows players to earn cryptocurrency by winning, selling, and upgrading their in-game assets.

What is a play-to-earn crypto game?

Distributed technologies including blockchain and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) enable game developers and gamers a more interactive, immersive and incentivized experience than ever before through the new game model advertised by tech enthusiasts and named the play-to-earn (P2E) crypto games model.

P2E games, also known as blockchain-based or cryptocurrency games, gain significant attention from the gaming community and developers as they provide an opportunity to own data for in-game assets, fuel in-game economic systems and provide many other perks to facilitate the metaverse ecosystems.

With P2E games, players can own and trade various in-game inventory and objects such as characters, skins, weapons, virtual land and other digital accessories to achieve higher performance in the game as well as to receive financial rewards. Due to the P2E model, gamers are compensated for their skills, and developers and gaming projects have the potential to attract more players. P2E crypto games are a win-win phenomenon for emerging recently as a successful trend.

What is Vulcan Forged?

Designed as an easy-to-build and P2E ecosystem, Vulcan Forged incorporates a game studio dedicated to NFT games built on Ethereum, Polygon, and BNB Chain, as well as an NFT marketplace, launchpad, a decentralized exchange (DEX) called the VulcanDex, and a decentralized application (dApp) incubator that restlessly supports third-party game creators and procures NFT trading for its native Vulcan Forged ecosystem.

So far, the Vulcan Forged studio has created about a dozen video games, with each one allowing players to win, sell and upgrade their in-game items and NFTs to earn crypto. Among the series of games in the Vulcan Forged ecosystem, VulcanVerse is one of the most popular games.

VulcanVerse

VulcanVerse is the Vulcan Forged studio’s flagship product. It is a metaverse and a fantasy massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) backed by fighting-fantasy authors Jamie Thomson and Dave Morris, where users can explore, build, quest and earn crypto.

The game is based on Greek and Roman mythology. Land, Gods, Items and Vulcanites are the main assets to own in the VulcanVerse. Gods endow players with passive abilities that improve stats such as speed and attack. Other in-game items add utility as well, providing players with spells that temporarily activate different special powers.

Pet collectibles named Vulcanites also play a considerable role in VulcanVerse’s gameplay. They are companions that follow the player throughout the map and assist them in defense, battles, foraging and espionage. On top of that, players can use their Vulcanites in other games within the Vulcan Forged ecosystem. Vulcanites vary by stats, lore, and level and can be upgraded.

Moreover, VulcanVerse is a place where the Vulcan Forged community can purchase, exchange and construct land parcels as portions of the map in the form of NFTs. These land plots, each sized 20x20, can be bought on the game-native marketplace and start at Level 1. Players are able to move up the seven levels to reach a higher rank, unlock new features, gain better tools, obtain pet Vulcanites or even stake assets to earn passive income.

VulcanVerse gameplay is interesting even for an avid gamer, as it is entertaining and easy to play. Just follow the instructions.

What is the PYR token?

PYR is the native utility token of the Vulcan Forged community-based blockchain gaming ecosystem. It is a cross-chain ERC-20 token that powers the whole scope of dApps, which players can use across all studio’s games.

PYR can be used in the Vulcan Forged for various purposes including fees for marketplace settlement, upgrading and sustaining game asset levels, buying and selling NFTs on the Vulcan Forged marketplace, earning P2E benefits, launchpads for decentralized finance (DeFi) games and gaming pools. Also, users can stake Vulcan Forged (PYR) and other assets. Moreover, PYR provides access to Vulcan Forged game developers and the dApp incubation program.

PYR is available on both the Ethereum and Polygon mainnet. Although Vulcan Forged initially launched on Ethereum, most of the features offered by the project utilize the Polygon version. For instance, the NFT marketplace executes transactions denominated in PYR/Polygon (MATIC) exclusively. By porting PYR over to the Polygon network, which is a layer-2 scaling solution, the team has significantly reduced transaction fees. As a result, Vulcan Forged seamlessly executes high-speed transactions at a low cost.

As for Vulcan Forged tokenomics, 50 million PYR have been created. 20 million of them are in max circulation, and another 10 million will be used for play-to-earn pools, staking and more. For now, PYR is available at Uniswap, Quickswap and other platforms. Users can trade PYR on Kucoin, Gate.io, Binance and Bittrex exchanges.

The secondary token of the Vulcan Forged ecosystem is named LAVA. Players can earn it by staking PYR and playing Vulcan Forged games. LAVA can also be used as an in-game currency for land building and NFT upgrades.

How to earn money in Vulcan Forged?

Vulcan Forged is designed to reward users with tokens at every stage of the gameplay, significantly increasing their involvement in the game. Rewards can be received through a fight with another player or by befriending a user, through guest completion and map navigation, hunting for things and even by taking screenshots of one’s area.

Basically, Vulcan Forged P2E reward system revolves around staking and improving the land by spending PYR and LAVA. Staking Vulcan Forged tokens on various in-game assets is considered to be the most profitable P2E option. This method programmatically locks crypto to improve gameplay functionality and special rights.

To unlock staking functionality, players need to “SOW” their land, which comes down to paying a one-time fee that allows upgrading a piece of land to the next level. Once gamers upgrade their land to the second level, they can start staking their tokens. They can level up a plot of land only seven times, with each level corresponding to the amount of staking rewards that can be earned.

By upgrading a land to the seventh level, players maximize their PYR rewards. Users’ PYR tokens can be unstaked at any moment and restored to the land owner. Still, the seeding investment will be lost, and LAVA will be burned.

In addition, the LAVA Appreciation Program allows Vulcan Forged players to earn LAVA tokens by holding PYR. The program is divided into eight stages, each of which is awarded by LAVA based on the number of PYR tokens held. The only ones eligible for this program are users who have PYR in their Vulcan Forged marketplace wallets.

Other ways to staking PYR tokens include collecting seeds in exchange for special items from Vulcan’s Vault, offering liquidity using PYR staking programs and staking a pool.

What is the future of play-to-earn crypto games?

Highly popular among metaverse enthusiasts and gamers, Vulcan Forged is one of the major gaming ecosystems alongside video games and virtual worlds that gamers play for crypto token rewards such as Axie Infinity, Sandbox, Sorare, Illuvium and others that are notably contributing to the new digital economy. The numbers speak for themselves, as the P2E gaming market is growing at a fast pace, generating billions in revenue.

Furthermore, the renaming of Facebook to Meta, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the Ubisoft launch of the Quartz platform for playable and energy-efficient NFTs and other recent massive events in the industry indicate that the traditional IT and gaming industries are serious about the implementation of blockchain innovations into mainstream gaming.

Even if P2E does not completely overtake the traditional gaming industry, all these developments and the support from the community strongly suggest that the P2E crypto games are one of the major directions in the future of gaming.

Crypto Gaming Booms Amid Metaverse Hype

November 5, 2021 The Crypto Briefing

Nifty news: Polyient marketplace, Ronaldinho drop, and a ‘staggering’ $4800 NFT sale …

July 30, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Nifty news: Polyient marketplace, Ronaldinho drop, and a 'staggering' 00 NFT sale ...</div>

Animoca Brands

Polyient is launching an NFT marketplace with DeFi features, Ronaldinho has entered the NFT market and Vitalik Buterin has digitally signed an NFT for very little money.

Investment firm and development studio Polyient has unveiled an NFT marketplace with decentralized finance (DeFi) functionality.

The marketplace dubbed “PolyientX” is set for a beta release in August on Ethereum, with an official launch targeted for sometime in the Fall. The initial launch will feature NFTs from Ape In, a DeFi-enabled NFT collectibles game, and Rate Network, a decentralized NFT pricing, and rating protocol.

According to Polyient, users can stake their NFTs in a vault to earn rewards, describing it as “a unique fee share mechanism where users, not corporate stakeholders, are the beneficiaries of transaction activity on the platform.”

There’s also a new token launch method dubbed the “Initial Vault Sale” (IVS), which enables projects to leverage their supporters’ NFT assets “to mint and distribute utility and governance tokens, reward marketplace participation and build sustainable economies.”

Interested in migrating your NFT project to PolyientX? Apply for early accesshttps://t.co/OLE1nTmTDg
— PolyientX (@PolyientX) July 28, 2021

Blockchain-based Ronaldinho

Global soccer icon Ronaldinho is launching a new NFT collection in collaboration with creative studio INFLUXO.

The former Paris Saint-Germain, F.C Barcelona and AC Milan star joins a long list of star athletes to enter the NFT sector such as boxer Tyson Fury, NFL players Rob Gronkowski and Patrick Mahomes, and skateboarding icon Tony Hawk.

Are you ready for @influxo_NFT ? A pioneer of future digital collectibles https://t.co/9EYB3cCbG1 pic.twitter.com/onUDeqbxEn
— Ronaldinho Gaúcho (@10Ronaldinho) July 29, 2021

The NFTs are being sold in two different drops, the first drop features seven unique “masterpiece” NFTs that depict vivid paintings of key moments in Ronaldinho’s career.

The auctions will take minimum increment bids of $10,000, and the NFTs come with a private meetup and dinner with Ronaldinho in Dubai, a roundtrip ticket to get you there and a two-day stay at a five-star hotel. It is unclear if Ronaldinho will be cooking up a storm, or if the dinner will be at a restaurant.

The second drop of “sports legend card NFTs” includes a set of six collector cards which users can purchase for an unspecified price. They will be airdropped an additional card NFT that accompanies the series, and if they collect all six NFTs plus the airdropped token, they will be entered into a sweepstake for a chance to win the “Dubai experience” from the masterpiece NFTs.

The sale is being hosted on INFLUXO and the NFT drop date reads “coming soon.”

Animoca Brands acquires blowfish

Top NFT game and property developer Animoca Brands (F1 Delta Time, The Sandbox) has acquired Blowfish Studios, an indie game developer for around $6.6 million. The acquisition also includes payments of around $19.2 million on conditional employment and performance targets.

Animoca made the announcement on July 29, and noted that it will be working closely with Blowfish to “align efforts relating to blockchain integration, fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), play-to-earn capabilities, synergy opportunities, and product launches.”

Blowfish is a Sydney-based firm founded in 2010 by Benjamin Lee, a veteran of the computer software and 3D graphics industry, and Aaron Grove, an award-winning visual effects supervisor.

The firm has published several multi-platform games such as “Qbism, Siegecraft, Morphite, Projection: First Light, and Storm Boy.”

“Animoca Brands is incredibly thrilled to welcome Blowfish, a team that significantly expands our capacity in the cross-platform games space and that has a strong interest in and understanding of blockchain,” said Yat Siu, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands.

Vitalik signs up for Mark Cuban-backed NFT platform

NFT platform “AlchemyNFT” announced a $6 million funding round on July 29. It was backed by Crypto.com Capital, Framework Ventures, Mechanism and billionaire entrepreneur (and DeFi rug-pull victim) Mark Cuban.

The funds will go towards a new project dubbed “AutographNFT” that enables the signing of unique digital assets such as NFTs with social network IDs. According to the firm Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin was one of the first to digitally sign his autograph at the project's beta launch.

The AutographNFT platform enables NFT creators to seek out popular “Twitter-verified” figures and offer them money to autograph an NFT. The platform gives the signer the option to donate all or some of their “signing” proceeds to a charity such as “Save the Kids.”

According to the listing of “The Alchemist” NFT, Buterin was paid 0.1 ETH, worth around $243, to sign the NFT.

Publicist claims NFT sale of $4800 is a 'staggering' sum

Public relations media releases are often full of hyperbolic jargon and puffery that paints an all too pretty picture.

But we had to laugh at a July 28 PR announcement from Kinahan’s Whiskey Co. in which the sale of an NFT for $4800 was described as a “staggering” amount of money.

“The Kinahan’s branded 3D Formula Racing Car sold to an NFT collector for a staggering $4800 following Lewis Hamilton’s thrilling win at the British Grand Prix,” the announcement breathlessly said.

While this may be exciting news for the Irish Whiskey firm, they may not realize that NFTs of questionable value have sold for much higher prices. Cointelegraph reported in February that Lindsay Lohan sold an NFT for an even more earth-shattering $15,000 on Rarible. And there were rumors some guy called Beeple or Bongo or something flogged an NFT for $69 million.

“This NFT is the first of its kind in the whiskey industry. Notice that precious word, ‘first’. There are many models of a McLaren, but if you own the first one, you own a piece of history,” the announcement read.

Roundup

Cointelegraph reported on July 28 that multinational beverage giant Coca-Cola is entering the NFT market.

The firm will hold a three-day auction on OpenSea for NFTs depicting the famous beverage, and the proceeds will be used to raise money for Special Olympics International.

Earlier this week, tokenized cats once again caused chaos on the Ethereum network after a nonfungible token (NFT) project dubbed “Stoner Cats” created by actress Mila Kunis sold out in 35 minutes.

The project’s first drop had a total of 10,420 NFTs, and activity on Ethereum sent gas prices as high as 709 Gwei ($33.67) for a rapid transaction.

Polygon Launches NFT Gaming Studio

July 19, 2021 The Crypto Briefing