overview
Matr1x is positioned as the infrastructure and distribution system of Web3 culture and entertainment. It is an innovative culture and entertainment platform that combines Web3 games, artificial intelligence, e-sports and blockchain infrastructure. It is committed to changing the global game and digital content industry through blockchain and artificial intelligence technology and accelerating the arrival of the Web3 era.
In terms of team and funding, the core members of the Matr1x team have more than 10 years of working experience, have experience in R&D of Web2 top FPS games and large DAU product operation capabilities, the project funds are relatively sufficient, with public financing exceeding 20 million US dollars, and just received financing from the top North American fund Makers Fund on July 26.
From the overall architecture point of view, Matr1x platform currently has 4 Web3 native games, including classic shooting mobile game MATR1X FIRE, battle royale mobile game MATR1X BATTLE, RPG+Roguelike 3A game Castile, and Web3 MOBA Evermoon. Matr1xFire has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times worldwide. In addition, it has its own e-sports platform GEDA and the OP-stack-based game public chain M1-Chain. The architecture has already met the positioning of a platform, and the four games are all game categories with the top 5 Web2 user scale.
From the perspective of project development, the Matr1x platform is still in its early stages of development. The project adopts a hot-selling operation strategy. The first flagship product, Matr1xFire, is about to enter the gold-making test phase. It has received good market feedback and user data in terms of quality and fun, and the community is also very active. Castile has just completed its first test, with a retention rate of over 90%, and Matr1xBattle and Evermoon are expected to be tested at the end of this year or next year.
From the perspective of token economics, MAX is the governance token of the Matr1x platform. It has no public fundraising and is designed to support applications and services within the ecosystem. The main value capture lies in the allocation of the Matr1x platform treasury, participation in the MATR1X Launchpool, and airdrops from other projects. It is equivalent to holding MAX tokens to obtain some related benefits of the Matr1x platform in the future. Due to the explosive operation strategy of the project party, in the perception of most users, its first FPS mobile game Matr1xFire currently accounts for a large proportion in the Matr1x ecosystem. However, with subsequent development, the platform impression of Matr1x will become stronger and stronger, and it will be more appropriate to benchmark Ronin and Immutable in the future. Compared with Ronin and Immutable, Matr1x has a great advantage in that its team itself has strong game development capabilities, Web2 operation capabilities, and the excellent Web3 operation capabilities currently demonstrated. Therefore, $MAX = $Ron + $AXS or $MAX = $IMX + $ILV will be more appropriate.
From the perspective of the track, after Gamefi Summer in 2021, the Web3 game track fell into a long period of silence. The games in this round have generally made great improvements in playability and quality, but the corresponding development and operation cycle is longer, and "P2E" is still the main theme of Web3 games. Matr1x is one of the most eye-catching projects in this framework. Matr1x is quite different from the public chain or distribution platform of the previous round of games. First of all, it has independent research and development capabilities. The currently announced Matr1xFire and Matr1xBattle are both products independently developed by the Matr1x team; secondly, the team adopts a product-first explosive operation strategy, and proves to the market that it has the ability to create explosive Web3 games by making the first product a hit; finally, compared with chains/platforms such as Ronin, Immutable and Gala, Matr1x is more inclined to deeply support and incubate products entering the ecosystem, that is, in addition to assisting in the issuance on the Matr1x platform, it also provides in-depth support in terms of technology, operation, asset issuance, etc., which will be very attractive to the third-party project parties.
In summary, Matr1x is a project that is expected to become the leader in this round of Web3 game track.
Note: Eureka's research report is based only on the situation of the project when the report was written. The overall evaluation of the project may also change according to the subsequent changes in the fundamentals of the project. The market is risky and investment should be cautious. This article does not constitute investment advice. Users should consider whether any opinions, views or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Invest at your own risk.
MAX price estimate (for entertainment purposes only)
The following table lists several targets that I personally think are similar to MAX in terms of project positioning, fundamentals, and token economic model. The opening price data in the first table are also the data of the three targets on the opening day. The long-term prices in the second table are the three game chains that are benchmarked as Matr1x develops into a platform and the platform impression gradually increases. The reference is the current data of the three targets.
Opening price
Medium and long term prices
in conclusion
In the table, $Pixel, $Ace, and $Portal are all positioned as games or game platforms. Based on their performance at the time of opening and the current market situation, we estimate the opening price of $MAX to be 1.2 - 2 U (not an investment recommendation). Currently, users' MAX in the market mainly comes from two sources: one is from the airdrops (linear release) of YATC and KUKU holders, and the other is obtained by participating in the official Apollo program unboxing. The current cost for users to obtain a MAX is between 0.6-1.5U.
$MAX = multiple hit games + public game chains + Web3 game distribution platforms + Web3 e-sports platforms. These are the contents that the project has already implemented. Currently, due to the hit operation strategy of the project, in the perception of most users, its first FPS mobile game Matr1xFire accounts for a large proportion in the Matr1x ecosystem. However, with subsequent development, the platform impression of Matr1x will become stronger and stronger, and it will be more appropriate to benchmark Ronin and Immutable in the future. Compared with Ronin and Immutable, Matr1x has a great advantage in that its team itself has strong game development capabilities, Web2 operation capabilities, and currently demonstrated Web3 operation capabilities. Therefore, $MAX = $Ron + $AXS or $MAX = $IMX + $ILV will be more appropriate.
1. Current status of Web3 game track — even more difficult
First, with the end of the last round of Gamef Summer led by phenomenal Gamefi 1.0 products such as Axie and Stepn, most people think that the Gamefi track cannot solve the problem of death spiral, which has been falsified to a certain extent. Although VCs continue to invest a lot of money in the Web3 game track during the subsequent bear market, there is still no product in this track.
Of course, it is not just the Web3 game track. So far, no phenomenal innovative products have emerged in this round, which is also a major reason for the current sluggish market.
As a track with heavy initial investment, if the project party wants to build a product above the standard line of similar Web2 games from scratch (here specifically refers to medium-sized and large-scale high-quality games), compared with projects in other tracks, it often needs to spend more time, manpower and funds in the early stage. The R&D cycle of a product can easily take 2-3 years, and the investment can reach millions to tens of millions of dollars. The above prerequisites alone screen out most teams. Therefore, for the game teams that have already landed good products, it is still very admirable.
Difficult to operate and design economic models
But it is far from enough to just develop products on Web3. The integration of projects with the Web3 level, community operation and maintenance, Web3 market operation... are all very difficult for project parties but have to be done, and can even determine the life and death of the project. In this regard, most teams currently do not meet the standards. Friends who have been deeply involved in the Web3 game track should be able to resonate with this. At present, the vast majority of game project parties can be said to only focus on the product side. As for the marketing and operation part, it is outsourced to a third-party operation team, and the economic model part is solved by VC or consultants. I fundamentally deny this team structure. The core members of the team lack sufficient knowledge of Web3, and the lifeblood of the project is handed over to others, and bound by interests. This kind of relationship is very fragile.
Difficulty in survival
Everyone can check the financing status of the project. I wonder if you have ever calculated how much money is left after deducting product development costs, monthly personnel costs, and publicity costs. The fact is that many projects have very little funds left, and it is increasingly difficult to raise funds if they fail to achieve results. This is like adding insult to injury. No money means that subsequent operations, publicity, and buying volume cannot be carried out, and they cannot be listed. It is foreseeable that several more projects will be eliminated in the next few projects.
The above is difficult
Another thing is listing on an exchange. Listing a token on an exchange is a problem that all project parties cannot escape, or it can be said to be the end point of most teams. The needs of exchanges are also very clear: - Traffic - Money. Traffic refers to whether the project can provide a large number of new users (especially overseas users); Money refers to the chips and trading volume that the project party can provide to the exchange. It is not enough for a good exchange to just give money, because they also need face.
At present, BN is in a dominant position. In addition, in this round of ETF bull market, BN is also moving towards compliance, which also means that BN's listing will be more rigorous. So from this point of view, it is even more difficult to list on secondary top exchanges such as OK and Bybit than on BN, because as project parties, everyone knows that BN cannot roll if it does not run out, and they have to roll the next level quickly. This also confirms the gossip I got from recent exchanges: OK now has 200+ projects queuing up to apply for listing, and it is currently known that 3 games have been rejected for listing, and this situation may be more severe in the future (to be verified).
This is the current situation of the Web3 game track. The reality is so cruel that projects without products and relying only on narrative and PPT are gradually eliminated; those with products, high-quality products, funds, and strong team comprehensive capabilities stay and continue to try to create a new Web3 game paradigm. Matr1x is the leader among the latter.
2. Basic Overview
2.1 Project Introduction
MATR1X is an innovative cultural and entertainment platform that combines Web3 games, artificial intelligence, e-sports, and blockchain infrastructure. It is committed to changing the global gaming and digital content industry through blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies and accelerating the arrival of the Web3 era.
Currently, the MATR1X platform has 4 Web3 native games, including the classic shooting mobile game MATR1X FIRE, the battle royale chicken mobile game MATR1X BATTLE, the RPG+Roguelike 3A game Castile, the Web3 MOBA Evermoon, as well as the e-sports platform GEDA and the OP-stack-based game public chain M1-Chain. Among them, MATR1X FIRE has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times worldwide.
2.2 Basic Information
3. Project Details
3.1 Team
The founding team of MATR1X has great enthusiasm for Web3 and games. The core members of the team have worked together for more than 10 years, with an average of more than 10 years of experience in games and more than 5 years of experience in blockchain. The games they have developed and operated have accumulated more than 400 million users and more than 5 billion US dollars in turnover. Their products include Call of Duty Mobile, PUBGM, Cross Fire mobile games, WeChat Pay, etc. They are one of the few R&D teams in the world that can develop large-scale mobile products.
3.2 Funding
3.2.1 Non-game financing
Matr1x detailed financing information
As of July 26, 2024, Matr1x has completed 4 rounds of financing outside of gaming, with a public financing amount of more than 20 million US dollars. Investors include Hana Financial Inverstment, HashKey, Amber Group, Folius Ventures, SevenX, Find Satoshi Lab, Jambo Ventures and the latest North American top gaming fund Makers Fund. The latest round of financing was completed on July 26, 2024, so the team currently has sufficient funding capabilities.
3.2.2 NFT Asset Sales
Ecological NFT data
YATC
The highest equity NFT of the Matr1x platform symbolizes the highest honor of the Matr1x ecosystem. Holders can continue to enjoy the benefits of the entire Matr1x ecosystem first. The benefits that have been realized include 2061 and KUKU white tickets, test passes, pledged Fire tokens, MAX token airdrops, etc. There are currently 250 locked in the treasury, which will be distributed as prizes to the champions of e-sports events in the future.
Matr1x NAIL
Matr1x is the only platform-level NFT in the ecosystem. Holders can continue to enjoy the rights and interests of the Matr1x ecosystem and serve the creator economy of the Matr1x ecosystem. Currently, there are 2,000 official lock-ups, which will be distributed to outstanding creators in the future. The currently realized empowerment includes staking to obtain the out-of-print KUKU box and obtaining the MAX token airdrop. The official Matr1x received a total of 1,857 ETH from the NFT sale.
Matr1x 2061
The avatar NFT of Matr1x ecosystem mainly serves Matr1xFire, the first popular FPS game in Matr1x ecosystem. As the highest equity NFT of this game, the holder can continue to enjoy the subsequent membership rights of Matr1xFire products. The empowerment that has been realized includes staking to produce Fire tokens, KUKU white orders, and accelerated unlocking of Fire tokens. In the future, the airdrop of Genesis gold farming characters will also be obtained. Matr1x official received a total of 666.6ETH from the NFT sale.
3.2.3 Unpacking data
Matr1x unboxing data (Source: Dune)
As of August 2, 2024, the total transaction volume of the two series of boxes has reached approximately 11 million Matic, and the total transaction volume of gun skins has reached approximately 20 million Matic. Among them, the rarest gun skin Judgment-AWP was sold at a price of nearly 100,000 US dollars. With the subsequent public beta of the game, gun skins will be officially applied to the game, and liquidity is expected to reach a higher level.
3.3 Products and technologies
3.3.1 Public Chain
Matr1x ecological public chain M1-Chain has been developed. Based on OP-Stack-ZK, it is committed to providing better infrastructure support for the MATR1X ecosystem, providing a better interactive experience, and attracting more high-quality games to join the MATR1X ecosystem. The test network has been released.
3.3.2 Game Ecosystem
1- Matr1xFire
Web3's first shooting mobile game is currently undergoing global testing, with over 2.5 million downloads worldwide. Its goal is to become Web3's first non-transactional application to reach 10 million users after launch. Recently, its DAU has reached 60,000+ without any rewards, most of whom are overseas users. It is about to enter the gold farming test phase.
2- Matr1xBattle
Web3's first cyberpunk battle royale chicken mobile game has only released a trailer so far, but from the trailer, its characters and some of the gun skins in the game may be shared with Matr1xFire, which was also revealed in the project's previous AMA. The game is expected to be tested at the end of this year or early next year.
3- Castile
The next-generation 3A idle RPG+Roguelike game.
The first test had 5,000 core players participating, and the 14-day retention rate exceeded 90%.
4- Evermoon
A 5V5 MOBA game developed by a Thai team, which has been downloaded over 100,000 times, recently announced that it has officially signed a contract to join the Matr1x ecosystem.
3.3.3 Web3 eSports Platform
SHAME
GEDA is a Web3 e-sports game ecosystem, launching the world's first Web3 e-sports professional championship and a decentralized e-sports platform, committed to attracting billions of e-sports enthusiasts and gamers.
GEDA is also a Web3 extension of Cyber Games Arena (CGA). It is famous for hosting more than 500 global e-sports events such as "Homecoming" and "Zotac Masters", attracting more than 66 million viewers around the world.
In the past six months, GEDA has organized more than 50 online and offline e-sports competitions around the world with Matr1x, with a cumulative number of viewers exceeding 10 million.
Summarize
From the overall architecture, Matr1x aims to create a flywheel combination of multiple hit games + game public chains + e-sports events. The first four games are FPS, Battle Royale, RPG card placement and MOBA, which are all the top 5 game categories in the world in terms of Web2 user scale. In particular, shooting games are the largest game category. There are more than 2 billion shooting game players in the world. Users of shooting games such as CS2, Call of Duty, PUBG, Freefire, etc. are all potential users of MATR1X. It can be seen that the project party had great goals and ambitions at the beginning. And through the data currently obtained by Matr1xFire, the project party has proved to the market to a certain extent that it has the ability to create hit products in Web3 from 0-1. However, there are still accidental factors in a game, and whether it has the ability to continuously create hits remains to be further verified.
4. Project Development
4.1 History
Matr1x Milestones
4.2 Current
Matr1x related data
As of July 27, 2024, the total number of fans of the Matr1x ecosystem matrix (Matr1x, Matr1xFire, Matr1xBattle, Castile, Evermoon, Geda) has exceeded 1.3 million. During the MAX points event, UAW ranked first in the entire Web3 and ranked first in Polygon Dapp. In the absence of any rewards in the near future, the Matr1xFire game has reached more than 60,000 DAU, and the Matr1xFire gold farming test will soon be launched.
future
Matr1x subsequent roadmap
According to the roadmap released by Matr1x, in 2024, there will be more testing of announced games and expansion in e-sports. In the third and fourth quarters, Matr1xFire will become the core, entering the gold farming test phase and then the final public beta phase, and Castile will also enter the second test. In the fourth quarter, the professional e-sports league and the Watch to Earn function will also be announced. After 2025, Matr1x will focus more on testing new products and building some infrastructure in the ecosystem.
Summarize
Overall, Matr1x is still in the early stages of platformization. As a project that targets multiple hit games + public chain + Web3 game distribution platform, 4 games are currently known, Matr1xFire and Castile are still in the testing stage, and Matr1xBattle and EverMoon are still some distance away from testing. However, the quality presented by Matr1xFire and Castile has been highly recognized by the market, especially the Matr1xFire product, which has achieved very high popularity and evaluation in the testing stage. With the official launch of Matr1xFire public beta on the app store, the subsequent launch of several game products, and the e-sports events organized by the team worldwide, it is expected that more new traffic will join the Matr1x ecosystem.
5. Economic Model
Matr1x currently has two public tokens, $Fire and $Max. Fire is positioned as a utility token in the game, with a total of 1 billion. It is mainly produced through the early pledge of 2061/YATC NFT and the in-game gold production after the public beta of Matr1xFire. The consumption includes game asset upgrades and unboxing (all burned). The production process will be a dynamic balance process, and may be applied to other products in the ecosystem in the future. Max is positioned as the platform governance token of the Matr1x platform, and is also the token analyzed in this article.
5.1 $MAX Token Distribution
MAX Token Distribution Chart
MAX token distribution
From the perspective of allocation strategy, the team classifies itself and investors into one category and adopts the same unlocking rules, which is equivalent to placing investors and themselves on the same front. 276 million MAX are used to reward partners or builders who support the maintenance and development of the Matr1x platform. In terms of specific allocation, the subsequent distribution will be based on the contribution of ecological projects to the platform, including effective turnover, number of real users, content creation, etc. The final decision-making power will be given to Matr1x DAO. In addition, early bird users who participate in early testing and the Apollo program will receive 55 million MAX. NFT holders (YATC\KUKU) will receive 94 million MAX.
5.2 $MAX Utility
$MAX is the governance token of the Matr1x platform. It has no public fundraising and is designed to support applications and services within the ecosystem.
Community governance: Participate in MATR1X community governance, proposals and voting;
Ecosystem value capture: allocation of platform treasury, participation in MATR1X Launchpool, airdrops from other projects, etc.
Exclusive privileges: Have exclusive privileges, including publishing games on the MATR1X platform, competing for club seats, etc.;
Staking and Rewards: Staking $MAX to become a MATR1X ecological node to receive rewards and participate in the governance decision-making of the MATR1X blockchain, including profit distribution, etc.
Summary
From the perspective of the overall environment, this round is undoubtedly an ETF bull market. Compared with the previous bull market, no innovative phenomenal products have appeared in various tracks so far. Infra is currently too saturated, but there are basically no viable applications. The industry still needs an application that is sustainable and can attract a large number of real users. From the perspective of the track, after Gamefi Summer in 2021, the Web3 game track has fallen into a long period of silence. The games in this round have generally made great improvements in playability and quality, but in contrast, they have a longer R&D and operation cycle. "P2E" is still the main theme of Web3 games.
Matr1x is quite different from the previous round of game public chains or distribution platforms. First of all, it has independent research and development capabilities. The currently announced Matr1xFire and Matr1xBattle are both products independently developed by the Matr1x team; secondly, the team adopts a product-first explosive operation strategy, and by making the first product a hit, it proves to the market that it has the ability to create a hit Web3 game; finally, compared to chains/platforms such as Ronin, Immutable and Gala, Matr1x is more inclined to deeply support and incubate products entering the ecosystem, that is, in addition to assisting in the issuance of the Matr1x platform, it also provides in-depth support in technology, operations, asset issuance, etc., which will be very attractive to third-party project parties.
