After the temporary decline in popularity of TON mini-games, the blockchain gaming sector seemed to fall silent. However, at recent industry exhibitions such as Singapore's Token2049, Bangkok's THBW2024, and Dubai's Binance Blockchain Week, the vitality of blockchain game projects is evident, with both new and old blockchain games actively participating in key booths. Among them, Seraph, positioned as a next-generation AAA blockchain game with eye-catching design, has attracted a lot of attention. This article attempts to analyze Seraph's game design, economic model, and globalization strategies, exploring how blockchain game projects can break through bottlenecks and what insights they may bring for the future development of GameFi.
Project background
Seraph is a AAA loot game developed by Seraph Studio. The project has received over 10 million USD in investments, providing sufficient funds to achieve its goals in technology research and development, game development, and ecosystem construction.
Seraph began its Alpha test in April 2023, followed by Beta tests, Chaos Legacy Test, Preseason, and Season 0, and will soon start Season 1. Officially, the number of participating players has reached 90,000, making it one of the top games on the BNB Chain. The BNB Incubation Alliance (BIA) has set up a Seraph booth at on-site events, and it was also exhibited near the main exhibition hall entrance during the Binance Blockchain Week event in Dubai, where Binance CEO Richard Teng took a photo and tweeted about it, showcasing BNB Chain's strong support for its leading ecosystem project.
From the data presented by Seraph's official display, its player base is very diverse, spread across multiple countries and regions worldwide, with notable presence in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, where user growth is rapid and engagement is high. The Southeast Asian market may show more significant player numbers and growth rates due to a higher acceptance of blockchain gaming. Currently, Seraph has achieved over 10 million USD in revenue, mainly from players' in-game purchases and the service fees collected from the free trading of NFT equipment among players.
Game content: Classic gameplay validated by the market
Seraph currently supports PC and Android, and will later launch on Steam, Google Play, and iOS. The game graphics and gameplay belong to the classic ARPG (action role-playing game) genre, where players use magic or combat skills to defeat monsters and bosses in a dark world of Western fantasy. During the process of facing higher difficulty challenges, players continuously obtain stronger attributes and cool-looking weapons and equipment through monster drops.
In simple terms, after entering the game, you first create a game character, then take on quests to experience the storyline, controlling the character to move, attack, and cast skills to defeat enemies and complete a series of challenges. During this time, you continuously familiarize yourself with the character's skills and gameplay, leveling up to level 60. After reaching level 60, you begin to enter the core gameplay of the game, which is the loot grinding mode. Players repeatedly challenge more difficult monsters and bosses in dungeons to obtain higher-level and rare equipment to enhance themselves, forming a positive cycle of loot grinding gameplay. Coupled with multiple difficulty levels and diverse seasonal gameplay, you can experience higher difficulty challenges and fresher, more exciting gameplay.
It should be noted that the watershed between Web2 and Web3 in Seraph lies in the loot grinding phase after level 60. Although loot grinding can continue, if players want to earn income from the gameplay process, they need to purchase an NFT equipment with real money (equivalent to a 'ticket' to make money and start-up capital), and then participate in specific challenges to obtain randomly dropped treasure chests containing valuable NFTs, NFT fragments, or limited edition outfits.
Having seen the common click-based mini-games and light gameplay games in the blockchain gaming market, Seraph's graphics and content can be said to be somewhat 'surprising,' truly comparable to Web2 AAA games. Character upgrades, skills, equipment, and other foundational systems are well-developed and deep, allowing for powerful builds through skill learning and equipment combinations. For deep Web2 game players, these will feel very familiar and easy to pick up. This set of gameplay has almost spanned the entire Web2 gaming era and remains popular today, proving its longevity and market validation.
Within this gameplay framework and without affecting the underlying fun of the game, Seraph seamlessly integrates the NFTization of equipment with a free trading market among players to build a self-sustaining in-game economic system. This approach is relatively reasonable and easy for a game player to accept.
Economic model: "Everything is tradable" and "Play and Earn"
Seraph's economic model combines the philosophy of 'Everything is tradable' with 'Play and Earn' (earning while playing), creating a self-sustaining, sustainable gaming economic system by allowing players to trade in-game equipment NFTs.
1. NFT equipment: The gold-making equipment in the game is all tradable NFTs, and players have the opportunity to obtain them from rare treasure chests upon completing dungeons. These pieces of equipment not only have game attributes but also come with varying rarity and collectible value, which can be sold to other players on the platform's trading market for profit.
2. Player-driven free trading market: The in-game trading market allows trading of all assets, with players setting their own prices. Market supply and demand determine price fluctuations, and the decentralized market mechanism allows players to truly own their in-game assets.
3. Revenue mechanism and 'Play and Earn' model: Players obtain equipment and items through in-game loot grinding, monster fighting, and cooperative challenges, and trade them in the market, thus realizing the possibility of obtaining actual economic returns through gaming actions.
4. Self-sustaining economic ecology: As the number of players continues to grow, the market demand within the game will continuously expand, driving more transactions and liquidity. This will enhance the overall stability of the ecosystem, continuously improving the gaming experience and income potential.
Comparative analysis of in-game NFTs and artwork NFTs
As mentioned earlier, Seraph has currently generated over 10 million USD in revenue, part of which comes from the trading of in-game equipment NFTs. We know that the NFT sector seems to have become outdated, and even discussing NFTs can be daunting. However, Seraph's NFT ecosystem based on in-game weapons, equipment, and items presents a different picture. Here, a simple comparison is made between mainstream artist/celebrity-released NFTs and theirs:
1. Sources and acquisition methods: Artist/celebrity NFTs mainly derive value from personal branding, with their generation unrelated to actual use, relying more on the creator's popularity and fanbase. This method of acquiring NFTs is singular and usually obtained through purchase, lacking interactivity; game equipment NFTs are obtained by players through dungeon completions or synthesis, directly linked to players' efforts. This acquisition method increases engagement and a sense of accomplishment, while also allowing players to recognize the value of the items more.
2. Functionality and applicable scenarios: Artist/celebrity NFTs mainly serve as collectibles, possessing only aesthetic value or symbolic significance, lacking practical functionality. Their value comes more from fan emotions or limited scarcity, rather than actual utility; game equipment NFTs possess clear functionality, enhancing player character attributes, improving gold farming efficiency, etc. Players can not only collect but also trade in and out of the game, realizing economic value. This practicality makes them more appealing.
3. Market driving force and value stability: The value of artist/celebrity NFTs relies on the creator's brand influence. If the creator's popularity declines or market interest shifts, their value can fluctuate or even drop to zero; the value of game equipment NFTs is determined by the supply and demand relationship within the game ecosystem, with rare equipment directly linked to market demand. If the game is active, the liquidity and value of equipment NFTs will stabilize accordingly.
4. User participation and interactivity: The process of obtaining artist/celebrity NFTs is singular, where users only need to purchase, lacking a sense of active participation. This passive consumption model may lead to difficulty in sustaining user enthusiasm; game equipment NFTs are earned by players through gaming actions, making the participation process interactive and fun. This model encourages players to continuously invest time and energy, enhancing community engagement.
In summary, compared to the single attributes and volatility of artist/celebrity NFTs, game equipment NFTs perform better in terms of functionality, market driving force, and user participation. Artist/celebrity NFTs overly rely on the personal influence of creators; once popularity declines, it becomes difficult to maintain their value. In contrast, equipment NFTs are part of the gaming experience, allowing players to enhance their sense of accomplishment by using them and earn actual income through trading, offering higher sustainability. Therefore, while the applicability of game NFTs is limited by the audience of the game itself, their design logic and trading value are more reasonable.
Seraph's revenue data is a validation of its NFT economic model's maturity and effectiveness, showcasing the strong self-sustaining ability of this model. The economic returns players gain from the game experience will further expand the game's appeal, attracting more players, and in turn, more players will promote the healthy development of the in-game trading market. Seraph continues to update its game content to provide players with fresh experiences, creating a positive economic cycle.
Asset management system: Lowering the entry barrier for Web2 players into Web3
The main obstacle for Web2 players entering Web3 games is the complexity of blockchain technology, including wallet creation, private key management, and on-chain transaction processes. Seraph associates ActPass accounts and asset management systems within the game, allowing players to log in through email/account, abstracting away the management of crypto wallets and private keys, and using a built-in MPC wallet to manage assets and transactions in ActPass. This design has the following advantages:
1. One-click wallet creation, more convenient operations: Most Web3 games require downloading and configuring independent wallets, while ActPass is integrated within the Seraph game, allowing players to create wallets with one click and directly bind accounts without switching to external applications. This design is similar to the email or social login methods in Web2 games, significantly lowering the threshold.
2. Built-in asset management, reducing operational burden: Asset management in blockchain games usually involves complex on-chain transactions, while ActPass stores digital assets such as equipment and items directly in an integrated wallet, supporting quick in-game transactions and management. Players can complete operations without switching platforms, eliminating cumbersome signature processes.
3. Hide complexity, optimize user experience: ActPass automatically handles gas fees, allowing players to pay with fiat or stablecoins, shielding most blockchain technology details. Players do not need to learn complex processes and can focus on game content, leading to a smoother experience; at the same time, thanks to the low gas costs, speed, and security of the opBNB chain on the BNB Chain's second layer network, players can save on gas costs for transactions and items going on and off the chain.
In summary, such a design maintains a certain separation between game content and the Web3 asset management system, avoiding the poor experience of repeatedly verifying assets and wallet interactions that many Web3 games face. This can effectively lower the technical and psychological barriers for Web2 players transitioning to Web3 games, leading to higher user conversion rates and market penetration capabilities. It can be seen as an excellent solution linking Web2 and Web3.
Exploration of the incremental market: A bridge between Web2 and Web3
In the context of fierce competition in the existing market, expanding new user groups has become an important task in the Web3 field. As a representative of the Web3 incremental market, blockchain games attract Web2 players through high user stickiness and interactivity. Especially AAA-level heavy blockchain games, compared to traditional light blockchain applications, offer new possibilities for converting Web2 users by leveraging higher technical standards, stronger immersion, and richer ecosystems.
Based on the analysis of Seraph, here are some design ideas from similar games that can be referenced:
1. Lowering the entry threshold: Integrating a convenient Web3 wallet, simplifying asset management and transaction processes, allowing Web2 players to participate without complex blockchain knowledge.
2. Strengthened economic incentives: By adopting the 'Play and Earn' model, players gain NFT equipment through in-game actions (such as loot grinding and challenges) and earn actual income through market trading, enhancing their motivation to participate.
3. Provide immersive experiences: By using high-quality graphics, rich storylines, and diverse gameplay, make the game closer to traditional AAA game experiences, making it easier for Web2 players to accept and engage.
4. Balanced economic system: By reasonably designing scarcity and the market supply-demand relationship (such as limited equipment or functional items), maintain an active trading market and encourage long-term player participation.
The potential of the incremental market for blockchain games should not be overlooked. According to BusinessResearch's forecasts, the GameFi market is expected to reach 90.51 billion USD by 2031, with growth potential of 10 to 15 times. In the current bull market, the blockchain gaming sector has yet to truly take off. It is hoped that with the emergence of more quality blockchain games, the simplistic and crude impression of Web3 games will gradually change and bring more players to the Web3 industry.
