Author: Zen, PANews
After more than twenty years of development, online strategy games have not only improved in graphics and art but also explored more novel gameplay, accumulating a significant player base globally. Although the overall scale of this game genre's enthusiasts is far smaller than that of FPS or RPG genres, players often invest more effort and expenditure in these games, which is why game teams continue to be willing to develop such games.
Strategy games heavily rely on deep thinking from players, including resource allocation, long-term planning, dynamic decision-making, etc. This aligns well with the research habits of crypto investors who formulate investment strategies and assess risk-reward ratios, both of whom are willing to invest substantial time and funds in asset investments or gaming. Therefore, the challenges and sense of achievement in strategy games may effectively attract this patient and passionate demographic, converting them into deep users.
So, what happens when high-quality strategy games are combined with the crypto ecosystem? In reality, the medieval-themed strategy game BLOCKLORDS has indeed proven the potential of this combination, attracting over 1.85 million users through its web version BLOCKLORDS Dynasty alone.
Six years in the making through market ups and downs
BLOCKLORDS was born in 2018, during a time when even Bitcoin was considered an 'outlier', and blockchain/Web3 games were even more niche. However, this MMO strategy game has always been designed entirely around Web3, withstanding the test of time through multiple market cycles.
Initially, the development funds for BLOCKLORDS mainly came from the prizes of developer competitions, with the development team receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from activities organized by NEO and TRON. After a period of startup stabilization, in 2021, the development team established a new studio and content team for game iteration. Furthermore, the game's developer, MetaKing Studio, began seeking to raise $4 million in development funds to successfully complete BLOCKLORDS. Subsequently, in May 2022, MetaKing Studios announced the completion of a $15 million financing round led by Makers Fund and Bitkraft Ventures, with participation from renowned institutions such as Delphi Digital, Animoca Brands, Shima Capital, WW Ventures, Spartan Group, Huobi Ventures, and YGG.
The recognition from the aforementioned VCs can be attributed not only to BLOCKLORDS having withstood early market tests but also to the core team of MetaKing Studios being a key factor.
MetaKing Studios was founded by David Johansson and Nicky Li, both of whom have decades of experience in game production. Johansson, who serves as both CEO and Creative Director, worked in the Hollywood film industry early in his career before transitioning to the gaming industry for creative and production roles. Johansson has participated in well-known projects including Crusader Kings, Liberators, and League of Angels; Nicky has also been involved in the latter two games as a designer, operations manager, and project manager, currently serving as the team's Chief Operating Officer. Additionally, most of the artists, designers, and developers in the MetaKing Studios team come from renowned industry studios such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Paradox Interactive, and Creative Assembly.
Player-driven medieval strategy MMO
Drawing inspiration from Age of Empires for civilization development and resource management, incorporating large-scale battles and strategic command from Total War, blending political intrigue and strategy from Crusader Kings, and absorbing some agricultural simulation from Stardew Valley, the main gameplay of BLOCKLORDS, a medieval large-scale strategy game, combines these elements. The game is currently available for early access on the Epic Games Store, with plans to launch on Steam in the first quarter of next year.
Based on rich gameplay, BLOCKLORDS aims to allow players to choose and shape their own stories, with every decision and action affecting the game's direction. The game primarily revolves around four core mechanics: farming, combat, ruling, and conquest.
For players without hero NFTs, they need to start the game as a farmer, collecting, mining, processing, and crafting various materials to exchange for currency. Farmers can also manage animals and livestock.
By continuously accumulating resources, players can transition from farmers to armed forces, including knights defending farmers and villages, and raiders who steal resources and destroy villages.
Once players become renowned knights, they will have the opportunity to advance to the ruling class and take on the roles of lords and ladies, whose main responsibilities include collecting taxes and resources from farmers, providing rewards and salaries to knights, and managing and developing cities and infrastructure.
Ultimately, players who effectively utilize their skills and conquer the path ahead will have the chance to become the highest leaders in the game, kings or queens, with responsibilities that include managing currency, national policy, diplomacy, trade agreements, and research for their armies and regions, as well as the option to launch or participate in wars that change the fate of the nation.
BLOCKLORDS allows players to engage without needing to participate in blockchain technology applications, and the game does not directly include any cryptocurrencies. This acceptance of traditional player habits is also why it can be launched on Steam. To cater to Web3 game players, in addition to the main game, BLOCKLORDS has also launched the web strategy game BLOCKLORDS Dynasty.
BLOCKLORDS Dynasty, a full-chain game based on the Base blockchain, allows players to lead a noble family, create unique family crests, and earn prestige and expand their empire through strategic decisions. The heroes owned by players are crucial for tasks, duels, and forming alliances through marriage, and even after a hero's demise, they can continue to generate resources. Furthermore, Dynasty is not a completely independent game; its hero characters and crests are interoperable with the main game BLOCKLORDS, allowing for asset transfer.
LORDCHAIN: Paving the way for mass adoption
BLOCKLORDS Dynasty achieved great success after its launch, attracting 1.85 million users who completed over 80 million transactions on Base. In response to the increasingly broad player base, the BLOCKLORDS development team decided to present a more scalable and efficient solution to support a larger and more active community—thus the Layer-3 blockchain solution LORDCHAIN based on Base was born.
LORDCHAIN is based on the OP Stack framework, ensuring compatibility and interoperability with the broader blockchain ecosystem. Its target throughput is 5 million gas per second, providing higher capacity based on demand to ensure speed and efficiency are unaffected during massive transaction processing. In terms of bridging speed, the bridging time between Base and LORDCHAIN is under 10 seconds, enabling cross-layer interactions to meet the need for a fast and seamless experience. Additionally, as the exclusive blockchain for the BLOCKLORDS game, transaction fees on the LORDCHAIN are calculated in the game token $LRDS, promoting a sustainable in-game economy.
Currently, LORDCHAIN has just launched its first phase: the main validator node system, which is the core design of LORDCHAIN, aiming to maintain security and efficiency while enhancing user experience. Participants can lock $LRDS tokens to earn ongoing rewards and contribute to the security and performance of the platform. According to the roadmap, LORDCHAIN will soon introduce the testnet phase for extensive testing, community feedback, and optimization, with the full mainnet planned to launch in the first quarter of next year.
The official LORDCHAIN team will be responsible for the initial deployment of nodes. After the mainnet goes live, players can check their purchased nodes via the LORDCHAIN official app interface, participate in network validation, lock $LRDS, and enjoy related rewards. Additionally, before the mainnet goes live, there will be a node subscription event during the testnet phase, where users will have the opportunity to gain additional node computing power and use it to subscribe to various levels of nodes on the mainnet.
The lifeblood of BLOCKLORDS $LRDS
As the lifeblood of the entire game ecosystem economy, holders of $LRDS are not only granted exclusive heroes, special rewards, and other in-game rights to unlock a better and more efficient overall gaming experience but also can participate in the governance of the entire game; by holding and using $LRDS, players can participate in community voting, influence game development and narrative decisions, and directly engage in the game's evolution. The launch of LORDCHAIN further empowers $LRDS, enabling players to participate in the LORDCHAIN validator reward program to earn $LRDS.
$LRDS is issued on the Ethereum network with a total supply of 100 million tokens, and it is currently listed on major exchanges such as Coinbase, KuCoin, HTX, Gate, and MEXC. According to CoinMarketCap data, as of November 26, its price is approximately $0.6, with a circulating market cap of no more than $10 million. The tokenomics of BLOCKLORDS focuses on long-term sustainability and value; therefore, its LRDS token has a vesting period and issuance plan of up to 10 years, with the token distribution mechanism being:
Community and ecosystem (36%): Dedicated to community programs, game rewards, Gamedrops, LORDCHAIN incentives, and overall ecosystem growth to ensure active participation and investment.
Investors (31%): To reward contributions to the development of BLOCKLORDS.
Marketing (10%): To support ongoing marketing efforts with high-quality partners to expand the BLOCKLORDS ecosystem and its games.
Advisors (10%): To ensure that the expertise of advisors in guiding BLOCKLORDS is recognized and valued.
Liquidity (3%): Reserved to provide liquidity for exchanges to ensure smooth trading and a deep order book for $LRDS.
Base reserve (10%): As a buffer to support future development and address unforeseen challenges.
Overall, $LRDS not only builds a bridge for deep interaction between players and the game but also ensures the long-term value of the token and the healthy development of the ecosystem through multi-dimensional incentive mechanisms such as governance rights and validator reward programs.
Combined with a community and ecosystem-oriented token distribution plan, $LRDS is centered on sustainability, not only carrying the mission of driving the long-term vision of BLOCKLORDS and LORDCHAIN but also continuously creating win-win opportunities for players and investors.
Author: PANews; from the content open platform 'Dedede', this article represents the author's views and does not reflect the official position of Dedede. The originality and authenticity of 'Dedede' articles are guaranteed by the submitter. The submitter is responsible for any legal consequences resulting from plagiarism or forgery. If there are any infringements, violations, or other inappropriate comments in the published articles on the Dedede platform, we urge readers to supervise, and once confirmed, the platform will immediately take it offline. For issues regarding the article content, please contact WeChat: chaindd123
