Original author: Grapefruit
Original source: ChainCatcher
Since the beginning of 2024, among the 6 projects launched on Binance Launchpool, 4 are related to games, namely the virtual companion game Sleepless AI, the Layer3 game public chain, the metaverse farm game Pixels, and the Protal platform focusing on cross-chain games.
Binance's move to launch gaming assets one after another has made the long-dormant GameFi track lively again. Among the four gaming projects launched, two assets are more or less related to game-specific chains. Xai is the representative of Layer3 game-specific chains; and Pixels is the first ecological project on the gaming sidechain Ronin to be launched on Binance. On February 5, Binance officially launched Ronin's native token RON.
In fact, not only Binance is increasing its support for blockchain games, but also many game projects are building their own GameFi dedicated chains. On February 15, the ApeCoin community announced that it would build ApeChain based on the Arbitrum developer stack; on February 22, the TreasureDAO community, known as the Web3 Nintendo, voted to develop Treasure Chain based on the Arbitrum ecosystem and plans to launch the mainnet in Q3 this year.
Looking for "new GameFi public chain and its high-quality game assets on the chain" and the combination of "new public chain + new game" is becoming the new Alpha of the crypto community. So, at present, how is the game public chain and its ecological development represented in the crypto market?
Ronin Network (RON), a gaming-specific chain compatible with EVM
Ronin Network, or Ronin for short, is an EVM-compatible chain designed specifically for gaming applications, and was built by Sky Mavis, the developer team of Axie Infinity, on behalf of Wanzhuan Games. The platform aims to solve problems such as Ethereum congestion, high GAS fees, and slow transaction speeds, providing players with a smoother and more seamless gaming experience.
However, in March 2022, the Ronin network was hacked and the private keys of five validators were stolen. Hackers used the hacked private keys to forge withdrawals, causing losses of more than $600 million. This was one of the largest hacker attacks in the history of the cryptocurrency field and the most serious security incident in the blockchain gaming field.
Since the attack, the Ronin network has been in a downturn for a while, and the price of RON tokens has plummeted from a high of $3.4, and has been fluctuating around the bottom of $0.2 for a long time.
Recently, Ronin has regained attention due to the popularity of the on-chain ecological application Pixels metaverse game and the launch of RON trading pairs on Binance.
However, on February 23, the Ronin network had another security blunder. A user reported on Twitter that hackers had stolen about 3 million RON worth about $10 million and transferred it through the mixer Tornado Cash.
Soon, Ronin co-founder Psycheout responded that there was no problem with Ronin or the cross-chain bridge, and it was just a whale wallet that was stolen. The stolen whale turned out to be Jihoz, the co-founder of Axie Infinity and Ronin Network. He explained that his two personal addresses were attacked by security attacks. The attack was limited to his personal account and had nothing to do with the verification or operation of the Ronin chain. This blunder did not affect the price trend of RON tokens.
In fact, Ronin has been continuously improving its infrastructure over the past year. In order to improve the security and stability of the network, reduce the risk of centralization, and ensure the safety of user assets, in April last year, Ronin first upgraded its network consensus mechanism from PoA (Proof of Authority) consensus to DPOS. After the consensus upgrade, the number of network validator nodes increased from 9 to 22, which is more decentralized than before.
In addition, Ronin has launched the RON staking function and started staking rewards. It also announced the first batch of Ronin-based game studio partners, including Directive Games, Tribes Studio, Bali Games, Bowled.io and SkyVu.
Subsequently, Ronin attracted high-quality and mature blockchain game projects such as Pixels to join, and on average, blockchain games announced their migration to its ecosystem every month. First, the P2E blockchain game Pixels announced its migration from Polygon to the Ronin network in October, and then, the Korean game production company ACT Games announced in November that it would migrate all its games to the Ronin Network, and the card duel blockchain game Apeiron migrated to the Ronin network in December.
In January this year, Ronin launched Mavis Store, an online store for in-game items. Players can purchase on-chain and off-chain items. It supports RON, AXS, SLP, WETH, and USDC payments, and donates 0.5% of the revenue to the Ronin Treasury.
At present, the Ronin network ecosystem has integrated supporting products focusing on blockchain games, such as the game aggregation platform Mavis Hub, the NFT trading market Mavis Market, as well as the DeFi application DEX platform Katana, the lending product MetaLend that supports game asset mortgage, the Launchpad platform Impossible Finance, and the infrastructure wallet Ronin Wallet, the oracle Pyth Network, the cross-chain bridge Bridge, etc.
According to official website data, as of February 29, the NFT asset transaction volume completed by the Ronin network has exceeded US$4.1 billion, the number of addresses is approximately 15.33 million, and the gas fee for each transaction is only US$0.0012.
The native token RON is quoted at $2.88, with a market capitalization of $860 million, ranking 112th in the crypto market, and has increased by more than 160% in the past three months.
Ronin Ecosystem Game Representative
1. Axie Infinity, the originator of P2E play-to-earn games
Axie Infinity is the largest encrypted digital pet training game on Ronin, and has pioneered the P2E (Play-to-Earn) model. Game players can raise, breed and trade NFT-ized creatures called "Axies", and can form biological teams called Axies to fight against each other.
As of today, Axie Infinity has derived multiple games based on Axie creatures, including Axie Classic (initial version), Origins (supports free entry for players), HomeLand (land construction game), Raylights (farm farming game for Land holders), Defenders of Lunacian Land (Axie survival game), Project T prototype (early prototype of Axie game), etc.
Last July, Axie Infinity launched the AXP (Axie Experience Points) on-chain upgrade mechanism to promote the development and component upgrades of Axie pets.
Players earn AXP points by playing the Origins version. These points are non-transferable and bound to each Axie. They can be used to upgrade and evolve the parts or levels of the Axie pet characters.
The introduction of AXP and Axie upgrade functions makes Axies a dynamic NFT that can accumulate improvements and personalization over time, marking the transformation of Axies from passive character assets to digital creatures that can evolve through game activities. NFT supports on-chain upgradeable mechanisms and will have a wider range of uses, such as character development in games.
At the end of November last year, Axie announced the launch of official merchandise and an online store, selling badges printed with the project logo, Axie character shirts, hats, accessories, Squishmallow-style plush toys, $300 figures, etc., supporting dual payments in cryptocurrency and legal tender.
At the same time, the commercial copyright restrictions of 4,877 NFTs in the Mystic and Origin series have been opened, supporting Axie NFT owners to use their NFT characters as mascots to conduct various businesses, including Axie theme cafes, comics, restaurants or toy series.
However, this did not attract much attention in the community. According to official data, Axie Infinity's treasury revenue in 2023 was only 3.4 million US dollars, and the DAU was 60,000.
On February 14, Axie Infinity announced the launch of Origins Season 7, with a total prize pool of 18,900 AXS and 1,374,051 SLP, worth approximately US$200,000.
As of February 29, the game governance AXS token was quoted at US$9.46, with a 7-day increase of 21.4%, a market capitalization of US$1.3 billion, and a ranking of 77th; the in-game token SLP was quoted at US$0.0043, with a 30-day increase of 47%, and a market capitalization of US$170 million.
2. Metaverse Farm Game Pixels
Pixels was originally a social casual game based on the pixel-based metaverse farm running on Polygon, and was migrated to the Ronin network in October last year. In this game, players can earn token rewards by operating farms, such as cultivating land, collecting crops, wood, stone and other resources.
On February 8, Pixels launched the 46th Binance coin mining project, and announced the completion of US$4.8 million in financing the next day. This round of financing was participated by Framework Ventures, Yield Guild Games, Sky Mavis and others.
The native token PIXEL was listed on Binance on February 19 at an issue price of $0.04, and reached a high of $0.69. Now, the price has fallen back to $0.49, with a market capitalization of $380 million.
On February 28, the blockchain game Pixels pet pixel dog NFT announced that it would be open for minting. Pets can increase the player's range of activities in the game, increase inventory space, etc., and will also play a role in future PVP modes.
The total number of pet dog NFTs issued this time is 3,000, which are for players who have completed the "Key to Success" task in the game before. The casting fee is 500PIXEL (about US$250). As of press time, the floor price of this NFT on Mavis Market is 180RON (worth US$495).
3. Zoids Wild Arena
Zoids Wild Arena is a strategy TCG game (Trading Card Game) developed by ACT Games, a well-known Korean game company. Players can collect Zoids series mechanical creature card NFTs, support the use of 30 cards to build a deck, and fight against each other for dominance.
Players can also compete in 1v1 matches with other players, with each player using their own pre-constructed deck and taking turns using their own card-playing strategies to win by reducing the opponent's command to zero health.
Last November, ACT Games announced that it would introduce all of its games to the Ronin network, and Zoids Wild Arena was the first game to be migrated to Ronin.
4. Card duel game Apeiron
Apeiron is a card dueling and god simulation game where players take on the role of gods and engage in battle using a real-time card-based combat system.
In December last year, Apeiron announced its migration to the Ronin network, and in 2022 completed a $10 million seed round of financing led by Hashed.
On February 28, the Apeiron Arena public beta was released on the Epic Game store. Players can earn ANIMA airdrop points by downloading and participating in competitions. ANIMA airdrop points can be used to enhance and upgrade player character NFTs, or for staking in the game reward pool.
Currently, Apeiron has not issued any coins.
4. Multiplayer shooter The Machines Arena
The Machines Arena is a 4v4 multiplayer online shooting game. The player characters are presented as virtual heroes. It provides both single-player and multiplayer modes. Players will fight on a sci-fi battlefield as tanks or auxiliary heroes.
Directive Games, the developer of The Machines Arena, is a game development team based in Hong Kong, China, focusing on the development of AR games.
Currently, the game is in the beta stage and players need to register and apply to participate.
Layer3 game-specific chain XAI
Xai is a Layer3 network built by Offchain Labs based on the Arbitrum Nitro technology stack and customized to meet the needs of Web3 games. It focuses on reducing gas costs, enhancing network stability, etc. It is also the 43rd project of Binance Launchpool.
On February 28, Xai announced that its token XAI staking system v1 is now online, and the redemption function from esXAI to XAI is open. The value of staked XAI tokens exceeded 30 million US dollars on the day of launch.
The Xai Network utilizes the dual-token economic mechanism of XAI and esXAI to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.
esXAI is non-transferable and is obtained through 1:1 locking of XAI. Its main purpose is to obtain more benefits through staking. For example, the launched V1 staking version supports increasing the staking level by locking esXAI and increasing the frequency of XAI rewards.
XAI is the gas payment and node reward token in the Xai network, and is also the main token in its gaming ecosystem, serving as a payment asset for games and in-game items. The total issuance of XAI tokens is 2.5 billion, and the price was $1.3 on February 29, up 25% in the past 14 days, with a circulating market value of $368 million.
In addition, on February 18, Xai stated that he was studying the formulation of a DAO proposal to enable Arbitrum to allocate 100 million to 200 million ARB for the development of games.
In June last year, Xai announced that it had cooperated with the well-known game team ExPopulus to develop two games, the card game Final Form and the metaverse LAMOverse.
At present, the Xai ecosystem has launched role-playing games such as Tarochi, Final Form, LAMOverse, and origami-themed game Kashi, as well as Camelot DEX, Rarible NFT market, and Web3 development toolkit Thirdweb.
On-chain game representatives
1. RPG game Tarochi
Tarochi is the first RPG game launched by Xai. The game is developed based on the Paima platform engine and the gameplay is similar to Pokemon. Players can explore, complete tasks, fight and capture monsters.
On February 11, Tarochi released the Genesis Trainer NFT, which can be used to accelerate game progress and try out new products in advance. The NFT was issued in 10,000 units and sold out within 31 hours.
As of February 29, the transaction volume of Genesis Trainer NFT on the OpenSea platform was 60ETH, and the floor price was 0.0113ETH.
2. Card Collection Game Final Form
Final Form is a card collection game developed by ExPopulus. Players can collect character cards and participate in battles to win rewards. The game is scheduled to be released in April 2024.
3. Metaverse Game LAMOverse
LAMOverse is also a metaverse game developed by ExPopulus. It provides players with a fully immersive and evolving universe that they can enter with their virtual identities and fight against opponents for rewards. The game will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024.
4. Action game Carnivale
Carnivale, also developed by ExPopulus, is an open-world action game set a century in the future where humanity’s main struggle has become the fight for influence and control over information. The game is currently in development.
ZK Series Layer2 Game Public Chain Immutable
Immutable, also known as Immutable X, was originally built using StarkEx technology, focusing on NFT and GameFi's zkRollup system Layer2, with fast transaction confirmation, zero gas fees and high scalability. In March last year, Immutable turned to work with Polygon to develop the zkEVM network, and on January 30, it announced the launch of the Immutable zkEVM mainnet, which will be open to the public.
Currently, there are two Layer2 networks in the Immutable ecosystem: Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM. The biggest difference between the two is that the Immutable X network does not support smart contracts. In addition, it also provides developers with relevant supporting infrastructure for developing NFTs and games, such as NFT market development templates, NFT Mint tools, and APIs for optimizing NFT liquidity.
Last December, Framework Ventures also announced a strategic investment in the Immutable ecosystem for an undisclosed amount.
According to the "2024 Annual Plan" released by Immutable on February 2, more than 200 games have been launched on the Immutable network, of which more than 100 are built on Immutable zkEVM, and many games will be launched in 2024.
After the beginning of 2024, many games announced that they would join the Immutable ecosystem. Among them, on January 24, the blockchain game developer Endless Clouds announced that its two games Treeverse and Capsule Heroes would be added to the Immutable zkEVM ecosystem; on February 3, the RPG NFT game Pixelmon announced that it would build an Immutable zkEVM and launch a battle arena.
According to the official website, the Immutable ecosystem has integrated more than 150 games and more than 20 NFT and game asset trading markets, including the well-known card game Gods Unchained (GODS), role-playing game Guild of Guardians, and fighting game Illuvium (ILV).
As of March 1, the price of Immutable's native token was $3.22, with an increase of more than 60% in the past 30 days. Its market capitalization was $4.47 billion, ranking 24th.
On-chain representative games
1. Card Game Gods Unchained
Gods Unchained (GODS) is a strategy card game (TCG) developed by the Immutable X team. The gameplay is similar to the card game Hearthstone produced by Blizzard. The game sets up a temple with 6 different god characters. Players can choose a character and build various tactical decks based on their existing card decks to reduce the opponent's health to zero.
On February 29, Gods Unchained launched its early access version on Google Play and Apple App Store.
GODS is the GodUnchained game token with a total supply of 500 million. It can be used to upgrade card levels and conduct community governance voting. As of March 1, the price was $0.37, with a market value of $100 million and a 35% increase in the past seven days.
2. Fighting game Illuvium
Illuvium (ILV) is a collection and role-playing (RPG) game created by brothers Kieran and Aaron, founders of Synthetix. In the game, players need to collect NFT creatures called Illuvial, form a team of Iluvials, and compete in different modes.
There are three main games in the Illuvium ecosystem: the open world exploration mode Illuvium Overworld, the RPG battle mode Illuvium Arena, and the land management mode Illuvium Zero3.
Illvium Arena is an auto-battle game mode where players can form teams and compete in various modes, such as survival competition;
Illuvium Overworld: An open-world adventure where players explore alien landscapes, capture beasts called Illuvials, and gather resources to enhance their abilities.
Illvium Zero is a city-building game focused on strategy and city management, allowing players to build and manage digital complexes and profit from resources;
On February 14, Illuvium stated that it plans to launch the Illuvium: Overworld version of the Illuvial Hunting game, also known as the Illuvial hunting adventure game, in Q2 2024 to enhance players' open world gaming experience.
Illuvium's game token ILV can be used for community governance voting, decision-making protocol revenue and profit distribution, etc. It has an issuance volume of 10 million and is currently quoted at $118. It has risen by more than 25% in the past seven days and has a market value of $740 million.
3. Card battle chain game Shardbound
Shardbound was originally a PVP card battle strategy game launched by Spiritwalk Games and developed by game studio Bazooka Tango. In March last year, it announced a partnership with Immutable Studio to launch a blockchain game version, and the number of registered users has now exceeded 80,000.
4. Fighting shooting game MetalCore
MetalCore is a mecha warrior-themed fighting game developed by Sutdio369 Studio. Players will control combat mechas or vehicles such as airplanes and tanks to fight in vast sandbox maps to compete for resources and loot. It is planned to launch a public test before Q2 this year.
The game completed a token and NFT sale financing worth US$15 million in March 2022. The private placement was led by BITKRAFT Ventures and Delphi Digital, and investors included Immutable, Animoca, Yield Guild Games (YGG), Merit Circle, Avocado, etc.
