Original title: New wave of GameFi projects are costing millions of dollars to develop
Original author: Cointelegraph
Compiled by: Elvin, ChainCatcher
Compared with the previous wave of GameFi projects that focused more on "playing to earn money", the current game projects focus more on the game experience. The subsequent wave of blockchain-inspired games will cost at least seven to eight figures and take several years to produce.
This was revealed by Yezi, COO of South Korean game studio Seraph. “We have spent more than $10 million in development costs,” she told Cointelegraph about the company’s upcoming Arbitrum dark fantasy action RPG Seraph: In the Darkness. “Initially, our project was self-funded and self-developed. Only recently did we start our first round of external financing, which has now been completed and will be officially announced soon.”
For Yezi, Web3 blockchain games actually have significant advantages compared to Web2 blockchain games. “Web3 games encourage a greater sense of co-creation and promotion among players,” she commented. “Interaction between Web2 and Web3 players creates a unique chemistry that inspires market transactions and attracts greater participation. By."
However, the COO also stressed that newer GameFi projects are needed to provide players with a better gaming experience while achieving quality token economics. She believes that “gamers are no longer satisfied with simple profit calculation models like Axies Infinity and StepN’s previous games.” As Yezi explained, Seraph: In the Darkness recently had a pre-season launch, which attracted people’s attention:
“Over 60,000 players participated, over 30,000 of them had premium game characters, and over 10,000 users made purchases. During this testing phase, we achieved $3 million in fiat revenue, and we were able to allocate over $1 million for token buybacks in accordance with the terms of the white paper.”
"Seraph: In The Darkness" game introduction. Source: Steam
She continued: “This testing phase initially enabled payment and conversion of traditional users to the Web3 space, especially through live broadcasts by veteran players.” The game is scheduled to launch later this year and will have free and paid versions, and players will be able to participate in transactions and tokenization.
Currently, the reserve price of NFT equipment is 0.2 ETH, and a $50 entry fee is required to enter the in-game trading market. "Seraph Studio currently has no plans to release any other games. However, our internally developed custodial wallet ActPass will become a game asset issuance platform in the near future and launch more high-quality games through investment or cooperation," Yezi concluded.
Last month, Cointelegraph reported that Web2 gamers have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars on in-game purchases that were supposed to belong to the players, but often ended up with nothing. Blockchain interoperability, on the other hand, at least partially solves this problem, as it allows players to buy, sell, and own their in-game assets in an immutable way.
