The emergence of GameFi and NFTs represents a decades-long shift in power from game studios to players.
From pay-to-play (P2P) to free-to-play (F2P), and then play-to-earn (P2E), it implements blockchain and NFTs to fully democratize user ownership of assets. P2E was pioneered by well-known GameFi projects such as Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained.
Optimistically, the future of P2E will be an interactive metaverse centered on GameFi, pulling market participants out of the margins and rewarding gamers and developers through the creation and financialization of in-game assets.
However, if more than 70% of the energy is put into X To Earn to consider the top-level design of Web3 chain games at this stage, the sustainability of the project and the value of the main network points will most likely decline rapidly as the economic incentives fade, and the life cycle of the game will also end quickly after the main token collapses. Because X in the current GameFi field cannot precipitate value, it is like a kind of "job" with economic incentives. Therefore, if a game cannot obtain increments or profits from Web2 through X, what can it rely on to continue to subsidize players so that players stay in this ecosystem?
The above problems are particularly prominent in the P2E model, and even Axie Infinity, which was at the top at the time, could not avoid them.
To put it bluntly, most of the GameFi projects on the market are currently playing P2E, which is essentially liquidity mining disguised as a game, and this game is difficult to play. Once the heat of DeFi has passed and everyone knows what they are doing, the next target of transmission will undoubtedly be GameFi.
It is urgent that Web3 chain games need a new value narrative.
In mid-July, AtDawn, a new project on Kroma, a public game chain for hero NFT casting, announced that it had received support from two public chains, immutable and Kroma, and would start the season and IDO in the fourth quarter. AtDawn is a 3A quality, multi-chain interoperable war-themed STG game. It is based on the UNITY engine FPS competition and AI empowerment. Compared with most of the current GameFi projects, AtDawn's biggest advantage is that it has a large number of real active player addresses. It has quickly become the focus and hot topic in the current industry due to its playability, no need to download, and data interoperability to support multi-chain and multi-terminal users to enter the game at the same time.
Analysts believe that replication, trial and error, iteration, and innovation are necessary processes in the market. Web3 chain games are still in a relatively early stage of development. The quality of games varies greatly, and the lack of playability has become a common phenomenon. At the same time, a single P2E model is difficult to sustain. This is the underlying logic of AtDawn, which uses game quality as a competitive barrier to break through the difficulties.
We know that the P2E model is very suitable for attracting new users, but whether it is a traditional game or a Web3 chain game, the first principle is still "there are people who play, and there are people who continue to play."
Therefore, how to balance NFT/DeFi incentives and game revenue, how to continue to attract new players, how to retain players and increase daily activity, and how to achieve player consumption return? Whether the above questions can be answered will become a watershed for whether the current GameFi project P2E can break the crisis of collapse after no one "takes over".
Atdawn combines the design features of two types of Web2 STG games, "battles that highlight the theme of personal heroism" and "simulating modern warfare to highlight team tactical coordination", retaining the classic combat gameplay and combining vehicles and other methods. Compared with other GameFi projects, the familiar operation and innovative combat gameplay, the realistic painting style, the shocking scenes and the professional and rich military equipment make Atdawn's gaming experience closer to the war-themed STG games that the public is familiar with and pursues, such as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Overwatch, and Battlefield.
At the same time, based on the introduction of NFT mechanism based on Web3 technology, after a game is over, players can submit their scores to the on-chain contract, and the contract will allocate different box NFTs and experience points according to the scores. The settlement of the contract can be fair and transparent, and the box NFT is used as a consumable item so that players can obtain other props NFTs, such as transportation scene NFTs that are not available in similar games.
As an NFT that combines Fun to Earn, Create to Earn, Game-Fi, Social-Fi and game IP authorization, Atdawn NFT holders can obtain NFTs with ownership confirmation, scarcity, authenticity and verifiability, and earn income by creating or holding gold-making NFTs in FPS competitive duels.
Of course, in addition to the value flow and DeFi benefits brought by the introduction of NFT technology, Atdawn's super high user retention rate and player activity are more in the Game itself.
Atdawn currently supports 8 game modes, covering classic FPS competitive modes such as deathmatch, capture the flag, team deathmatch, kill, and demolition. It is a well-deserved 3A game.
First, UNITY engine development and AI empowerment collaboration. Atdawn uses Unity to turn creativity into reality, bringing players an exciting, tense, and instant gaming experience with rich sound and light effects. AI avatar, AI NPC, AI Scene, and AI Bot bring a lot of innovative gameplay. For example, when fighting side by side in a team, AI can be used to customize images, badges, nicknames, background walls, fashions and other personalized elements, which are suitable for live broadcasts and short videos for users to watch. This is undoubtedly very attractive to veteran gamers.
Secondly, in the Atdawn game ecosystem, there are a variety of hero characters, each with a unique design and action style; a huge battlefield, a realistic battlefield experience, battles of various sizes, exciting battles; a unique evolution system and highly competitive gameplay...Multi-chain users can enter the same scene to fight at the same time, compete with global players in the battle, and compete for survival and glory.
Atdawn is not just targeting users in the blockchain gaming circle. Its long-term goal is to open up the incremental market for traditional games, so the perfect combination of easy-to-use and instant fun is crucial.
Players do not need to download apps, have rich gaming experience, or spend a whole night playing games. They can learn the operation in ten minutes and play a game in five minutes. While enjoying Blizzard-quality light competitive games, they can also participate in GameFi to earn income without friction. It has never been so easy to step into Web3.
Recently, there is more positive news. AtDawn hero NFTs casting has been launched on the game public chain Kroma. Players can cast their own exclusive heroes through Kroma Summer. Not only can they obtain AtDawn main network points, but they also have the opportunity to synthesize rare NFTs on the Kroma public chain and obtain public chain token KRO airdrops.
It is reported that the test network is now open to all Web3 players. Players can experience all the gameplay of the game through the ETH-Sepolia test network and obtain generous test network points. This action by the AtDawn project can effectively encourage real players around the world to actively hold AtDawn main network points and collect different hero NFTs in order to get the upper hand when the game is upgraded or the token is released.
Developed by a professional team of researchers, planners, technicians, artists, special effects/actions, and sound effects, AtDawn focuses almost entirely on playability and game experience, and will gradually open up various competitions in the future. The team has strong contract fulfillment capabilities, from project release to game beta, from the introduction of NFTs to the casting of hero NFTs on the game public chain Kroma, it has fulfilled every promise in the roadmap with practical actions.
In the process of traditional games migrating to the Web3 digital world, we currently see very confident predictions about the potential of AtDawn. The synergy of mature game development technology, high-quality gaming experience, and rich revenue models will soon unleash AtDawn's wealth-creating ability.
At this point, AtDawn has opened up a new Web3 chain game value narrative. Its ecosystem is no longer limited to users who are eager to resell for profit. The larger group is players who really want to collect powerful NFTs props for battle, achieving full compatibility for entertainment players + consumer players + investment users.
It’s difficult to calculate the current and future size of Web3 blockchain gaming given the speed at which emerging industries and projects are developing, but here are some numbers to think about:
Grayscale believes that the revenue of the virtual gaming world will be $400B by 2025;
BITKRAFT Ventures values the entire gaming industry at $336B, while Grayscale values it at $2T;
Goldman Sachs values esports at $3B in 2024, even though esports audiences have already surpassed the NBA.
Morgan Stanley believes that NFTs will be worth $300B by 2030.
Although Web3 chain games are only a subset of the gaming field, industry research agencies conservatively estimate that the scale of Web3 chain games in the near future will be in the range of more than US$100B.
In the tide of trends and Web3, once industry participants find the best product-market fit, better UI, better gameplay, better incentive model, better everything, incremental users and hot money begin to flow in, the imagination space for the value of their projects is undoubtedly huge.
In the new value narrative of Web3 chain games, we currently see very confident predictions about the potential of AtDawn. We believe that it will make great strides in Web3 and promote the evolution of GameFi towards scale, implementation, and future-oriented directions.
