After posting a call for topics for blockchain game articles today, we have received quite a few messages from players this afternoon, and there are two very interesting topics.
1. Which blockchain game project can make money?
2. How do blockchain games solve the death spiral problem?
If I know which blockchain game can make money, and have a golden finger that can point to a blockchain game project that will operate successfully in the next two years and make players profitable, then I must first learn a witch spell and have a God's perspective to predict the future.
If I can solve the death spiral problem faced by the entire blockchain gaming industry, then I need to find superpowers and become the god of the blockchain gaming industry.
Unfortunately, there are neither witch spells nor super powers.
But I can share my selection criteria for deciding to buy nft assets for a blockchain gaming project.
The development and release rhythm of blockchain games is very different from that of Web2 games. Web2 games are open to players for testing only after a relatively complete playable version is made. For most Web2 games, 90% of the basic gameplay design has been determined before the first player release. Game testing is carried out to determine the other 10% of the gameplay and some specific values. After the game is officially launched, the version will be fine-tuned to continuously increase the game plot and new gameplay content.
The development and release rhythm of blockchain games is mostly not like this. Usually, blockchain games start player-oriented operations when the completion is lower. In the process of continuous testing and release of game assets, player behavior data and asset flow data are collected, and then the overall picture of the gameplay and economic system is gradually released based on this data, and the values are constantly modified and adjusted. For example, the familiar bigtime has been tested for no less than 2 years, and the currency has been issued but is still being tested. Up to now, the female characters of the game have not been released.
The circulation and price fluctuation mechanism of blockchain game assets on the chain will force the project party to incorporate players' opinions into the gameplay design and economic system optimization, which is a huge improvement of blockchain games compared to Web2 games. The advantage of game assets on the chain is that players do not need anyone's permission, they can sell game assets in one second, and then abandon the game without looking back. If the project party does not do a good job in development and operation <horizontal comparison with blockchain games operated in the same period>, players will lose confidence and the price of NFT assets will fall immediately. Conversely, when players buy assets, they have confidence in the project. Buying will increase the price of assets, and selling will cause the price of assets to fall. It is very intuitive (therefore, I also think it is necessary for blockchain game project parties to keep the price of early NFT assets rising through active and uninterrupted operations when advancing each milestone on the roadmap).
Therefore, the early NFT assets of blockchain games purchased by players are all investments in this blockchain game. This is essentially no different from angel funds investing in blockchain game projects in the primary market. They are all betting on the blockchain game project team and the game product itself.
Therefore, the following are a few criteria I use to buy early NFT assets in blockchain games, and I share them with you for discussion (please note that I almost only buy early NFT assets in blockchain games and do not speculate on cryptocurrencies much).
1. Background and qualifications of the founding team of Chaingame
If the founding team members of a blockchain game project have excellent backgrounds in the gaming industry and the Web3 industry, and have led or participated as core team members in the development and distribution of blockbuster games/well-known Web3 projects, then when this blockchain game issues assets in the early stages, I will feel comfortable buying some and hoarding them.
I believe that people who have had several successful projects in a row cannot tolerate failure. When they invest in a project, they will most likely strive for good results. When they encounter negative feedback from trial and error, they will not easily give up or run away. I am betting on those who already have a position in the industry. They either don't do it or do it well. They can't afford to lose face in the industry if they invest their reputation and run away after working for a few months.
As for how much money I will spend on buying NFT assets, it depends on the subsequent progress of the project. If it does well, I will continue to buy. If there is a big fund investment, I will definitely follow it.
As for how to know whether the background of the founding team members of the blockchain game project is strong, I think the best way is to check LinkedIn and get recommendations and endorsements from acquaintances. If the founder of a Chinese blockchain game team doesn’t even use LinkedIn, then I have to doubt the extent to which the project can be internationalized. If a blockchain game project only targets the Chinese player market, the upper limit will be very low.
There must be some powerful project teams hiding anonymously behind white spokespersons. But I’m sorry that I don’t dare to invest a penny. If the founder of a blockchain game project dares not show up in the media and in public, it must be half-hearted, maybe still doing other businesses part-time, or it has not yet obtained the identity of legal currency issuance. For such projects, you can wait for the team founder to appear in public and evaluate before buying assets.
Of course, even if the project team has a strong background, the blockchain game it creates may not be successful. Looking at the blockchain games invested by large funds, many projects with strong team backgrounds have not succeeded, but the first criterion can at least ensure that the project I invest money to buy assets will not easily return to zero.
2. What is the quality of the game products?
The quality of game products here mainly refers to the quality of game art (art quality), the stability of the game itself (the quality of web pages, clients, and servers), and the playability of the first version of the game (game design quality).
Compared with the popular blockchain games on the market, the quality of the game products needs to be roughly the same or higher, because this represents the investment level and product development strength of the project party. If the game is shoddy, and a game of 5 or 10 years ago is modified to make a blockchain game, the art style is outdated, there are many bugs, the system is unstable, and the UI design is very unfriendly, it can only mean that the cost of the project party's investment is very low, and it is very likely that the project party will give up after a trial for a while without any improvement, or run away after issuing a wave of assets.
I am a face control person. I have played Genshin Impact, Witcher, and watched my family play Fortnite, Rim World and other Web2 games. I am used to eating delicious food. If I am fed with very crude food, it will be very difficult to swallow. At first glance, the art level (precision, style and fashion) of the blockchain game is like the game 10 years ago. That is because the blockchain game project has not invested enough (except for the full-chain game, because the art quality of the full-chain game cannot be done very well at present).
3. Is the design of the blockchain game economic system cycle Web3-friendly?
As mentioned earlier, the economic system of blockchain games will be a gradual update process as game testing progresses and player behavior data is collected.
The economic system cycle of blockchain games mainly involves the following consumption and output allocation issues:
--Which players make payments in the game (whether investment payments or consumption payments)
--Which players profit from the game?
--How do players make money by playing games? What upfront investments are required to make money by playing games? In addition to upfront investments, what are the conditions for players to make money in each local gameplay design?
--Which players pay outside the game (investment payment)
--How do game assets circulate outside the game? This mainly involves the circulation of NFTs and tokens outside the game, and the logical design of players buying and selling assets.
--How can players profit outside of the game?
--How to introduce new players to the above camps? Whether it is Web2 games or Web3 games, to survive, they must face the core issue of new player User Acquisition. The difference is that most Web2 games are UA for consumer players, while Web3 games also need to target a large number of investment players and gold-making players.
Therefore, in the early stage of a blockchain game being launched to players, it is actually difficult to judge what the economic system of the game will look like in the end, and whether it can be successful (I personally think that a blockchain game can be considered successful if it can continue to operate activities for 2 years after TGE. After all, Genshin Impact has only been running for 3 years, and players have begun to lose players at a cliff). If the economic design of the first web3 test version of the blockchain game can self-consistently demonstrate the solutions to the above problems, then I think the economic system design of this blockchain game is sufficient for Web3, and subsequent updates are worth looking forward to.
4. Personal gaming preferences
This standard is very personal. For example, I don’t like to play shooting games, mainly because I am not good at it and die after a while. So even for a popular blockchain game like Matr1x, I didn’t stock up on its NFT last year. I spent 300 horseshoes to buy a pass and played it a few times. I died after playing it a few times, so I stopped playing after a few times. If you don’t participate in the game at all, you can’t keep up with the information of the blockchain game community.
Similarly, I don’t play football games or basketball games. If these types of games are made into blockchain games and I don’t participate, it’s not because they are not doing well, but because I don’t like playing this type of game. It’s difficult for me to participate heavily.
Finally, each player may have different reasons for playing blockchain games. I am a krypton gold player, and I have always spent a lot of money in Web2 games in the past. Now when playing blockchain games, I am also a krypton gold player and an investment player. When I invest more assets in a system, I will also hire a power leveler to help me earn gold. So I also hope to enjoy the fun of playing the game itself and the fun of participating in the co-building of the game. If there is a large investment to buy blockchain game assets, I must also hope to make money. Of course, if the game itself is fun, I can tolerate a small amount of losses, and I am relatively willing to invest when buying blockchain game assets. I even spend much more krypton gold in blockchain games than in Web2 games.
Finally, I want to share an important point: there are many Web2 krypton gold players like me. If the blockchain game can guide new players well and not drive away the Web2 players who love to try new things, these Web2 players can be transformed into consumer and investment players of blockchain games. I look forward to more interesting blockchain games in this industry!
