In this era where "no one knows how many clouds there are in the sky", Catizen has rushed into the Web3 game arena like a bullet, and has become an indispensable star in this field.
As a super casual cat-raising game based on the Telegram ecosystem, Catizen has captured the hearts of players with its simple but addictive gameplay and the impressive slogan "Play for Airdrop". Since its public beta in March 2024, this seemingly ordinary game has attracted more than 1 million players in just one week, instantly becoming a phenomenal product on the Telegram platform.
But this trend is not a flash in the pan. As of press time, Catizen's daily active users have soared to 7 million, with more than 2.76 million on-chain users and more than 36.58 million on-chain transactions. At the same time, the number of Twitter followers has reached 2.79 million, and the number of subscribers to the Telegram channel has reached 8 million. The momentum is so fierce that many Web3 projects are daunted.
In the past few months, Catizen has completed three rounds of financing, with the latest round led by Binance Labs. All of this not only allows Catizen to gain a firm foothold in the Web3 ecosystem, but also paves the way for the upcoming exchange launch.
On September 20, Catizen will officially land on OKX, Bybit, Gate, Bitget and other well-known exchanges, and Catizen's token CATI will also usher in a broader market.
The gameplay of this ultra-casual game seems simple on the surface, but it has hidden mysteries. Players will become cat cafe owners and can manage up to 12 cats at the same time. Every two cats of the same level can be synthesized into a higher-level cat, and cats can also produce tokens. As the cat's level increases, the token output rate will gradually increase. Players can use these tokens to buy higher-level cats in the store, thereby speeding up the game progress. Catizen also cleverly integrates the social fission mechanism into the game. Players get rewards by inviting new users, and the fission method brings greater user growth and activity to the game. This reminds people of "Cute Dog Transformation" in the WeChat mini-game ecosystem in 2018. While inheriting the classics, Catizen has added blockchain elements and airdrop surprises to play new tricks.
It is such a seemingly simple cat-raising game, but Catizen performs well in various fields - product development on the TG side, community operation, and traffic monetization.
Is Catizen "standing still and making money" in the Web3 game track?
What surprises can the launch of CATI tokens bring to everyone?
Today, we are honored to invite Geezee, consultant of Catizen and game director of Mantle ecosystem, to reveal the story behind this game. The following is the full conversation:
Team and project development: Diversified background, precise strategic financing
MarsBit: I am very happy to have the opportunity to communicate with you in depth. First of all, could you please introduce your background? Including your educational experience and your experience in the field of Web3 and entrepreneurship, how have these experiences shaped your unique perspective on Web3?
Geezee: I come from the gaming industry and have led the release teams of multiple games, such as League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, TapTap, Ragnarok, Game of Thrones, and Transformers 3. Web3 technology is a new field that I am very interested in, and I believe it has the potential to completely change the development and gameplay of games. I want to be at the forefront of the gaming industry, so I formed my own team and released some Web3 games. At the same time, I also share my experience and support the development of multiple projects such as Catizen, Metacene, and Party Icons.
MarsBit Finance: There is a Chinese saying that goes, "One hero needs three helpers." Any successful project is inseparable from an excellent team. How did Catizen build its own team? What is the background of the founding team? Are there any interesting stories during the formation process?
Geezee: Catizen’s team mainly comes from three backgrounds:
Pinduoduo - successfully attracted hundreds of millions of users to participate in e-commerce activities through social marketing strategies. This experience laid the foundation for our user introduction in the Web3 field.
WeChat Mini Games - Since 2017, our team has successfully released a number of WeChat Mini Games and accumulated rich experience in social operations, which are particularly suitable for application in Telegram Mini Games.
Casual Games - I have personally worked on the launch of casual games such as Crossy Road and Ski Safari, which have accumulated over 300 million downloads, and this experience has been crucial in driving the success of Catizen.
MarsBit Finance: I noticed that Catizen's revenue has been growing since its launch, and its total revenue has exceeded 23 million US dollars. In this case, why did the team accept investment from various institutions? Can you share the financing process of Catizen? Especially the background of the recent strategic investment from Binance Labs?
Geezee: Actually, our revenue is close to $30 million. We plan to use the funds to further develop Catizen and grow the community, with the goal of building Catizen and Cati tokens into multi-billion-dollar brands. One of our first investors was Mantle, and their support made us realize the importance of having strategic investors. In the latest round of financing, we rejected investments from more than 20 funds and only accepted investors with strategic cooperation potential. As for Binance Labs' investment, the details cannot be disclosed due to the signing of a confidentiality agreement, but we value their support very much.
Web3 Ecosystem and Strategic Cooperation: Deeply Binding Mantle and TON Ecosystem
MarsBit Finance: The cooperation between Mantle and Catizen has attracted much attention. Can you share why developers should choose Mantle? As a Layer 2 solution, how does Mantle empower the development of games?
Geezee: My consulting work includes all-round support from token economic model design, fundraising, market strategy to user growth, listing and team structure. After joining Mantle, I have gained more resources and can better support game development teams. Mantle's game strategy is different from most other ecosystems. We are extremely picky about the games we support. Once a team is selected, we will provide full support to ensure their success. Our team's goal is to work with seven teams to make each team's game a representative work. At present, Catizen and Metacene have been launched. According to the current progress, I am confident that this goal can be achieved.
MarsBit Finance: As the person in charge of games in the Mantle ecosystem, what do you think of the game ecosystem on TON? Do you think clicker games are the ultimate direction of TON? Do MOBA, FPS, RTS and other types of games have prospects in Web3? What are the game directions worth paying attention to in the future?
Geezee: TON chain has huge potential, which is why we facilitated the cooperation between Catizen and TON. Click and hyper-casual games are just the beginning, and their simple onboarding process is very suitable for attracting Telegram's 900 million users to mini-games. Just like WeChat mini-games have gradually developed since 2017, as the market matures, the gameplay will become more and more in-depth. As for the game direction I am particularly optimistic about, you can pay attention to the Catizen Game Center, which showcases the games we choose to support.
Web3 game development and challenges: Deepen game development and innovate token economy design
MarsBit Finance: You have extensive experience in investing in and participating in WeChat and Facebook games. Can you share how these experiences have impacted you in developing Web3 games? What special insights or challenges have these experiences brought? Are there any particularly meaningful discoveries?
Geezee: Our experience in publishing HTML5 games has really helped us in our development in Web3 games. We borrowed strategies from successful HTML5 games and adjusted some outdated methods to make them more suitable for the Web3 environment. One of the biggest challenges was to design a reasonable token economic model to ensure the value of the token while also incentivizing core users. This process took many attempts and failures until we found the best solution for now. The turning point was when we got the support of the Mantle ecosystem, not only did we get help from TON and Telegram, but we also learned a lot from their help.
As the head of the Catizen project, I have the privilege to witness how we are unique in the Web3 gaming space. In the wave of the bull market, we saw the potential of gaming projects on Telegram, but we took a different approach. We are not just pursuing short-term gains, but building a long-term, sustainable ecosystem.
Our game center product is currently in the beta testing phase, and although there are still some bugs to be fixed, we are working hard to optimize operations. In addition, we have a professional game review team who are responsible for the initial screening of games to ensure that only those low-risk and interesting games can enter the players' field of vision. Currently, there are more than 3,000 games waiting for review, and our goal is to ensure that the games recommended to users are worth playing.
MarsBit Finance: CATI tokens will be listed on exchanges on September 20. According to the token economics disclosure, 43% of the tokens will be used for user airdrops. Can you share the strategy behind this design? How do users use these airdropped tokens? What are your expectations for the market performance of the tokens?
Geezee：
I am very proud to announce that our token $CATI will be listed on exchanges on September 20th, which is a major milestone for our project. Our token economics model is carefully designed to provide long-term value to players and investors. The core concept is to ensure that the number of tokens in circulation is balanced with the governance rights of holders. $CATI is Catizen's governance and utility token, issued based on Mantle and TON chain. It has multiple uses in the ecosystem. Users who hold $CATI tokens will have the right to decide which games they want to support in Launchpool. Users can use $CATI tokens to vote for the next game they want to play. For example, purchasing applications in the Catizen Game Center, as well as community governance. The token will also play a key role in the launch pool, game center, and open tasks. Users can participate in Launchpool and earn income by staking tokens.
In the bull market, Catizen's community users showed great enthusiasm and participation. They not only actively participated in the game, but also took the initiative to help maintain the valuation and reputation of the project. This FOMO sentiment has driven the rapid development of our project. However, we are also clearly aware of the volatility of market sentiment. In the bear market, we adopted a long-term investment strategy, focusing on the long-term development of the game and ecological construction. In order to support the continued development of Catizen, we plan to invest tens of millions of US dollars. This fund will be used to ensure liquidity, maintain the market value of Catizen, and develop our ecosystem.
MarsBit: You mentioned that you plan to build a multi-layered ecosystem, but many GameFi projects often fall into unsustainable business models. How does Catizen ensure the sustainability and long-term success of the game life cycle? What are the biggest challenges?
Geezee: The core of any game is that as a commercial product, it must have a sustainable source of income. Many failed projects try to make a profit by selling tokens and NFTs, but this is more like debt than income. Catizen earns income by creating real value, which is different from other projects.
Our goal is to build a gaming hub where players can discover and support the games they love. By staking Catizen tokens, players will have the opportunity to earn tokens for other games, whitelist eligibility, and more.
Catizen's vision is to become a bridge from Web2 to Web3. We hope to attract more traditional users to join the Web3 world. Our user base is the key to Catizen's success. Compared with other projects, our user profile and quality are very high, with an average payment price of $27 and more than one million paying users. Among our 3 million on-chain users, high-quality users account for the vast majority. This gathering of high-quality users provides a solid foundation for Catizen's token market value.
It is worth noting that Catizen received particularly favorable conditions when it was listed on the exchange, which is in stark contrast to the requirements of other projects that need to pay fees and stake tokens. This treatment not only proves the value of Catizen users, but also shows the importance that the exchange attaches to this group of users. In the history of Web3 games, I think no other game is so powerful except Axie.
We create value for players by providing fun and engaging gaming experiences; we introduce millions of users to wallets and exchanges through partnerships with platforms such as OKX, Bybit, Binance, Bitget, etc.; we help build Mantle and TON chains and introduce millions of users to these two ecosystems, further promoting their development. By creating real value, we have a more sustainable business model than our predecessors, and Catizen will become an important bridge connecting traditional games and the Web3 world, bringing unprecedented value and experience to investors and players.
