According to CoinDesk, Web3 role-playing adventure game Big Time is set to launch in early October after a year-long testing phase. The game, created by a team that includes the former CEO of Ethereum-based virtual world Decentraland and several former AAA game developers, aims to offer a free-to-play experience without the pay-to-win mechanics that have plagued other crypto-centric games. Big Time features a player-owned economy where gamers can craft, trade, or loot digital wearables and collectibles in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), driven by a native Big Time cryptocurrency, as they explore ancient civilizations and futuristic worlds.

Big Time founder Ari Meilich, who is also the former CEO of Decentraland, highlighted the strong community behind the game, with over 350,000 people on Discord and over a quarter million on X (formerly Twitter). The game has also generated over $8 million in direct sales, with a signup list of over a million people. Big Time's economic incentives were designed to avoid the play-to-earn issues faced by games like Axie Infinity, which has been criticized as a form of digital serfdom. Instead, the game's native $BIGTIME tokens are generated based on skill and strategic use of resources, creating a meritocratic in-game economy, according to Michael Migliero, Chief Marketing Officer at Big Time Studios. The full in-game economy, known as 'Preseason,' is set to begin in early October.