Everything you need to know about Cambria S3
GAMING CHRONICLES 147
Gaming Chronicles focuses on curating the latest crypto gaming news every week.
You will find the latest news, educational content, and game reviews.
TLDR :
Xociety raises $1.6M
Camrbia S3 docs
Spectarium partners with Mythical Games
🗞️ NEWS
XOCIETY RAISES $1.6M
Last week, Xociety announced it raised $1.6M in a strategic round led by Neoclassic Capital, and joined by Winguard. The raise was announced ahead of the release of the game’s early access version (starting Nov 29th)
During Xociety’s Pre-Series A, announced in June 2024, it raised $7.5M in a round led by Hashed and Sui. Back then, with the involvement of Sui, Xociety solidified itself as one of the flagship games on the network
Other than Xociety, EVE Frontier is one of the few notable titles on the chain. We covered the game’s migration to Sui in GC News 140. This was a largely tech-driven decision
In July this year, the team released the XO token (more on this later). The game has been available since then in shorter windows through “Phase Zero” and a pre-season. It seems the early access version of the game will be the first time it will be more live for a longer period of time
This week, the team released an article called “Xociety Deflation Strategy”, outlining how: “All revenue generated after the official launch is distributed according to the deflationary structure to ensure the healthy circulation of the $XO token”
Xociety foresees that the two main revenue drivers, 1) entry ticket revenue and 2) item sales revenue, will lead to the most deflationary pressure on XO. Part of these revenues will be allocated to burns, buybacks, and treasury growth
In August, it generated 521,590 in $XO revenue from battle pass sales, which of 10% will be burned, equal to around ~$250. I assume they will generate more revenue during early access, but it’s very minimal
On this topic, I want to plug two articles from Nick Metzler:
"Value Accrual” - On what (token) value accrual actually is
“Burn Notice” - On what token burns really are and achieve
It’s been an interesting development to see how buybacks have become such a leading narrative this cycle (solidified by Hyperliquid). However, Rollbit proved that “blind buybacks” alone ≠ price go up
Lastly, before moving on with this topic, Frank (DeGods) released a handy buyback tracker this week
The XO token was released in late June and opened at a modest ~$2.5M market cap (mc). Remarkably, despite its price being down 33% since launch, XO’s mc is up 28%. Simply, due to an additional 3.82% tokens being unlocked since launch
For its launch, XO secured T2 listings, with the most notable one being Bybit
2 weeks post-launch, volume largely tapered off, and has only seen days of about $100 - $300K in 24h trading volume since (even though that’s not too bad for a gaming token lol)
Outside of its token, Xociety released a 2,600-supply NFT collection in partnership with Adidas back in May. The collection minted for 39 SUI and is now trading at a 6.9 SUI floor price. We talked more about it in GC News 118
Xociety is one of the better crypto games out there, and its PvE/PvP BR-type of gameplay is pretty unique. However, I’m worried about the game’s positioning, because it’s not super appealing to CT natives, and neither can it compete with a Fortnite
CAMBRIA S3 DOCS
Just yesterday, Cambria released the docs for the long-awaited S3 of Gold Rush. A season with interesting new features and mechanics for both players and sponsors. So, let’s get into the highlights (Raiden also released a video):
Ruined Dungeons:
A new type of Dungeon that spawns randomly and exists until completed or claimed by players. The Region Tier sets its difficulty. Only 1 other player (then yourself) can enter, and it contains high-reward enemies, traps, chests, etc.
In the Final Chamber, players will encounter a mini-boss. Players will need to defeat it to leave (or die and respawn)
One other player can enter the Dungeon to invade you
Marks:
Tradeable buffs that are dropped from Ruined Dungeon chests. When attuned (in a safe zone), players gain a buff. Up to three Marks can be equipped at once, and once unattuned, the Marks become tradeable items again
Marks have 4 categories: PvM, PvP, Hybrid, or Utility
There are 30 different Marks, meaning there are over 24,000 possible combinations. This creates a lot of strategic depth, and players will have to experiment to find what fits their build
Guilds that manage to take control over the Ruined Dungeons and control the Mark supply will likely do well (of course, this doesn’t seem easy)
Boosts
Expedition-boosting buffs, which are random consumables that will drop while you’re playing (different game modes). They only last for a player’s current run, until they die or enter a safe zone
Boosts can be stacked upon each other. It’s not mentioned whether they’re tradeable. But if they were, there would be some mechanics that Guilds could abuse to create super soldiers
Heat & Blobs:
S3 introduces a new heat index, a dynamic indicator that describes how solo-friendly or group-contested a location is. The feature is being used to balance the competition between solo players and guilds
The heat index affects the world in terms of roaming threats, loot drops, stress, reward density, and focus fire (multiplayer targeting)
Blobs: A red blob will only show up on the map when 6 players are in proximity. So, I wonder if some Guilds will decide to roam in multiples of smaller groups to catch their opponents by surprise
In OSRS, “zergs” (large groups of players) are often hated due to the imbalances in PvP, their taking control of certain resources, and hunting down solo players. They often only succeed because of their numbers, not skill
XP Multipliers from Energy:
Players can receive an XP bonus based on the amount of Energy they have in their Energy balance from consuming Orbs. The more Energy, the bigger the XP boost (only applicable to combat skills)
Also, only applied to players with a Charter T3
This new system removes the previous energy cap of 160K, as players can now store up to a maximum of 100M energy to get a 12.0x multiplier
For context, Energy Orbs cost 0.0012E each and restore 100,000 Energy. With 5M as the (new) baseline, you need to buy 1.14 ETH worth of Orbs to get to 100M Energy (without Energy regen from Charters)
One concern could be how P2W that mechanic seems. From a Founder/Sponsor perspective, I’d also wonder if there’s an ROI here, unless you’re backing the best players from the best guild
Charter Tiers:
Charters have 4 different tiers now (1-4), and each has its own perks. Only T1 Charters can be used to deposit in the Syndicate Vault (to get a cut of the rewards) or to sponsor Guild Members
So, players will have to upgrade from T1 up to T4 themselves (or strike separate deals with their backers). Most interesting is the 2x airdrop MP at T2 and XP MP (based on energy) at T3
In Season 2, which lasted a little over 2 weeks, players spent a total of $1.3M on Charters and Energy Orbs. Will these new mechanics lead to more spending?
Overall, it’s a pretty exciting update, which will likely shake up the meta, change player behaviors, strategies, etc.
SPECTARIUM x MYTHICAL GAMES
Spectarium (ST) announced an official partnership with Mythical Games for its new ARPG, MYTHS. This will be the first external (outside of Mythical) title on the Mythical Marketplace
“Our platform is built to scale player-owned economies without sacrificing the quality of the gameplay experience.” ~ John Linden, CEO Mythical Games
Outside of expanding, Mythical’s marketplace overhaul should be rolling out soon. We talked about it in GC News 145
MYTHS isn’t a game we have talked about before in this newsletter, nor has it made much of a splash in terms of marketing. However, that is likely going to change as it announced its soft launch in 2026
Before Token2049, I wasn’t familiar with the game. In Singapore, I briefly met the CEO of Spectarium during an event and played MYTHS. What stood out to me was the quality of the characters and the environments, the polish, and it was pretty enjoyable, too
Spectarium was founded in 2019, and so MYTHS (or earlier versions of the game) has been in development for the past six years. However, the concept started even earlier:
“Eight years ago, the Spectarium core team came together with a shared mission: to create a game envisioned by our community.” This was from September 2023
MYTHS is a cross-platform (but mobile-first) dungeon-crawler ARPG with a theme of ancient mythology. It’s meant to be played co-op (up to 4 players), and has boss battles, treasure-hunting, and will support in-game items (as NFTs)
A unique mechanic in the game is that characters, equipment, and portals absorb the properties of defeated bosses. Plus, players who’re the first to defeat a legendary boss can make them available to the whole community
Another one is how “the Spectarium game engine intuitively aligns gameplay experiences and thematic elements with the specific preferences of players…”
Going off how NFTs look in Mythical’s titles, I’d expect a similar approach here, that largely centers around P2P-trading (i.e., nothing too fancy)
Other than MYTHS, the studio is developing Mintarium. “A platform reimagining interactive tradable card collections”, connected to the same world as MYTHS
In September 2023, Spectarium announced a $5M Seed Round led by BITKRAFT, with participation from Delphi Digital and Framework Ventures. I’m aware that Delphi is advising the company as well (it also is advising Myhical Games)
According to their LinkedIn, the company has 43 employees. Roughly estimating their burn rate, I suspect they’d have to raise again fairly soon
Overall, I’d say it’s one of the more quality titles in crypto gaming that gamers can look forward to. Also, curious how their Web3 ecosystem will fit together with MYTHS, Mitarium, and the Mythical Marketplace
FLASH NEWS
Ronin introduced the Guild Rush Program ($25K in backing for guilds)
Sappy Seals introduces Mint Hub: a fair launch NFT mint platform
🆕ALPHA CORNER
Early Games: None for this week.
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