No more Apple Tax: the missing link for mobile crypto games?
GC ALPHA 47
Disclaimer: None of this information should be taken as financial advice. DYOR + I will hold some of the assets that are spoken of in this newsletter.
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P2A & P2E EVENTS + SOCIALFI
The Pixels x Forgotten Runiverse event is starting today with 5M $PIXEL rewards
Dremica is hosting another playtest with a live leaderboard and prizes
Season 0 of Tollan Universe is here (provides benefits to S1)
Quests for QRusader are now live on Somnia (earn points)
War of Nova is launching this week on May 8 (pre-reg for rewards)
Pengu Clash is a new, fast-paced, and skill-based mobile multiplayer game
Twitch drops for the Treeverse are now live (earn free Booster NFTs)
The Duper Bowl kicked off yesterday, a 2-week tournament with $5K in prizes
Paradise Tycoon is prototyping a new game as an in-game event
RuneHero's CBT is now live ($10K prize pool)
MARKET TALK
APPLE TAX “GONE” = BULL CASE FOR CRYPTO GAMING?
On May 1st, the court ruled that Apple was in willful violation of anticompetitive conduct and pricing in the Epic Games case that began in 2020. The direct result of this was the ban on Apple’s 15 - 30% tax on web transactions…
Here’s what this change means for crypto games on mobile:
The bull case for mobile crypto games has always been around market size and monetization potential. However, it was also held back by the big guys (Apple and Google), having monopolies over mobile app stores, and generally having unfavorable policies towards crypto
In this system, crypto games often had to 1) choose an alternative platform, like PWAs, or 2) change their in-game monetization
Infinigods’ King of Destiny got away with it using abstraction, without violating the T&C
In the case of the App Store, developers were able to integrate buttons in their apps that led to webshops. But this behavior was heavily disincentivized by Apple’s “scare screens”
Furthermore, they still taxed the developers between 15-30% based on all transactions made in these stores
However, in this new system, the scare screens are removed, the tax is removed, and developers can even get creative using side-by-side pricing and more customized offers to entice users to buy in the webshop over “App Store IAPs” (i.e., direct webshop integrations)
Does this streamline the path from normies (the masses) to buy tokens and NFTs? Well, yes… but it’s not as simple:
Apps can now link to external websites for crypto payments, and wallet integrations can now enable NFT purchases
Apps can support NFT browsing and link out to external marketplaces for purchases
It's still unclear whether apps can gate content or features behind NFT ownership
Fiat-to-crypto onramps still require KYC, but using crypto in iOS apps is now easier once users have tokens. So, mostly bullish for crypto-native apps, with plans to port from web to mobile
So, it’s not a 100% unlock, but still a huge deal in terms of optimizing the process of fiat to crypto, and making users more aware of the tech
One step closer to the holy grail of mobile crypto games:
PIXELS INTRODUCES NEW STAKING MECHANICS
A couple of days ago, Pixels introduced the new staking mechanics it mentioned during the Apptokens announcement a few weeks back
Here’s what the new model looks like from a high level:
The new staking system aims to create a publishing flywheel that connects data insights, publishing strategies, and player incentives. A distribution platform that aims to solve the equation of return on reward spend (RORS)
When holders stake PIXEL, they decide which “game pool” (e.g., Forgotten Runiverse) they want to allocate their tokens to, translating to which games receive ecosystem resources (from the PIXEL distribution schedule)
Players’ in-game balance is automatically staked (if they meet the requirements), and holders can also use the onchain dashboard
Users can withdraw their earnings as PIXEL or vPIXEL:
Withdrawing PIXEL comes with a “farmer fee” (reputation score based on in-game time, achievements, etc.), which is a min of 5% and max of 49%
Farmer fees are all going back to the stakers
Withdrawing vPIXEL (the Apptoken) doesn’t have fees associated, however, the token is non-tradeable on CEX/DEX, and can only be used for in-game purchases across Core Pixels and partner titles + re-staking
vPIXEL is backed 1:1 by the PIXEL token
Pixels is slowly rolling out this system and started with a few hand-picked games (Forgotten Runiverse and Pixel Dungeons). Over time, this system will become more open and will start accepting all new games that meet the minimum threshold.
Plus, in the future, when they solve the RORS equation, they will start supporting other tokens like USDC
Curious to see how this system will be received by the community, its impact on stabilizing the economy, and its role as one of the first integrations of Apptokens
ON THE RISE
Gigaverse introduced Giga Juice (Abstract Badge + drinkers got an AIMI airdrop)
Moonfrost introduced Frost Tools: "…unique tools that grant you [redacted]”