Promising Web3 games that are succeeding quietly...
GC ALPHA 08
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) EVENTS & SOCIALFI
THE MACHINES ARENA
The Ronin-based top-down hero shooter The Machines Arena is releasing its P2A campaign tomorrow:
During the event (lasting 8 weeks), players will earn points through in-game and out-of-game activities. The points determine your rank on the leaderboard and influence the amount of tokens you will gain during TGE
To join this leaderboard you need to buy a VIP pass at least once and play a minimum of 20 matches, and the top 6000 players will receive a token allocation
The article mentions prioritizing time-limited activities that offer high points makes it easier to maintain a high rank
Players earn points through playing matches, completing quests, leveling up, holding NFTs, joining VIP, and through a sponsor system
Sponsor Codes will double the points earned from sponsors and sponsored players
Additionally, there will be a team leaderboard, which grants a 5% token bonus to teams that land in the top 30
EARTH FROM ANOTHER SUN BOUNTIES
Earth From Another Sun (EFAS) is an open-world exploration looter-shooter on Solana, which I haven’t heard much about yet. However, it does look like one of the more promising Web3 games from the surface
Recently they released Bounties, which is an event that rewards SOL, WLs, NFTs, and resources
To participate you need to join The Kepler Citizenship Program, have access to the game (through NFTs, being an early backer, or activation code through social events), and reach level 5 in-game
Every day after completing in-game challenges, you will be able to claim rewards (Elite Bounty Crates only for Passport holders)
Furthermore, there are daily check-ins, which grant you Shards that can be crafted into Bounty Crates
Do note that the Bounty Crates will only be openable at a later date
MAYG LAUNCH BETA
MAYG started its official “launch beta” on July 25, which will last till October 31st. The most surprising about this campaign was that: “40% of the $MAYG supply will be dropped to players at TGE”
I assume there will be some type of vesting with this airdrop, but it would also be bold to have a 40%+ circulating supply at TGE
To become eligible for the MAYG airdrop you need a Sygne Princess NFT
You can apply for the Play to Own Apprentice Program to receive this NFT. Do note that the available spots are minimal and there are regional + gameplay requirements
Secondly, you can play the game during the official playtime schedule for a chance to win such an NFT while playing the game
Lastly, you can buy Synge NFTs on the open market
FLASH EVENTS
Unioverse is kicking off its Hoverdrome event today with a $15K USDC prize pool
Supervillain Wanted is opening up tomorrow and is holding its Capsule Mint today
Kaidro is hosting another P2A playtest from July 30 to August 2
Wanderers is releasing an Open Beta tomorrow with P2A
Aria released 3 Telegram games and launched quests in collaboration with G7
MARKET TALK
ZERO CT PRESENCE = BULLISH?
The other week I read another post from Ghost, which said: “Some of the most BULLISH gaming projects have absolutely ZERO CT presence”
I.e. these projects haven’t started (Web3) marketing yet, but are focusing on building their product first
Considering in Web3 attention = liquidity, identifying “sleeper” projects seems like the play to get cheap entries
So, how do you find something with high potential and a low presence?
Firstly, it would be convenient to have a list of all the projects that are out there, right?
The Big Blockchain Game List (credit to Jon Jordan) is an Excel file, which includes over 1000 Web3 gaming projects
Secondly, you need to identify which projects have potential:
Sparkc built a good “investment framework” around this concept, which comes down to funding, expertise, expectations, game potential, and playing the Web3 game (and having the balls to do so)
A few examples would include: Soulbound, Bornless, and Koin Games
The presence of all of these projects isn’t necessarily zero, but still small in comparison to others. Plus I encourage you to DYOR
KEY EVENTS OF THIS WEEK
Besides the P2A events that are launching this week, there are also a couple of mints and a token event worth talking about:
RoboKiden (RK) Mint:
RK is launching a free 999-supply Misfits NFT collection tomorrow. The NFT’s utility includes access to earning KIDEN tokens from D1 and access to GAs and products from Elixir Games
The mint is heavily pushed by OpenSea and RK is one of the better and more polished Web3 games.
One concern I do have with this mint is that I heard there was barely any matchmaking liquidity (meaning very few players). Telling me there is not much of a community. So, I am not expecting too much from this mint
Revived is launching a free 600-supply NFT collection on Wednesday on Magic Eden.
For context: they are building a UGC platform and developed Strifest using their game engine, a team-based arena sandbox shooter with building
I couldn’t find much about the utility, but I assume it will have something to do with monetizing your creations. Given their current traction, I don’t expect too much from this mint
GOAT Gaming is releasing its 3333 Genesis GOATs for holders tomorrow and WL on Wednesday
Out of the 3333 NFTs, between 2000 - 2300 will be distributed to prior Mighty Bear holders, and 1000 pieces will be mintable for 0.05 ETH a piece
Given their current position in the market and credentials, I assume that GOAT will perform the best out of these three mints for this week
CatizenAI pre-market trading
Pre-market trading for CatizenAI’s CATI is going live this Wednesday. So, what can we expect?
For comparison, Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR is trading at a $2.7B FDV right now in the pre-market (way overvalued IMO)
Additionally, for comps, Pixelverse’s launch was disappointing, which went against my expectations
I do believe Catizen has a few benefits over other tapping games:
They made $13M+ in revenue in a couple of months, meaning they have users with some type of spending power
Binance Labs just invested in their studio, Pluto Vision Labs. Does this mean they will get a Binance listing?
I am not 100% sure if they will launch another clicker game (besides NOT)
Catizen seems like one of the smarter teams with a platform strategy. If they execute their plans to build a publisher ecosystem of Telegram games, CATI might start accruing value from multiple games
Lastly, one of the key elements to its success is the airdrop to the farmers. The expectations for farmers seem rather skewed from Notcoin’s success
ON THE RISE
DESPERADO B218 seems to be gearing up for its token launch (Alpha from 1mpal)
Wizzwoods seems one of the more promising Telegram games (also building on Berachain)
Fried Chicken Labs is an upcoming studio powered by SNACK builds
TON station is the one-stop shop for all Web3 Telegram games (by Sidus)