Proof of Play axes Pirate Nation: What's next?
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TLDR :
Pirate Nation goes under PoP lives
Project O launches on Immutable
Reaper Actual in PC Gamer
🗞️ NEWS
PIRATE NATION GOES UNDER POP LIVES
In a surprise announcement (or not?), Pirate Nation (PN) shared that it’s sunsetting the game along with the Apex and Boss chains in 30+ days. Hereby, Proof of Play is streamlining its ecosystem and turning “a laser focus on revenue streams”
The team shared that it didn’t make sense from a revenue perspective anymore, and the demand for the FOCG version of PN wasn’t sustainable
The best parts of the game will have a second life within the Proof of Play Arcade, like its core game loop: Rising Tides
So, was PN just a tech demo/proof of work in the end?
As part of the game winding down, PN will have a final burn event during which players can burn items, ships, and more in exchange for “Plunder Certificates”. These can be exchanged for PIRATE tokens in the future
For this burn event, the team implemented an in-game marketplace. This new system will help them test and grow a system that will turn into an ongoing revenue stream
From the AMA, we found out that PoP is developing a marketplace API that will be embeddable in any game, even non-crypto ones
Pirate Nation Founders NFT will also be deprecated, and holders will receive a final $PIRATE allocation in return. Naturally, after the PN announcement about winding down, the collection fell (from 0.29 ETH to 0.052 ETH now)
The allocation to the NFTs and mechanics remains TBD
To answer any questions from the community, the team held an AMA last night. Luckily, it was recorded by PirateMasterMurdoch. Here are some of the highlights:
PN costs $150,000 per month to operate (servers, blockchain, infra, etc.), while it generated $2M last year. The team might open-source the Unity Client for the community to continue to play
Shutting PN down will save the company around ~$1.5M a year
The team is shifting towards revenue-focused products, under a unified ecosystem aligned with the $PIRATE token (so, it becomes the only asset, for now)
Furthermore, it shares that the metrics (users, revenue) for a new POP token to launch soon aren’t strong enough yet
Everything resolves to $PIRATE as a single ecosystem token. If a POP token were to launch later this year, $PIRATE will merge into it, but they won’t coexist
Buybacks are on the table once the revenue scales
PoP is developing a new mobile game: Sheep: a Story Go, an auto-battle RPG rogue-lite (demo starts at 24:03). A game very similar to Franky Go!, which was heavily inspired by Capybara Go!
They will introduce a real-money marketplace to the game that will use stablecoins
They’re working on a DeFi integration, where future games will be offchain, but include a “thin layer” of DeFi, like marketplaces, and yield-generating stables
Lastly, I’d add that the community sentiment around this shutdown was very mixed. Many seemed very disappointed and/or angry, but we also saw a good number of people supporting the decision from a business perspective
Let’s hope PoP can find success in random numbers, its Arcade, marketplace APIs, and future titles
PROJECT O LAUNCHES ON IMMUTABLE
Yesterday, Immutable broke the news that Project O is launching on its chain
Last time we spoke to the team, they were exploring launching on Ronin as well. However, it seems Immutable’s purse reigns once again?
On a less sarcastic note, Immutable has been successful in the TCG space, think Gods Unchained. And, the Immutable Passport is an often-overlooked piece of tech from the company
In an interview we did today, Kevin Lambert told us they ultimately went for Immutable, because of the team itself
It does make me wonder what Immutable’s flagship TCG will be moving forward:
Might and Magic Fates TCG (the Ubisoft-IP game), God’s Unchained, or Project O? I’d bet Project O would win the vote from CT when it comes to these three
Regarding IP, Project O takes a unique approach and has utilized public IPs (e.g., Winnie the Pooh), which are customized to its game. However, whether this can make people care enough about the characters remains to be seen
Note: historically, TCG success is largely IP-driven
Through its game and future NFT collections, Project O aims to bring back the magic of trading and collecting
The title fuses the elements of a mass-market competitive game, a real collector economy, and true ownership
Project O uses shorter sessions (7-9 min) and is more hardcore than Marvel Snap, but more casual than Hearthstone, for instance
“We’re building a TCG that can rival the very best”. And the team is well-positioned to do so, considering the co-founder’s expertise in card games. Kevin Lamber designed Microsoft Solitaire, for instance
The game has also been praised by many for how fun it is
Regarding its emphasis on the collector’s experience, Project O will introduce various features, including:
Collector-exclusive tournaments
Limited print runs, master sets, and rare-graded cards
A gamified collecting experience with loot boxes
A couple of months back, the team also went on an AMA spree across various Discords to sell people on the vision of the game and get people interested in the Blueprints collection
This type of grassroots marketing, and generating buy-in from within communities, is pretty underutilized nowadays
In this presentation, they also mentioned a three-phase approach:
P1: game and token → P2: UGC tools and modes → P3: UGC chain and token
So, the plan was (or still is) for the game to become its own chain at some point. Maybe Immutable is just a stepping stone in this process
Overall, pretty excited for Project O’s launch (in 2026?), and very curious about their GTM strategy
I’m excited about the latter, because the team mentioned having pretty grandiose plans, and Project O joining Immutable, presumably, comes with a large marketing budget
REAPER ACTUAL IN PC GAMER
A couple of days ago, Reaper Actual (RA), the"$30M Tezos shooter," got featured in PC Gamer (PCG). However, the coverage of the game wasn’t that positive, so let’s dissect the interview and evaluate John Smedley’s answers
Note: Wesley and I (Memento) recently interviewed John for the WolvesDAO (going live soon), so we have some additional answers and context to draw from
In the PCG interview, John mentions that “NFT stuff is all optional” and will be removed from the Steam and Epic Games versions of the game
Blockchain trading will be “no different from the Steam Community Market”
In our interview, John mentioned that he wanted the blockchain integration to be done right, done ethically. Something that isn’t P2W, and doesn’t turn into P2E. But he likes the idea of an ecosystem that is larger than the game itself
Furthermore, he mentions that they see the use of a token to grow an ecosystem and to reward creators and players, emphasizing the creator (UGC) layer. In a way similar to MapleStory Universe’s approach
Adding that the token shouldn’t be a product in itself and shouldn't detract from the game
Then, John was asked in the PCG interview: “…why do Web3 at all”?
"I actually went out with no intention of Web3," Smedley said, "and I couldn't get funding to make this dream game that's been in my head for 10 years."
This reads as the crypto integration being an afterthought, and it not being designed with the possibilities of the blockchain in mind
It’s not a very clever comment from a PR standpoint, and is reminiscent of the previous cycle, in which many teams, solely raised based on acting pro crypto, but not embracing it
Inhuman commented on the matter and said, “explains why they integrated to one of the worst chains”
Considering the options in gaming blockchain that are available, he has a point
John says that “Reaper Actual's design hasn't been negatively influenced by Web3.” But doesn’t speak of how it can positively influence the game
And so, the PCG interview is pretty telling of how this team will approach the Web3 ethos of building crypto games
Other than that, we do get some more info on the game’s design and mechanics:
RA will be “the largest FPS city ever”, where bases might act as a warehouse, mansion, apartment, or something else
The largest bases will create 100 v 100 player fights, inspired by PlanetSide
Bases will be used for crafting, and there will be a deep (MMORPG) style economy, similar to Call of Duty: DMZ
I still like the idea of RA, and trust this team to deliver an enjoyable experience, considering their backgrounds (although we’ve learned that impressive backgrounds can be deceptive)
However, this interview does create some skepticism. Regardless of Web2 game media being overly sensitive about crypto games
FLASH NEWS
Ronin is receiving various offers from sequence/L2 providers
Overtake announced that it received $7M in strategic funding
Oh Baby Games doesn’t stop shipping and is working on 2 other titles
Uncharted is teasing that something new is coming: "Compiling new Protocol"
G7 is being paused to explore a new revenue-generating business
🆕ALPHA CORNER
Early Games: Don’t Die
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