Cardano NFT: Phoenix Arena – The Cryptonomist

This week’s guest on Cardano NFT column is a project that develops a P2E RPG-like autobattler game that cooperates with other NFT projects: Phoenix Arena.

Last week’s guest was a project that reproduces the DeFi model with NFT and allows many Cardano NFT collections to stake to earn HEXO tokens.

This initiative is a reference point for NFTs on Cardano and every week or so we will invite someone to answer some questions and give us an update directly from the Cardano community.

Considering that many of our readers are new to the crypto space, we want one mix of simple and technical questions.

Cardano NFT Project: Phoenix Arena

Hi, glad to have you here. Introduce your team, where are you from, what is your background?

My name is Oliver and I am one of them the founders of Phoenix Arena NFT.

I am based in Glasgow, Scotland. I graduated from law school but found no interest in it. Since then I have worked in management, sales and engineering.

I have been involved in cryptocurrencies and ADA since early 2019. All the skills from my previous work experiences have come in handy when it comes to the Phoenix Arena.

What is Phoenix Arena and why have you chosen the Cardano blockchain for your project?

Phoenix Arena is a Cardano NFT project developing a P2E RPG-like autobattler gameplay. The core game revolves around players choose their squad for battle from the character NFTs they ownchoose items, skills and attack sequences, and fight against other players.

The metagame revolves around acquiring and developing skills and equipment, and developing new hero/team builds to climb the leaderboard. Phoenix Arena has sold 3 NFT sets: Max, Diverand recently the set rang Fluffy.

The NFTs passively reward users with the project’s in-game currency WARI and other assets. The NFTs will also provide owners with one in-game identity and items for their inventory.

We are attracted to Cardano for that scientific and technical rigor to deliver a decentralized, secure and scalable blockchain. We believe Cardano will have a profoundly positive impact on how humanity organizes itself. We hope to be a part of the development of this wonderful platform through our modest contribution.

How would you explain the potential of NFTs in gaming to the most skeptical players who think NFTs and P2E/P&E (Play to Earn/Play & Earn) are essentially the same as P2W (Pay to Win) mechanics?

As a gamer, one of the things that frustrates me the most is that you can paint for a whole year e.g FIFA23 build up your squad and then you have to start from 0 again when the next game edition is released. There is no ROI apart from the entertainment.

Not just is NFT is surely the future of gaming but they will allow millions more players interact with and compete with online players while earning tokens in a virtual world.

You can now earn while playing and own, collect and even sell your in-game items. P2E can even be a boon to your budget when you play as a side mob.

You collaborate with several other NFT projects, including Cardania and Cardano Lands, can you tell us more about this? Why are these cross-project collaborations important? Is cooperation better than competition?

Phoenix Arena has one collaborative format where their NFT characters have items crafted in the spirit of the project they are collaborating with. The previous Diver NFT had a collaboration with Cardania where Diver has a set of Cardania-themed articles and Cardania-themed divers also receive the Cardania RADToken as passive rewards. The last Fluffy NFT drop has theme articles in collaboration with Cardania, Melting Moonboys, and Derp birds.

The token partnerships create a bridge between the various projects and is somewhat unique in the CNFT area. With 1 NFT you can earn up to 6 different tokensand introduces you to potentially 6 different communities.

I am convinced that it is wiser to work together instead of against each other. For example, if a project wants to build a marketplace and the initial investment is 50K, wouldn’t it make more sense for 5 projects to does everyone invest 10k each to build software that can be used by all 5?

Thank you very much for your time. Any closing thoughts? Where can people learn more about Phoenix Arena?

We’re building one P2E games that appeal to both casual and competitive hardcore players. PA collaboration system has the potential to bring the whole room together and fight in the Phoenix Arena. We’re not just building a game, we’re building a brand.

You can learn more via our Twitter.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the people interviewed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or the IOG. Also, this content is for educational purposes, it does not constitute financial advice.