Games to earn mechanics ‘kill’ blockchain games – so what’s the answer?

The rise of games to earn has left many blockchain games on the scrap heap because they relied on unrealistic tokenomics.

Here, Angelic’s founder and CEO Erkan Bayol explains why, despite all this, NFTs have great potential in the gaming world – as long as they are added in the right way.

1. What are AAA games – and how can NFTs make them better?

AAA games are the pinnacle of the entertainment industry – bringing art, technology and literacy together. They’re the gaming equivalent of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters – and even better, they’re interactive.

NFTs and blockchain technology further enhance this, converting players into collaborators. Now you can contribute to your favorite universe, design characters and maybe become a celebrity. You can have a say in the management of games you’re passionate about and share unforgettable experiences with friends based in a world partially designed and owned by you.

That’s what excited us from the beginning – and that’s why we always considered play-to-earn a very short-term vision. Thanks to NFTs and blockchain, we can now design, create, govern, exploit and enjoy universes collaboratively.

2. You think non-fungible tokens can be unlimited. How does it work?

Angelic strives to create a balance between two key components.

The first is to have a low barrier to entry, and ensure that the game is free to play. Players can get free heroes by registering on our website.

Crucially, we do not have a play-to-earn model. The most expensive NFT will not necessarily be the best in the game.

Our NFTs are designed with a level up and cap system that suits different types of players and investors. We want as many players to experience the joy of Angelic and all its many aspects, including the NFTs, without putting a value on what matters more to us: our community enjoying and loving our game as much as we do.

3. Why is it so important to avoid play-to-earn and pay-to-win mechanics?

We are a game first. If blockchain, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies disappeared tomorrow, we’d still be an amazing science fiction game set in a cooperative universe.

This mentality means we are focused on long-term sustainability and playability. Play to earn mechanics may work in the short term, but they always kill the title in the long run. In our opinion, play-to-earn is effectively a bribery mechanism that quality games wouldn’t even need in the first place to convince people to play.

4. Tell us how Angelic does things differently.

Angelic wants people to play for fun. We’re a for-profit co-op, and the multiplayer team is completely free.

Our players will not only enjoy our universe, they will contribute to it in many ways. They can design characters, help us govern, compete as professional players, team up with others to dominate sectors and run various economic and military activities, or simply enjoy the narrative. Everything is up to them.

We don’t want all of our players to be motivated by what they can earn – we want them to be passionate about the game and proud to be part of this universe.

5. What do you say to critics who claim that games like this can be done without blockchain – and NFTs just add a layer of monetization?

I agree that games can be developed without blockchain – they have been since the beginning.

What the critics missed is the point that we could even make games without 3D graphics.

Especially when developing a AAA title, you usually prefer to use advanced rendering technologies – not because you have to, but because you should improve the game on various fronts.

Blockchain is also an enabler. It is an evolution, not a revolution. Critics were mostly right because we’ve mostly seen weak implementation of this technology in AAA games so far. We can still merge traditional AAA with the blockchain to unleash even more exciting combinations.

How about building a collaborative intellectual property – to contribute, own, manage and enjoy together, based on a transparent infrastructure and a trustless system of distributed ownership and democratic governance? How would this be possible without blockchains, tokens and NFTs?

6. Some metaverses have struggled with technical issues – even Meta suffers from bugs. How do you handle this on your platform?

We are good at distributing the technical risk. We have used agile methods and have an iterative development approach.

This approach enables us to deploy playable builds fairly frequently, which automatically addresses many risks and optimization issues, while also allowing us to gather feedback.

We had a playable demo that offered three hours of gameplay back in early 2021. Deploying builds is a great way to spot issues early – and I can confidently say that we’re masters of that approach. At some point we will also make our builds public to further integrate our community even during the development stages.

7. Who are the types of players who will enjoy what Angelic has to offer?

RPG and strategy fans will love our core gameplay. The dark tone makes the game more appealing to people who like things like Game Of Thrones or the Witcher series. Even if you’re not into the campaign, you’ll still feel the influence of the setting on the multiplayer universe.

We are also keen to welcome more casual players and you don’t need to be a hardcore fan to enjoy the game. Our universe is vast and deep, and there is a place for everyone.

8. You’ve made some pretty impressive partnerships. Tell us about some of them.

We are proud of our supporters and partners. They have believed in our long-term vision, which was quite unorthodox, especially 10 to 12 months ago.

Our lead investors – Pantera Capital, Animoca Brands and Everyrealm – are all recognized and recognized partners.

We have Solana Ventures, Morningstar, Shima Capital, Mechanism, Fundamental Labs, GSR, Signum Capital, UOB, Double Peak, IBA and Dweb3 and amazing guild partners like Ancient 8, Unix, PIF, GGG, PathDao and Rainmaker.

Angelic also enjoys solid backing from many CEX VCs such as OKX Blockdream Ventures, Huobi Ventures and Gate.io Labs.

There are more than 65 partners and supporters and it is impossible to list them all here.

9. What are your plans for the next 12 months?

Soon we will be releasing gameplay footage – especially from the new battle module. We will continue free NFT poster promotions, which are a great way to earn some epic hero NFTs.

In January, we will launch our very first NFT sales campaign to the public, and also release a playable version for influencers.

In February, we will launch both tokens and a publicly playable build of the first iteration of Angelic, which will be a player vs player game module where you can use your NFT heroes and begin your journey in our universe. Then we will continue to add new modules, features, heroes and content along the way.

All these dates are based on our honest estimates and projections and we do our best not to delay launch dates and milestones.

We encourage people to join our community, especially our Discord servers, to both track and contribute to roadmaps and release plans.