Next-generation web3 games are coming. Iskra shares its game sourcing strategy to find and support the most promising titles and companies.
In 2018, a small, independent game developer Sky Mavis made P2E (Play to Earn) history by creating a little known game called Axie Infinity. At its peak, the game defined the genre by reaching 1.8 million daily active users, and claiming $1.3B in revenue. Early P2E games such as Axie were able to penetrate into the market with a novel concept of ‘earning’ through playing, but the aspect of merely ‘earning’ was not just enough to capture a long-term attention of its audience as it lacked the ‘fun’ factor for the game itself and finally evaluated as not being sustainable.
The game industry has been known to be a very specialized field where it is difficult to make high-quality games without an experienced team of professional planners/developers. Against this backdrop, the entry of traditional game developers into the market aroused the expectation that ‘fun P2E games are about to come’ and many believed that they would overcome the limitations of existing P2E games. Larger, more experienced developers such as Wemade also proved the feasibility of the P2E genre through MMORPG Legend of Mir 4, along with Netmarble and Com2uS announcing their entry into the P2E market. This has provided new momentum to the P2E genre.
However, with the current ‘crypto winter’ that began with the Terra incident has also spread into the P2E game market causing it to contract rapidly. Projects that were scheduled to launch have been delayed one after another, and game studios preparing to onboard to a blockchain platform started to take a conservative stance. With the about face of the market, the introduction of quality games to the blockchain ecosystem was delayed, further deepening uncertainties for the future of more sustainable and enjoyable P2E games.
The Iskra Game Sourcing Strategy
Iskra has started as a project dedicated to overcome the limitations of existing P2E games and pioneer the P&E (Play and Earn) genre that meets the demands of both enjoyability and the ability to earn. We aim to service only the P&E games that combine sustainable tokenomics with that element of “fun” by closely cooperating with experienced game developers with proven capabilities.
Since the start of the crypto winter, big-name game developers and high-quality game contents have become hesitant to enter the market. Despite all these unfavorable factors, Iskra is more than convinced that P&E will develop into the mainstream genre in the game industry and intends to use the following strategy to secure the best possible games:
Step 1. Identify Long-term Content Partners and Creators (On-going)
- Iskra has successfully attracted strategic investment from not only 9 major game companies such as Netmarble, Wemade, and Neowiz, but also from Redice Studio, which possesses global mega-hit contents IPs including Solo Leveling and Omniscient Reader’s Point of View. This strategic partnership should help solidify collaboration on future releases, and not just one-off game titles.
- In identifying future game studio partners, we look for at least medium-sized, or established studios with enough resources that we are confident can complete titles and service games. We will then apply our expertise in tokenomics and the blockchain for the optimal delivery of services that balances playing and earning.
Step 2. Prioritize content and tokenomics applications (On-going)
- The existing P2E games that merely apply game UI (User Interface) to blockchain monetization models such as DeFi has already encountered its limit. P&E games should not only focus on earning but design a sustainable game economy by combining interesting contents with well-planned tokenomics. Iskra boasts a professional consulting organization made up of game industry experts and quant/ blockchain consultants. Iskra will roll out more advanced P&E games as we offer consulting services catering to our partners through the internal competitive edge.
- Since a proven game genre in the blockchain game market has yet to emerge, Iskra is open to different genres that will support the best balance of enjoyability and earning power. Iskra will develop a systematic structure and formula of success in the P&E genre by continuously accumulating expertise through serving many different P&E games.
Step 3. Following the process above (and a little bit of luck) Iskra will be ready to Launch and service a mega-hit game that combines the best of game design and the blockchain
- As Iskra’s experience grows, Iskra will be prepared to service mega-hit games to reach global audience for P&E to emerge as a mainstream genre and to become the global No.1 game platform. Iskra is committed to supporting the development and launch of global mega-hit games based on its expertise in P&E along with partners who are devoted to create a sound ecosystem with long-term cooperative relationships that we have secured to date.
In a Nutshell
While the crypto winter is upon us, and development into blockchain gaming may have slowed, Iskra continues to be committed to launching the best, next-generation web3 games into the market. We hope you stay with us, as we also hope to make history in the next chapter of Play AND Earn.
Want to learn more about our Games? Visit our Games page page here: https://www.iskra.world/games