How Pixels grows beyond 1 million DAUWs

BCGW 172 is out

It’s Wednesday so time for another instalment of Blockchain Gaming World and this one is hot off the press.

In episode 172, I talk to Pixels’ CEO Luke Barwikowski about its continuing rise, becoming the dominant blockchain game, at least in terms of daily active unique wallets.

Now this was also true when I first spoke to Luke in BCGW #154 in late January, but since then Pixels’ has experienced further 5x growth, breaking 1 million DAUWs.

It’s a remarkable achievement given that other web3 games have — at best — improved by 10 or 20% over the same timeframe.

And this is only the start.

Next week, Pixels chapter 2 goes live, something Luke describes as being more like version 2 of the game.

For while this will look very much the same as the current version, gameplay systems have been radically overhauled so that progression is more focused on individual players, as well as having better community goals in terms of guild activities, whether that’s Pixels-native guilds or external crypto orgs such as YGG.

In this context — as with pretty much all blockchain games — a key ongoing effort becomes working out how to ensure that rewards are distributed to the most deserving players, something Pixels’ has already underpinned with its reputation system.

This works by combining in-game activity with the game’s VIP subscription membership — currently generating around $2.5 million in terms of monthly revenue — plus external verification such as connecting X and Discord.

And this is just the foundation for a new cadence of monthly content updates, as well as a more aggressive UA strategy, which will leverage the game’s PIXEL token and referral networks.

So what’s almost funny about this situation is that while Pixels continues to thrive, the debate on degen Crypto Twitter is that “web3 gaming is dead”.

As ever, Luke has plenty of advice on that score too, starting with the need to ship your game and start actively iterating before you launch your token!

Notably, it’s worth pointing out that the PIXEL token has actually decreased in price since its January launch, making the game’s rise even more impressive.

Basically it seems that a lot of people really do want to play a blockchain-native version of FarmVille.

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Calendar

• Pirate Nation’s PIRATE token goes live — 13th June

• Ember Sword’s EMBER token goes live — 13th June

• Pixels’ chapter 2 modes go live — 17th June

• Shrapnel launches STX3.1 test — 24th June

• Decentraland Game Jam starts — 26th June

• Space-based MMOG Influence launches — 27th June

• Illuvium goes live — 25th July

Blankos Mobile news

• Following on from my deep dive yesterday into the growth of NFT trading in NFL Rivals, Mythical Games is now giving out more details about Blankos Mobile.

First up CEO John Linden says the migration of the Mythos chain to Polkadot has taken longer than expected but they are “very close to having it live,” which means Blankos holders will then get access to their NFTs and trading can restart. When this happens, it will also become possible to move assets into a self-hosted wallet, rather than using Mythical’s own integrated wallet.

Whenever it is released, the game will feature “new mechanics, modes, and fun new styles of gameplay”, and leverage the sort of web3 features that have been introduced into NFL Rivals — including Quick Trades, I expect.

Players of the original PC version of the game will also be rewarded various ways, possibly including a MYTH token airdrop, something I initiated and which has been fleshed out by others.

“I know it has been a journey but I think we are going to be bringing out a game that the community will enjoy, tons of brands / artists will join, and add millions of new players into this quirky, mischievous world we started with the OG community,” Linden ends.

Staking Trends news

• I’m not sure whether two instances make a trend but it’s interesting to see that both Shrapnel and now Pirate Nation have announced token staking systems that allow you to spend your staked assets, while still getting pro rata staking rewards.

My guess is that these are not formal staking protocols but instead are more like soft staking systems in which holders’ assets are locked within the wider ecosystem — and hence can be spent within that ecosystem — but can’t be removed from the ecosystem without the loss of staking benefits.

In the case of Pirate Nations, the news comes prior to the launch of the PIRATE token on 13th June for NFT holders and early players of the game. Neatly, there will be an option to claim and immediately stake your tokens. The point of staking PIRATE is to get Proof of Play points, which will eventually reward you with tokens for the Apex L3 blockchain on which the game runs.

As per usual, the earlier you stake, the higher your points multiplier. You also get more points the more Pirate Nation NFTs in your wallet. Also, if you do the combined ‘claim and stake’ transaction, you’ll get a 50% bonus on your multiplier. Finally, if you want to spend your PIRATE tokens while staking them — for example to buy in-game gems — the price of gems will be discounted by 10%.

Basically, developer Proof of Play really, really wants you to stake your PIRATE tokens!!