Vortex Gaming

The Axie IP of Sky Mavis has a tremendous status in the web3 game market. It is a game that set the standard for web3 games and P2E games, and it accounted for 70% of NFT trading volume at its peak, so there is no need to say more. Having experienced the crypto winter, the enthusiasm has subsided, but it still exerts influence as an IP representing web3 games.

The Axie IP has returned with 'Axie Champions', the third work following Axie Infinity and Axie Infinity Origin (hereinafter Axie Origin). Even more surprising is that it was developed in collaboration with Bally Games, newly established by the developers of the Anipang series.

We took the time to visit Bally Games and ask why the development team that developed the mobile puzzle game Anipang series, which once represented Korea, reunited to develop the web3 game 'Axie Champions'.

Q. Since it's a P2E puzzle game, it seems like it could have been made by Wemade Play (SundayToz), but you left the company and newly founded Bally Games. Is there a special reason?

= First of all, I hope you understand that the answer I'm giving now does not represent all the thoughts of the CEO or team members.

I know that the biggest reason is that it was difficult to make the game they wanted to make. After all, Wemade Play has know-how in developing puzzle games from before. In addition, Wemade acquired SundayToz, which created a foundation for P2E game development, but I heard that they left Wemade Play and newly founded Bally Games in order to more actively develop P2E games and target the market when developing the next game.

Q. Let's talk about the game in earnest. What kind of game is 'Axie Champions'?

= 'Axie Champions' is a puzzle RPG that utilizes Sky Mavis' Axie IP. When we first collaborated with Sky Mavis to create a new game, we had a lot of 고민 about what genre to choose, but we decided to make it a puzzle RPG because we thought it would be best to do it in the genre we are most confident in.

Once we decided on the puzzle RPG direction, the next thing we focused on was live service. After all, we thought that there was nothing better than PvP where users compete to provide service for a long time, and after this 고민, the PvP-based puzzle RPG 'Axie Champions' was born.

It's easy to understand the P2E element if you think of it as a way for users to compete against each other and win prize money. Of course, if this is too much, it can be stressful, so PvE content that can be enjoyed lightly is also prepared as an element to alleviate it. We plan to continue providing not only PvP but also PvE content in the future.

Q. Axie is a fairly well-known IP among P2E games, so how did you come to work together?

= Aren't they both puzzle games? Anipang has achieved fairly good results overseas, and thanks to that, Sky Mavis contacted us saying they wanted to create a new game using the Axie IP, so we came to work together. I think it would be good to see that the synergy is being created by adding our puzzle know-how, which created the Anipang series, to the influence of the Axie IP.

Q. It was officially released on February 20th. As a new game using the Axie IP, which represents P2E games, I think there would have been a lot of interest, but what are the results so far?

= The total number of users has been counted at over 50,000, and among them, about 2,000 users are still enjoying the game. These users can be said to be core users, and they are users who enjoy the Champions League, a PvP content that can be said to be the core content of 'Axie Infinity', and the retention rate is also quite high. In the future, we plan to maintain the number of core users while steadily increasing it.

Q. You are introducing that you can use Axie NFTs from Axie Infinity, so is it a concept of sharing the same Axie?

= That's right. If you have Axie NFTs from Axie Infinity and Axie Origin, you can use them in our game as is. So, I know that most of the users who are currently enjoying 'Axie Champions' have previously enjoyed Axie Infinity and Axie Origin.

Q. What do you think is the core of P2E games?

= As a game, it must be fun after all. However, the fact is that users' views on P2E games, which are represented by web3 games, are still a little different from web2 games. What users want from the game, should I say value? If the first value of web2 games is fun, it seems that profitability is still greater for web3 games, as you can see from the name P2E games.

Q. The atmosphere surrounding P2E games is not good. Is there a reason why you developed P2E games despite this?

= I think there are two main reasons. The first is that it happened when the company was first founded, and should I say it was a cooling-off period? It became a breakthrough at a time when investment was drastically reduced. In addition to that connection, negative perceptions of P2E games were spreading at the time, and the desire to break those perceptions coincided, so we came to develop 'Axie Champions' together.

Q. Earlier, you said that the first value of P2E game users is profitability. In the end, the price of tokens and coins is also related to the life cycle of the game, so how do you plan to maintain this in 'Axie Champions'?

= Basically, we plan to maintain the value of the token by distributing some of the profits to users. If you rank in the league, you will receive tokens as prize money, and this prize money increases as users pay more. To put it simply, you can think of distributing about 10% of the payment as prize money.

Secondly, there is a token called CUBE that has not yet been officially issued, and by purchasing CUBEs with RONIN tokens and using CUBEs to purchase various items in the game, we are naturally burning tokens to maintain the value of the currency. We plan to pay more attention to tokenomics in the future.

Q. If it is a form of earning profits through competition, it is natural that users who pay will be more advantageous, so is it a structure where users who do not pay cannot earn money?

= It is true that users who pay can earn more. However, that doesn't mean that users who don't pay can't earn anything at all. Users who don't pay can also earn to some extent. In fact, as a result of investigating and comparing the average profits of other web3 games, 'Axie Infinity' was even higher. The profitability is now even higher than at that time, and we plan to continue improving profitability in the future. On the other hand, although it is difficult to see it only positively, dummy accounts continue to be created because the profitability is high. We are also paying close attention to this part.

Q. Like Axie Infinity, some P2E games have entry barriers because you have to purchase NFTs, but what about 'Axie Champions'?

= That's why Axie Infinity and Axie Origin have been trying to lower the entry barrier by providing starter Axies, and 'Axie Champions' is also providing starter Axies so that you can enjoy the game right away without purchasing Axie NFTs.

Q. Casual games have been gaining attention again recently, will this trend affect P2E games?

= It seems insignificant yet. The reason is simple. The biggest reason why users enjoy P2E games is profitability. Someday, P2E games may come out in a form where the fun and popularity of the game are linked to the value of tokens and coins, but this trend is expected to continue for the time being.

Q. Unlike Axie Infinity, which was considered a national game and a means of livelihood in Southeast Asia, 'Axie Champions' seems to be gaining popularity in Brazil.

= It's a part that we also find strange, but it's just a guess, but it seems that economic aspects have had some influence. Just like Axie Infinity was a means of livelihood in Southeast Asia in the past, it seems to be treated as a means of livelihood or a kind of side job in South America and Brazil. The second is that Sky Mavis is doing the marketing, and we are assuming that it is because they are focusing on marketing in South America to pioneer a new market.

Q. These days, there are many high-quality games even if they are P2E games. On the other hand, 'Axie Champions' has a similar quality to Axie Infinity, is this also intentional?

= After all, the Axie IP has a symbolic meaning in the Southeast Asian market. Considering those things, we had to make it possible for users who have enjoyed Axie Infinity or Axie Origin to naturally enjoy 'Axie Champions', so we intentionally adjusted the quality to the current level so that it could be enjoyed even on low-spec devices.

Q. The next game is also important, but do you plan to focus on developing P2E games in the future?

= If there is a great momentum, we will have to consider changing accordingly, but if not, we will try to take what we do best. For us now, that is P2E games and puzzles, so we plan to develop the next game in this direction for the time being. However, since the next game is not yet clearly defined, it seems too early to reveal what kind of game we will develop at this point.

Q. I would like to hear about the future of 'Axie Champions' and the prospects for P2E games.

= Sky Mavis once said that their goal for the Axie IP is to become a game like Pokemon, and they are steadily moving towards that goal. Axie Infinity, Axie Origin, and 'Axie Champions' with us are tying the Axie IP and NFTs together. While web3 games and P2E games are just talking about sharing one NFT in the ultimate form, Sky Mavis is making it a reality. In that sense, I think that the more Axie IPs increase in the future, the more users will increase, and then the value of tokens and coins will naturally increase.

However, I am cautious about talking about the prospects for P2E games in many ways. However, I think that if web3 games are focused on profitability now, that aspect will fade in the future. Even if you look at web2 games, you can earn money by trading items while playing the game, but you don't focus on profitability. We believe that the value pursued by developers and users of web3 games will shift from profitability to fun, and the term P2E games will gradually disappear, and the distinction between web2 games and web3 games will also disappear.

Q. Bally Games' role will also be important.

= That's right. However, I don't think there is a magic bullet to eliminate the negative perceptions of web3 games and P2E games. The best way is to build trust by steadily providing game services, so we will strive to become a developer that users can trust, not only in 'Axie Champions' but also in developing games in the future.

게임파이 인벤윤홍만 기자
2024-05-16