Blockchain gaming is quite an exciting space, with new innovations cropping up all the time. With the meteoric rise of both e-gaming and cryptocurrency in recent years, and the various potential use cases that incorporating blockchain into gaming could offer, it makes sense that we are seeing an exciting sector pop up which merges these two dynamic industries.
Revoland is one such firm operating in this space. As the first blockchain-based multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, it recently raised $10.6 million during seed and pre-sale rounds. The project calls on gamers to team up with colleagues, family, and friends to compete with other players for rewards in $LAND, a native token of the platform.
The title was developed by Chain X Game (CXG): a London-based metaverse game development company focused on bringing forward the next generation of blockchain games. We sat down with the CEO of Revoland, Jimmy Zhao, to find out more about blockchain gaming, the advantages compared to conventional gaming, native tokens for these games and more.
The full interview is below.
CoinText.com (CT): You present Revoland as the first blockchain-based multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game – can you please elaborate on what exactly this means?
Jimmy Zhao (JZ): Our game is very similar to Brawl Stars – one of the most popular Web2 games with 20 million monthly active users. At Revoland, we aim to create a brand new gaming experience that meets the best Web3 standards.
You can gear your heroes up with a large selection of hundreds of weapons, and you’d actually own all these assets. And you’d better come up with good tactics as well because the most fierce war awaits you, right from the moment that starship drops you off on the battlefield – and you are guaranteed to lose to anyone the second you pause the fighting, too.
CT: Blockchain gaming start-ups are cropping up seemingly daily, do you worry about the saturation of the space?
JZ: Our developer company, Chain X Game, has its in-house SDK and focuses on helping some of the most popular Web2 games transition to Web3. Our second game, Protector of the Realms MMORPG, is Genshin Impact brought to Web3. Another product we are launching soon, C2.WORLD, will be the Web3 interpretation of Roblox.
Given the benefits of Web3 gaming, these titles will take the sector to the next level. At the moment, we do not see any competitors at this level in the GameFi space.
CT: What separates Revoland from the crowd?
JZ: First, Revoland is a highly playable MOBA. We did our best to create a fun and engaging experience by introducing quality graphics, compelling heroes, and plenty of upgrade options. Secondly, our tokenomics is unique: the winner takes 80% from those who lose, which will contribute to the sustainability of the in-game economy. We believe we can capture two audiences: the Web2 gamers who focus on the gameplay, and the Web3 gamers who also want to earn income through the game.
On top of that, we are collaborating with partners like Seagm to provide a seamless onboarding payment process where the user doesn’t have to go through the tedious KYC procedure and download a wallet just to play the game. Seagm has 11 million MAU and a gross merchandise value of 300-400 million USD to be converted from the traditional games, so the potential is huge.
CT: How do you think blockchain gaming will fare if this downturn turns into a persistent bear market?
JZ: Lots of quality projects experience downturns as they start, just to grow super big and successful after the bear market is over. When it comes to Revoland, I hope our users put gameplay first, and financial opportunities second. This way, we could build an engaging community rather than gather people who just want to play for profit. Our goal is to let players earn money while truly enjoying the game. The bear market will make us stronger.
CT: I notice you have two native tokens – LAND and REVO. Why did you elect to issue two tokens rather than one?
JZ: Two token models will satisfy the needs of two different audiences. First, gamers can earn the LAND token while playing the game. $LAND is relatively stable, which makes it easy to calculate the earnings. Second, the crypto community loves to see the token price spike up to enjoy the profits from the secondary market volatility – and this is where $REVO comes in.
On top of that, the two tokens play different parts in our in-game economy: $LAND is used for most transactions and buying upgrades, while $REVO enables governance.
CT: Where do you see this space going in general – do you think it could start to pull market share away from conventional gaming?
JZ: I believe blockchain games will facilitate the mass adoption of blockchain technology. Just looking at the numbers, we have 5 million GameFi users now, 30 million crypto users, and 3 billion game users. And these numbers are bound to grow.
CT: What is the closest relative of Revoland in conventional gaming circles, and what advantage does developing it on the blockchain have?
JZ: As I mentioned above, Revoland is very similar to Brawl Stars. The main difference is, here users can control the data they generate, as well as own and manage their in-game assets and trade them for money as such. It is a better system compared to the one conventional games offer.
CT: The release states that “earlier this year, the gaming platform partnered with Huawei Cloud to release a play-to-earn model creating millions of jobs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region” – this sounds amazing, can you please elaborate on how these millions of jobs were created, and the contribution of Chain X Game?
JZ: Our partnership with Huawei goes in two directions. First, we are building a case for telecom operators like Etisala to promote P2E games like Revoland, as they are looking for ways to increase their value-added services. Secondly, we plan to bring our game to African countries, with our game pre-installed in some of the regions. This way, people with low wages can participate in the Web3 economy through P2E games. For example, citizens of the Central African Republic who are now making 50 dollars a month get a chance to increase their income to 200-500 dollars.
CT: Do you worry that many investors were turned off alt-coins (or crypto altogether) following the recent UST crash and market plunge, and whether this may affect the pickup of LAND and REVO tokens, as well as the Revoland game?
JZ: We focus on building a true gaming community rather than focusing too much on the external investors. We’ve already secured funding from 16 veteran crypto venture capital firms, including HashKey Capital and Polygon Ventures, and more investors will come in, as we demonstrate that we can bring Web2 users to Web3 en masse at a fast pace while creating value for both audiences.