Play-to-earn (P2E) games aim to marry blockchain technology with enjoyable gameplay. These blockchain-based games gained prominence in 2020 during the pandemic, offering a way for players to earn amidst financial hardships. Titles like Axie Infinity and CryptoBlades became notable, with many describing the new gaming phenomenon as the future of mass blockchain adoption.
The global blockchain gaming market is set to surge from $4.6 billion in 2022 to $65.7 billion by 2027, riding on P2E's pillars: decentralization, interoperability, ownership, and incentives.
P2E's essence lies in NFTs and cryptocurrencies, allowing players to earn tangible rewards for their gaming efforts. Yet, some projects overlooked gameplay, leading to post-hype criticism. One of MSV.GGs partner – Cantina Royale, a tactical arcade shooter, aims to prioritize players and gameplay, blending web2 and web3 elements for seamless adoption.
What is Cantina Royale - Gameplay, Lending Platform, and NFTs
Cantina Royale aims to provide a distinct gaming experience, blending in-game assets, dynamic gameplay, and earning opportunities within galactic battles. To achieve this, the team has simplified blockchain and NFT onboarding, prioritizing user-friendliness for web2 and entry-level web3 users. They've introduced features like single sign-on (SSO) registration, in-game tutorials, and an in-game marketplace for borrowing NFTs. These features eliminate common barriers such as wallet downloads and crypto purchases, ensuring the game's accessibility matches traditional mobile games.
The game is constructed on the MultiversX (formerly Elrond) blockchain and powered by Verko – a Layer 2 gaming protocol introducing the first Metaverse Experience Framework (MEF). Since its November 2022 launch, the game has garnered over 27,000 downloads, attracting non-crypto natives and existing MultiversX users alike. The mobile app alone has been downloaded over 21,500 times, with an average of 2,300 daily active players.
Many NFT games attract experienced gamers and investors, often leaving newcomers discouraged due to skill gaps and costly NFTs. Typically, these games lack gameplay quality that appeals to seasoned players. Cantina Royale seeks to shift this paradigm, aided by its Lending Platform. This platform streamlines NFT lending, increasing accessibility – especially for novice blockchain gamers. It permits public and direct lending of NFTs, enabling passive income for lenders and a chance for borrowers to play and earn tokens without initial capital investment.
Through the Lending Platform, NFT holders can buy in-game NFTs and lend them at a reduced price. Lenders negotiate revenue splits with borrowers. NFT holders can also stake their NFTs in a public pool, sharing generated revenue. Weekly token gains result from the staking pool.
NFTs - Genesis Space Apes, Cantina Elrond Apes, and BAYC
The Genesis Space Apes collection is the first NFT collection created for Cantina Royale. The initial mint of 15,000 NFTs gets extra rewards when new NFT characters are added through recruiting. These NFTs also earn a small part (1.2%) of the money made in the game by all the future characters from the original Genesis Space Ape, including NFTs sold on the marketplace after being recruited.
Buying a Space Ape comes with three main “Stats” and two “bonuses” that help players progress in the game. There are 100 levels to achieve, to go to the next level, one's character needs to earn experience points (XP) by playing the game or using an NFT on the lending platform.
Since the release, 9.4K trades have occurred, and there are currently 3.1K Genesis Space Apes holders. The Space Apes can be purchased on the secondary market via XOXNO and Deadrare.
Tokenomics - $CRT
Cantina Royale is powered by its native token $CRT. The token’s has a functional utility in the game’s ecosystem, providing a convenient and secure mode for NFT-related transactions. The project’s single token system enables governance and in-game utility. It powers the play-and-earn elements of the game by rewarding players, and is also used to purchase NFTs. Token utilities include trading NFT characters, tokens, and NFT staking rewards, rewards in Special Events, and recruiting new characters. These utilities are critical for the metagame, and with the addition of NFT weapons, it will play a major role in the crafting aspect of the gameplay. $CRT has a total supply of 1,000,000,000 $CRT and token holders can influence the on-chain governance proposals of Cantina Royale.
Total utilities include:
- Purchasing and Selling of NFT Characters
- Token Staking Reward
- NFT Staking Reward
Founding Team & Seed Funding
Alexandru Palade, Cantina Royale’s Executive Producer, leads a team of 25 developers. The project is backed by a strong pool of advisors who work closely with the Cantina Royale team on the game development roadmap plans. Having concluded its seed round, Apeiron secured more than $17M in funding. Pre-seed investments amounted to over $3M, while Hashed led the $10M seed investment, joined by Venture Capital firms like DeFiance Capital, Morningstar Ventures, Spartan Group, and Defi Capital. In addition, the project amassed over $4.5M from NFT sales during its initial mint.
Analysis - Strengths & Challenges
Strengths:
- Blockchain Gaming Popularity: The appeal of blockchain gaming to investors is on the rise. The past year has witnessed exponential growth in capital raised within the blockchain gaming sector.
- Impressive Capital Influx: In 2022, the combined funding for Web3 gaming and metaverse projects reached a remarkable $7.6 billion. This figure represented a substantial 59% increase compared to the funding in the previous year (2021).
- Innovative Lending and Borrowing: Cantina Royale's lending and borrowing platform aligns seamlessly with the team's mission of inclusivity. By making the borrowing of NFTs accessible to players regardless of their crypto knowledge, the game breaks down barriers and welcomes a wider audience.
- Solid In-Game Economy: The game boasts a robust in-game economy foundation. Its strategy of integrating new features in a measured way ensures that the gameplay remains engaging and easily accessible for newcomers.
Challenges:
- Navigating Industry Competition: In a gaming industry as vast as this, standing out and carving a unique identity is a significant challenge for Cantina Royale. Its dual nature of blending Web2 and Web3 technology means it competes with other blockchain games and contends with traditional games, intensifying the struggle for market share and attention.
- Future Cross-Chain Considerations: While the game operates on the MultiversX blockchain, its potential transition to a cross-chain structure is interesting. The move to cross-chain functionality could bring benefits like improved user experience, enhanced market reach, and increased liquidity. However, it also introduces challenges related to communication and security that must be carefully addressed.
- Balancing Gameplay Mechanics: One of the critical challenges the game faces is striking the right balance in gameplay mechanics. Ensuring fairness for new and experienced players across weaponry, movement, and skill-related elements is crucial. The impending updates should be structured to avoid introducing a pay-to-win dynamic that could deter existing players due to economic disparities rather than skill differentials.
Future Roadmap
The team is working on an extensive roadmap with the following features to be launched in the upcoming year:
- PvP Battle Royale
- NFT Marketplace
- PvE Game Modes
- New F2P Characters
- New Weapons
- Social Features
Find out more about their roadmap,here: https://whitepaper.cantinaroyale.io/the-world-of-cantina-royale/useful-information/roadmap
🌐 Official website: https://cantinaroyale.io/
📡 Official Global Telegram Community: https://t.me/CantinaRoyale
🐦 Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/cantinaroyale
📜 Medium: https://medium.com/@cantina.royale
📚 Whitepaper: https://whitepaper.cantinaroyale.io/
🕹️ Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/cantinaroyale
