A metaverse game whose first incarnation came out in 2008, GensoKishi Online (GENSO Online) is now paving the way for the second generation of blockchain games by pushing UGC to earn.

“UGC to earn is a groundbreaking feature of GENSO that allows players to create and sell their unique content within the game world, earning real-world rewards for their creativity and ingenuity,” said GENSO Online Global Comms and Community Head Nobara.

According to Nobara, some of the most exciting intellectual property (IP) collaborations that GENSO has done include Sanrio, the world-famous creators of the iconic Hello Kitty, and the Fairy Tail manga and anime franchise.

“A famous IP importation from the web3 space would be the Aavegotchi ghost. You can spot it in GENSO,” she added.

Asked to describe GENSO Online in 10 words or less, Nobara replied: “GENSO is a sprawling metaverse of adventure, discovery, and inclusivity.”

What is the origin story of GENSO Online?

The game’s first iteration actually came out on a flip phone in 2008. Then known as Elemental Knights Online, GENSO Online won the Gold Award for Game of the Year in Taiwan in 2012.

The team then brought the game to the PlayStation and Nintendo platforms.

How has GENSO Online been able to enjoy the loyalty of its community for the past 15 years, across different gaming platforms?

“It’s a mix of different factors. Japan has always been known for its strong presence in the game and entertainment market, giving our team the benefit of having connections with some of the most well-renowned brands and IPs in the space. Another point to consider is the community focus. Being an open-world MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), GENSO provides a thriving and exciting environment for its players, making it a place where people can get together and have fun. Our community is extremely loyal and has followed us on all our ventures thus far,” she said.

With its latest iteration, GENSO Online has fully embraced blockchain gaming.

“As technology progressed and the blockchain space evolved, they saw the potential to attract a global following and take GENSO to the next level. With the help of Polygon Labs, we are one of the best-performing web3 games and are growing our user and partner base exponentially. The founder and CEO, Maxi Kuan, has overseen the transition and has been behind GENSO from Day 1,” Nobara said.

Asked to name the main challenges GENSO Online had to overcome in transitioning to web3, Nobara replied: “Setting aside the technical barriers, regulatory hurdles, and challenges in sustaining a strong community of supporters and contributors, we had to adapt and learn a lot about rebuilding a well-balanced game economy that isn’t subject to exploits. We chose to build in web3 as we understand it’s the future. GENSO has proven its resilience to the fast-paced changes in the digital age, and we want to see how we can navigate this new and exciting space!”

As a second generation web3 game, GENSO Online aims to avoid the mistakes of play-to-earn.

“The biggest lesson learned from the mistakes of the play-to-earn model is the importance of balancing fair compensation for players with a sustainable and engaging game design. In GENSO, the team has worked hard to create an economy that rewards creativity, skill, and dedication while ensuring the game remains fun and engaging for all players,” Nobara said.

According to Nobara, GENSO Online has a lot in store for its players in 2023.

“Our plans for GENSO this year include expanding the metaverse with new regions, quests, and storylines. We are also enhancing the UGC to earn feature to offer even more opportunities for creativity and earning. We will also continue engaging and rewarding the vibrant and growing community of GENSO players and creators,” she said.

So, looking for a web3 game that offers its community and creators different ways to earn? Check out GENSO Online today!

About the author: babelmachine is the founder and editor-in-chief of Digital Life Asia, a media startup that covers the digital lifestyle in Asia and across the Asian diaspora. This article was originally published on Digital Life Asia. Follow babelmachine on Twitter: @thebabelmachine

With all the web3 games that are being created, how can you make sure that yours will stand out and attract players?

While there’s no magic formula that will guarantee the success of a web3 game, here are four tips to keep in mind.

Focus on fun

One major criticism against play-to-earn games is that they focused too much on the “earn” part, and not enough on “play”.

At the end of the day, games are a form of entertainment. If you want to attract more gamers, then you have to offer compelling gameplay. Sure, some players might be motivated primarily by the desire to earn, but they’re a minority compared to the more than three billion video game users worldwide.

If we truly want mainstream adoption of web3 games, then we need a variety of games that will attract current PC, console, and mobile gamers to try them out. Which is why we are seeing a second generation of web3 games that are putting the focus back on fun.

One such game is Anito Legends, which dubs itself as play-and-earn. The main goal of the founders is for you to have a great time playing Anito Legends, while enjoying the ability to own digital assets and make a few bucks along the way.

Just how entertaining is Anito Legends? The game has been logging over 20,000 average daily sessions — and the company hasn’t even done its token launch yet!

That’s because Anito Legends regularly introduces new ways to enjoy the game, such as launching PvP (player vs player) and raid battles to spice things up. It helps that gaming is in the DNA of the founders. Combined, the founders have created 21 games, even though Anito Legends is their first foray into web3.

Create quality content

Games are a form of storytelling. While not every game needs a compelling backstory (I mean, do we really need to know why the birds are angry at the pigs? And why there are zombies on the lawn?), quality content helps increase the chances that your game will resonate with players.

One web3 game that exemplifies this is Cryptopia (disclaimer: I recently became the Cryptopia Ambassador for the Philippines). Cryptopia is a metaverse game and city state built entirely on the blockchain. In a way, the game is a proof of concept of the founders’ belief in the web3 ethos of decentralization. The idea is not to just use blockchain technology, but also to create a virtual city state that can be a model for how our real-world society can embrace a decentralized future.

The lore behind Cryptopia attests to this. Cryptopian society is based on a fictional lost white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, the real-world pseudonymous person (or persons) who invented bitcoin and so implemented the first blockchain.

As the Cryptopia site puts it:

“Satoshi’s work states that the world is due for economic collapse due to its reliance on fiat currency. It would take only one crisis, such as climate change, to unleash an unmitigated global catastrophe. His startling proposal: Cryptopia World, a nation based on the blockchain, a new society would serve as an example for all others to follow.”

Cryptopia, however, saw the rise of four Factions that have different interpretations of the white paper and views on how best to run their society. These are the Eco, Tech, Industrial, and Traditional factions.

What’s fascinating is the wealth of content that has been created for Cryptopia, not just about the game, but also the story behind the virtual world and for the online personas of the Faction advisors. It also makes Cryptopia a great place of learning, as it offers informative content about real-world issues that are important to each Faction, such as climate change in the case of the Eco faction. Add to that content created for and by the thriving community, and you can see how quality content can keep players endlessly engaged.

Listen to your community

One game that really made a splash at the Philippine Web3 Festival was Astro XP. Believe it or not, out of the many game booths at the event, Astro XP was the only one from a Philippine game development company.

Not only that, but also Astro XP touts itself as the first AAA web3 game from a Philippine game developer, giving players the same kind of eye candy and visceral experiences that they have become used to in traditional games.

Astro XP certainly tries to push the envelope, as it is a space-based open-world RPG. Here, you can choose to follow your intergalactic dreams, whether it’s becoming a space settler, an ultrasonic car driver, or a world builder.

Astro XP is also committed to co-developing with its community, to the point that it showcased the game at the festival despite it barely being an MVP. This was to allow players to already experience Astro XP themselves and give valuable feedback. And judging by the queue at their booth, Astro XP proved to be a hit with the attendees.

Moreover, Astro XP proved that it listens to its community. One of the biggest asks from the players who tried it was for Astro XP was to add game controller support. The company quickly responded to this request, so that by the time Astro XP displayed its game two weeks later at Philippine Blockchain Week 2022, it was already a more polished version.

And, yes, one that provided game controller support.

Offer real-world benefits

As the metaverse becomes a reality, we will see more web3 games blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds. Imagine web3 games that complement compelling gameplay with real-world benefits.

Ark of Dreams is an excellent example of this type of web3 game. Touting itself as an X2Earn (X being any human behavior, such as eating, exercising, shopping, and so on) game, Ark of Dreams aims to offer its players metaverse adventures that are connected to the real world. It does this by partnering with brands and onboarding them to web3, where they can build virtual stores and offer NFTs that are part of the gameplay.

With gameplay that could be described as Animal Crossing meets The Sims, Ark of Dreams is creating a vast world where players can fully immerse themselves in the metaverse. This opens the door to new ways for gamers to work and play, and for brands to interact with consumers.

Metacommerce, for example, allows players to buy a virtual item in the game and have the real-life counterpart delivered to their homes, whether it’s food, clothing, and so on.

Meanwhile, metabusiness allows companies, big and small, to set up shops in Ark of Dreams, which players can partly own through franchising. Meaning that if you buy a franchise within the game, you are also becoming a franchisee of that store in the real world.

Even the virtual pets that Ark of Dreams offers have a dual purpose. Not only are they companions that your avatar can take care of, but also they come with discounts for different brand categories, depending on the type of pet. Which means that Ark of Dreams is providing brands with an innovative way to use web3 for their loyalty programs.

As you can see, different elements can contribute to the success of a web3 game.

For our part, Playfix aims to empower web3 game developers. By offering all the APIs needed to build blockchain games, Playfix makes life easier for game developers by taking care of the technology and infrastructure. So that game developers can focus on what they do best: making fun games.

At the end of the day, the best advice for web3 game developers is also the simplest: give gamers what they want.

Now, let’s play.

How to make a successful web3 game was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

With well-known brands such as Starbucks, Nike, Meta (via Instagram), and Reddit embracing NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and renaming them digital collectibles, web3 could very well become mainstream in 2023.

As I’ve previously said, for mass adoption to happen, the first rule of NFTs is: you do not talk about NFTs.

With the loaded term “NFTs” out of the way, brands are now seeing blockchain technology as a powerful platform for revamping their loyalty programs.

After all, one of the problems that brands face is market saturation. Many businesses are offering loyalty programs that may be nearly identical in terms of requirements and rewards. How then, can they rekindle the interest of customers and capture their imagination?

This is how blockchain is becoming a powerful tool for brands, allowing them to transform their loyalty programs into web3 experiences that keep customers coming back and give them more valuable rewards.

A powerful example of this is Starbucks Odyssey, which the coffee brand launched in beta in the US on Dec. 8 as an extension of Starbucks Rewards, powered by web3.

“As one of the first companies to integrate Web3 technology and NFTs with an industry-leading loyalty program at scale, and grounding the experience in coffee, connection, and community, Starbucks is entering the Web3 space differently than any other brand. Starbucks Odyssey is an experience, surrounded by a digital community, where members can come together, interact, and share their love of coffee. Starbucks is using meaningful elements of Web3 technology to reward members in innovative ways, including ownable digital collectable Stamps (NFTs) that serve as an access pass to the alluring world of coffee and unique experiences with Starbucks.”

So what has the actual experience been like for those who have tried Starbucks Odyssey?

Here’s an excerpt from a GeekWire article recounting the writer’s first-hand experience.

“One barista I was chatting with at my local Starbucks likened Odyssey to ‘“’Pokémon GO for coffee.‘”’ It’s not a perfect comparison, but there are similarities in the way Odyssey blends and bridges the physical and virtual worlds.

This is especially clear in the Coffee Heritage Journey. In addition to a trivia challenge, and a picture puzzle featuring the original Starbucks store, this journey includes two tasks that show the potential of Starbucks Odyssey.

According to Nitin Kumar, CEO of software company ZBlocks, loyalty programs such as Starbucks Odyssey will be one of the top use cases for NFTs — sorry, digital collectibles — in 2023.

“‘By definition, a loyalty point is a token of your loyalty and your reward,‘ he explained. That, he added, makes NFT-powered rewards ‘pretty intuitive.’

“‘What Starbucks and Nike are doing is they’re taking the audience and converting it to the community,’ Kumar said. ‘If you’re sitting on social media, you have all these people in the audience but they’re not a community, they aren’t connected with each other.’”

Web2 helped brands create an audience on social media. Now, web3 will allow them to transform their audience into a community.

In a very real sense, the applications of web3 for loyalty programs is only limited by the imagination.

That’s why as a web3 experience company, Playfix aims to empower brands by offering its all-in-one blockchain platform. Instead of worrying about the technology, brands can use the Playfix platform to create unique customer experiences online and on-ground.

Want to revamp your loyalty program with web3? Contact us at start@playfix.io today.

Here’s to a brighter future for web3 in 2023!

Why brands should turn loyalty programs into web3 experiences was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When choosing the right blockchain for their GameFi project, developers must not only consider the technology itself, but also the ecosystem that it has built.

“I’m not an employee of Polygon, so what I’m saying here is third-party observation based on our talks with different game developers and what they are looking for,” said Playfix Co-Founder and CEO Tobias Abdon, who has been named Polygon Mage for Bangkok.

As the Mage, Abdon spearheads the activities of the Polygon Guild Bangkok chapter, which he kicked off by holding the first meetup on Dec. 8 at True Digital Park.

The free event featured speakers from two innovative projects that are built on Polygon: the metaverse game Cryptopia, and the blockchain-based affiliate marketing platform Affi.Network.

CMO Pichapen Sörum represented Cryptopia, while the speakers from Affi.Network were COO Nontapan Kajornboon and Community and Marketing Lead Nichajah Thiraamornsej. Playfix Head of Content Joey Alarilla hosted the event and moderated the panel discussion.

Abdon pointed out that while different chains have their own strengths when it comes to technology, it is Polygon which has built a thriving ecosystem that can support the different needs of developers, including grants and co-marketing initiatives.

Not only that, but Polygon has built a lot of momentum, including helping the crypto space become more mainstream by powering the web3 projects of popular brands such as Starbucks, Nike, Reddit, and Instagram.

In fact, the existence of Polygon Guilds and Mages attests to how serious Polygon is about building its community and further strengthening its ecosystem.

As the Polygon Guilds site explains:

“Polygon Guild Mages are web3 enthusiasts who are a fan of Polygon Ecosystem and are looking forward to spreading Web3 & Polygon Ecosystem literacy in their region with the help of the meetup groups.”

In her talk, Sörum shared why Cryptopia recently decided to migrate the metaverse game, which is currently on testnet, from Rinkeby to Polygon Mumbai.

“First of all, because our game is based entirely on blockchain, there will be gas, and on Polygon, it’s significantly lower. Because we keep the players in mind: how much they need to spend, and how to reduce the barrier for the player,” she said.

Sörum also added that another factor was that earlier this year, Cryptopia received a grant from Polygon, and will launch co-marketing activities with them. She also cited the tremendous growth of Polygon, which hit a new milestone of 5.8 million active users in Q3 2022. Remarkably, Polygon more than doubled its user base despite the bear market, increasing 123 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Kajornboon recounted how before embracing web3, Brandface, the studio behind Affi.Network, has created 2,500 influencer jobs. This was through influencer marketing for clients such as Decathlon, Stabilo, and HappyFresh.

“We would receive requests from influencers to be paid per microtransaction,” he shared.

The company found blockchain technology to be an ideal solution, and thus was born the Affi.Network affiliate marketing platform for NFTs. This platform allows advertisers to promote their NFT collections on a self-serve basis, deploying their campaigns as a smart contract on the blockchain.

Kajornboon said that the frequency of these transactions made them embrace Polygon, citing the stability of the platform and lower gas fees. He also shared that Affi.Network received grant vouchers from Polygon.

For her part, Thiraamornsej cited the importance of community building to further grow the ecosystem and spur web3 adoption.

“We are glad to be part of this first Polygon Guild Bangkok Meetup and know the importance of on-ground events like this to complement online community initiatives,” she said.

This Dec. 8 meetup is just the first of many, and the attendees became part of the first apprentices, so to speak, of the Bangkok chapter of the Polygon Guild.

With attendees enthusiastically participating in the discussion and networking at the meetup, Abdon is casting a spell that will build the Polygon community in Bangkok and beyond.

At the end of the day, builders build, whether the market is bull or bear.

We build, because we believe in web3. And that together we can use web3 to build a better world.

Magic of Polygon ecosystem showcased at 1st Bangkok meetup was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

With the blockchain industry still in the throes of the bear market or so-called crypto winter, getting funding has become an even bigger struggle for many web3 gaming companies. This does not mean, however, that it is impossible. It just means that founders must build even more value and become more creative — including looking at alternative ways to raise money, such as launchpads.

“We’ve invested in 70 projects in the last year. Small ticket sizes — US$25K to US$100K. But this allows us to work with a lot of early stage companies. See their progress, and also kind of lend the support that we’ve had,” said Enjinstarter CEO and Co-Founder Prakash Somosundram.

Somosundram of Singapore-based launchpad Enjinstarter was one of the speakers in the panel that I moderated at the Philippine Web3 Festival on Nov. 17.

The launchpad is part of the Enjinstarter ecosystem, which is meant to help creators and game studios with their blockchain and digital asset strategies. To date, the Enjinstarter launchpad has successfully funded more than 50 IDOs (initial DEX offerings).

What is a launchpad, and why has it become a fixture in the blockchain industry? As this article points out, launchpads are actually becoming the backbone of the decentralized finance ecosystem.

“Crypto launchpads, also called crypto incubators, are special platforms that help blockchain-based projects take off. These platforms act as fundraisers for any crypto project. They provide a group of investors access to token sales that are in the early stage. This kind of access ensures that investors can achieve bargain prices on sales before they become publicly available.

“Launching anything on a crypto launchpad involves buying tokens at low fees, which is a huge plus for investors, signifying low investment costs. As a result, many projects are approaching crypto launchpads to raise requisite funds.”

Another advantage is that scams are reduced by some launchpads that dox the founders, because the KYC (Know Your Customer) process is typically handled by a third party.

“Crypto launchpad platforms attempt to do two things: generate project finance and bring credible initiatives to their community before they become public. Launchpads aim for the outcomes above by cultivating a robust community before attracting reputable projects for crowdfunding on their platform.”

As you can see, launchpads benefit both the project owners and investors. The project owners, of course, are able to raise funds. Meanwhile, the investors benefit by being given access to new projects at ground zero.

In this bear market, one strategy for web3 gaming companies can be to raise funds by listing on different launchpads. The amount raised might be relatively small on each launchpad, but these can all add up.

Moreover, as Somosundram emphasized on the panel, a launchpad like Enjinstarter offers more than just funding to founders.

“You know, all the mistakes that we’ve made, we kind of compressed that into a playbook, and now we kind of help these founders, actually help them achieve success. And then, whatever challenges that they have, we come in like a paratrooper, and we come in there to solve all that,” he said.

As I’ve previously stated, the best time to be bullish is during a bear market.

With the help of Enjinstarter and other launchpads, more companies will have the chance to build better platforms, business models, and communities during this crypto winter.

So that they will not just survive, but actually thrive.

How launchpads can change the game for web3 startups was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Has game development become even harder in the age of web3? The answer is a resounding yes. Making games is already hard in the first place, but now traditional game developers who wish to make the leap to blockchain gaming need to wrestle with new technology and skill sets. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have web3 companies that are blockchain-savvy and want to create their own games, but lack the game development background and skills.

For both camps, however, one X factor makes web3 gaming truly complicated and disruptive: the community.

“In web3, the community is brutal,” said Enjinstarter CEO and Co-Founder Prakash Somosundram.

“If you make a mistake, they’ll come after you. But if you’re honest, and you come there, and show them it’s an honest mistake and forgive us, they will actually listen and rally around you. But the key thing with web3 is that there’s still no loyalty. People jump from project to project very, very quickly, and it’s up to us now to kind of build that [loyalty], both online and offline, since we’re now living in a post-pandemic world, and that’s one key thing that we see,” he said.

Somosundram of Singapore-based launchpad Enjinstarter was one of the speakers in the “Getting from Zero to One in Gaming” panel that I moderated at the Philippine Web3 Festival on Nov. 17. Joining him on the panel were Playgroundzero CEO and Co-Founder Janze de Guzman and Afante Studios CEO and Founder James Afante.

Playgroundzero is a GameFi networking platform that connects gamers, guilds, and GameFi studios. Meanwhile, Afante Studios is the game studio behind the upcoming web3 game ASTRO XP, an open world RPG set in space. ASTRO XP was one of a number of web games demonstrated at the Philippine Web3 Festival. What sets it apart, however, is that Afante Studios showcased the game to the public for the first time and allowed attendees to experience it even if it was a not-quite finished MVP.

For his part, De Guzman pointed out that in the age of web3, the community is no longer just made up of the people who play the games.

“It’s something that we’ve also seen in our own guild. We started out with just player accounts. But over the course of weeks and months, we actually found people becoming more interested in taking on different roles.

“In fact, at some point, they don’t want to play. They just want to manage the community, be more involved. So we saw the emergence of other roles like community managers, coaches, play testers, or even researchers. And that’s kind of how we’ve repositioned ourselves and our platform. This vision that the next generation of games will be very focused on the community. And it’s not just a community of people playing together. It’s a community that builds together as well, that figures out the economy by themselves, who kind of have a say in how things will be driven forward. So I think that’s a very interesting narrative because the metaverse, which is very web3, will require a lot of builders. And you need people to be more involved in order to build this wonderful place,” De Guzman said.

Meanwhile, Afante noted that because of the bear market, the web3 space now needs more builders than ever.

“For me, realistically speaking, there are fewer builders right now, compared to last year. And for us, there’s also a lot of people asking us, ‘Why are you still building? It’s already a bear market? Why are you still building? Can you still profit from this thing?’

“Well, what we have done, even in the past, is that we let other projects perform first, so that we can really understand and give us our prototype. In that way, we can make sure that we’re very conservative on what we implement on our own project, and we have more time to really polish our white paper. And I also believe that consistency is key. And it will develop trust always with your community. So we will be here. I think the way to manage your community is, just be here. Don’t go out. Don’t quit. Be relevant always. Bear or bull, build,” Afante said.

Playfix itself was born because of the need to address the pain points that game developers face in trying to create blockchain games. Building web3 games adds twice as much complexity to the game development process compared to traditional games. Which is why the Playfix platform provides a robust set of developer APIs, along with a powerful and intuitive console for easily creating and managing tokens, NFTs, and wallets.

More than just the technology, however, Playfix also provides a content and community platform for customers, partners, and other stakeholders, and a team of passionate people determined to help them succeed in web3.

This is all in line with the Playfix vision for blockchain gaming, of creating a future where blockchain features in games are no longer a novel concept.

Let’s build the future together with our communities in web3.

Why community is ‘brutal’ in world of blockchain gaming was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The reports of web3’s death are greatly exaggerated, judging by the massive turnout at the Philippine Web3 Festival, which is being held from Nov. 14–18 in Bonifacio Global City.

Bonifacio Global City is a fitting venue for this gathering in the Philippines, which is being touted as “the epicenter of web3 adoption”. This is thanks in no small part to the massive popularity of the blockchain game Axie Infinity, whose meteoric rise in the country last year made play-to-earn a globally recognized phenomenon. Yet the crypto story in the Philippines started long before the birth of Axie Infinity.

“The Filipino experience is already global,” said Yield Guild Games Global COO Colin Goltra.

Goltra proclaimed this during his #CryptoPH talk recounting the history of crypto in the Philippines on Day 1 of the conference on Nov. 15.

He pointed out that Filipinos have always been used to living in networks. He cited not only the fact that the Philippines is an archipelago, but also the Filipino diaspora.

Goltra also said that this natural Filipino state of living in networks has been recognized by fiction. In particular, he reminded the audience that in 1999, the legendary science fiction writer Neal Stephenson released “Cryptonomicon”, which is set in the Philippines.

This seminal novel was influenced by and influenced cyberpunk, which in turn inspired real-world technologists.

In a Sept. 4, 2005 Philippine Star article called “Wired in Manila”, Scott R. Garceau talked about the role the country plays in “Cryptonomicon”.

“Is it a great celestial coincidence — or just a weird touch of irony — that cyber-novelist Neal Stephenson sets a big chunk of his 1,100-page novel Cryptonomicon in one of Manila’s oldest sections — Intramuros?

“A little of both. Like any good writer, Stephenson is wired to pick up on the juxtapositions of old and new, ancient and high-tech, mystical and cyberspace. Writers have been commenting on the rich, contradictory strangeness of Philippine life for years (myself included). Of course it’s weird that almost all Filipinos carry around cell phones but still have to jump on foot-pedaled trikes to get from point A to point B. Of course it’s amazing how malls have replaced parks in the hothouse environment of Manila — so that Pinoys will always choose the Great Indoors over the Great Outdoors.

“This is all part of living with, sailing on and adapting to the strange waves and breezes of life in Manila. Stephenson captures this — or at least one of his main characters, American code writer Randy Waterhouse, understands it as he wanders around the perimeters of Intramuros, Quiapo and Roxas Boulevard with his GPS receiver, locating the densest pockets of humanity so that he and his business partner, Avi, can corner the market on… information.”

Fast forward to 2022, and the “contradictory strangeness of Philippine life” might be even more pronounced. After all, Bonifacio Global City itself is in a bubble — a high-tech and sustainable oasis surrounded by less-developed areas of the megalopolis.

The future is being born in the Philippines, as shown in this weeklong celebration of blockchain gaming, NFTs, esports, DeFi, and cryptocurrency. Yet much of the country remains mired in the past, along with a majority of Filipinos. Which is why play-to-earn became a godsend to many in this emerging economy in the first place.

You might think that the spectacular collapse of FTX might have put a damper on the Philippine Web3 Festival, but if anything, the different industry stakeholders seem to remain bullish and fervent in the belief that web3 can be a force for good.

That Filipinos will not only be able to adapt to these disruptions, but also thrive and lead the way to the promised land in web3. Lifting not only themselves up, but also others.

In my case, I have found my ikigai championing crypto for creators, blockchain for good, and web3 for a better world.

By taking care of the technology and infrastructure, including providing a robust set of APIs, Playfix lets developers focus on what they do best: making fun games and delighting their players.

Not only is Playfix empowering game developers, but also potentially changing the lives of millions of gamers, especially those in emerging economies.

I’m grateful to represent Playfix at the Philippine Web3 Festival, where I am moderating the panel “Getting from Zero to One in Gaming”.

I’m looking forward to a great discussion with the speakers, Enjinstarter CEO and Co-Founder Prakash Somusundran, Afante Studios CEO and Founder James Afante, and Playgroundzero.io CEO and Co-Founder Janze de Guzman.

The future is already here. We just have to work together to bring it to more people.

#PHWeb3Fest: Web3 alive and kicking in the Philippines was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

So, who had Reddit NFTs on their 2022 bingo card? Or that Elon Musk would actually end up buying Twitter, which is now testing NFT Tweet Tiles that will allow users to buy and sell NFTs through tweets?

With these two seismic shifts shaking up the crypto world, are we reaching a tipping point signaling the mass adoption of NFTs (non-fungible tokens)? Or, as Reddit has been careful to call them, Collectible Avatars, as an example of digital collectibles.

In fact, the first rule of NFTs might be: you do not talk about NFTs.

The success of Reddit’s Collectible Avatars has been nothing short of shocking, happening as it did during a bear market and involving Reddit users, who notoriously hate NFTs. Unbelievably, the Collectible Avatars generated US$2.5 million in daily trade volume. It also prompted three million Reddit users to sign up for NFT wallets.

One of the key takeaways from the massive success of Reddit is the frictionless onboarding of users, as this excellent article, “How Reddit Got Haters to Buy NFTs”, points out.

“Collectible Avatars — Reddit did not use the term Web3, NFTs, etc. They just launched their product and called it ‘Collectible Avatars’ to attract the non-web3 folks too. We bet most people did not even know that they were buying NFTs.

“Simple password security — To create a vault on Reddit, you need not store seed phrases to access your public address. They made it easier for Web3 users by creating a simple password method.

“Ease of payment — You could purchase Reddit NFTs through a credit card. No need to convert fiat into ETH or MATIC to pay for the NFTs.

“Although it’s not proven yet, these three factors could have played a major role in getting the non-Web3 folks also interested in NFTs.”

Similarly, Twitter’s NFT Tweet Tiles might bring NFTs to the attention of millions of users on its platform. Not only in terms of spreading awareness, but also in making it easier to buy and sell NFTs.

To onboard more users to web3 and get more people to embrace NFTs, cryptocurrency, and blockchain gaming, the process must become easier. In particular, creating a crypto wallet can be a major hurdle. Imagine how intimidating it is for someone unfamiliar with blockchain technology to be told that to buy NFTs, they must first create an account with a crypto wallet like MetaMask, buy cryptocurrency, and then connect MetaMask to an open NFT marketplace or minting page.

That’s why it’s becoming a trend for blockchain game developers and other companies embracing web3, such as GameStop, to create their own wallets, instead of outsourcing it to a third party like MetaMask. By providing a ready-made wallet for players, they ensure a better customer experience and a more painless onboarding process.

As part of its mission to empower game developers by letting them easily create and deploy web3 games and NFTs, Playfix offers a robust set of APIs. This includes the wallet API to manage custodial game wallets.

At the end of the day, NFTs will continue to evolve, and more people will find compelling reasons to buy them and embrace web3.

Let’s make it a lot easier for them.

Reddit NFTs, NFT Tweet Tiles: The road to mass adoption? was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tokens play an important role in blockchain gaming. They can be used as an in-game currency, as a way to reward players for achieving milestones, or as a governance mechanism. Understanding what blockchain tokens are, and how to deploy them, is critical for every game developer looking to get into this space.

In this article, we will show you how to deploy a new game token to the Polygon network in less than 10 minutes.

What are ERC20 Tokens?

In the Ethereum world, ERC stands for “Ethereum request for comment”. It’s a way for the open-source community around Ethereum to propose, discuss, and implement improvements to their blockchain. Each new request for comment gets a number based on the order it was made, and that’s how we arrive at ERC20.

ERC20 is a standard for creating fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Fungible tokens means that one token made with this standard will always equal another token of its type. You can read more about this on the Ethereum official site.

How are ERC20 Tokens used in Gaming?

In the simplest form, an ERC20 token can be used in different ways in a game. They are typically used as a currency, where players can earn, buy, or spend the token in the game.

For example, the game might make players buy the token to purchase a game NFT before they start playing. Or, the game might reward the player with these tokens as they achieve certain things in the game. The player might also be allowed to sell their game NFTs and be paid out in the game token.

As you can see, there’s a lot of potential here.

In addition, one of the most powerful aspects of using ERC20 tokens instead of some arbitrary in-game currency, is that these tokens can be bought, sold, and traded outside of the game itself!

Playfix Token API and Console Overview

Playfix includes a Token API and Console as part of its all-in-one platform for blockchain gaming. This makes it easy for game developers to create, deploy, and manage token contracts on any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchain.

Creating a Token with the Playfix Console

This post will focus on how to create fungible tokens for your game using the console.

Prerequisites

You will need the following three things to complete this guide:

1. The MetaMask wallet extension installed in your browser. You can install MetaMask from their site.
2. Add the Mumbai Polygon testnet here to your MetaMask wallet.
3. Send MATIC testnet tokens to your MetaMask wallet from the faucet.

Step 1: Create a Project

After logging into the console, the first step is to click on the “Create Project” button to create a new project. Just input the name and description of the new project, and upload a cover image for the project. Then click on the “Create” button.

Step 2: Create a Token

Next, navigate to the Token tab of the game console and click the New Token button.

In the New Token modal, give your token a name, which should just be one word, and input the token symbol — a 3–4 character word that relates to the token name. Copy your wallet address from MetaMask and paste it on the Owner Address field. Put an integer value, preferably 18, in the “Decimals” field, and pick Mumbai Testnet in the drop-down menu for “Network”.

Input the number of tokens you want for a start in the “Initial Supply” field. If you would love to mint more of the token in the future, input a value greater than the initial supply in the “Total Supply” field. Or you can make both initial supply and total supply the same to keep your token value in check.

After clicking on “Create Token”, your new token will appear in draft format under your project. This allows you to edit the details as needed. Once you are satisfied with all the details, just click on “Deploy”, kicking off the MetaMask process.

Click on the “Confirm” button on MetaMask, and you will see a message on the Playfix Console saying that the contract is being deployed on MetaMask. Your MetaMask wallet will also display the status of the deployment.

And, voila! You’ve deployed your own token. The Token Detail page will update with the contract address, as shown below.

Now you know how to leverage the Playfix platform to easily deploy the backend for your gaming economy in a day instead of months. Game developers no longer have to worry about the complexity of blockchain technology, and can focus on making awesome games and delighting their players.

If you’re interested in using Playfix to build a blockchain game, contact us at start@playfix.io and we’ll set you up with an account.

Playfix Console: How to Create Tokens the Easy Way was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When you visit the site of Philippine-made blockchain game Anito Legends, you will be greeted with a disclaimer that says, in part: “Anito Legends is a game that utilizes some ‘play and earn’ mechanics. It is not an investment opportunity nor is it an invitation to invest.”

“Play-to-earn needs to evolve past being an investment or ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme. Looking at the local guilds and players today, a balanced game economy looks more like a rewards program like SM Advantage, Robinsons Rewards, or even the Starbucks Card for the casual gamers. For competitive players, the scene and corresponding rewards will be similar to esports,” said Anito Legends Co-Founder and CMO Jayvee Fernandez.

“I personally believe that ‘play-to-earn’ will be less about hype and more about quietly integrating into most facets of the gaming industry. What I mean is — if you remember the mid 2000s when marketers were talking about SEO (search engine optimization) and algorithms being the next big thing — well today, nobody talks about that. SEO is now just part and parcel of digital marketing. In the same way, ‘play-to-earn’ will be a component of future games in the same way we have in-app purchases and paid DLCs (downloadable content). We’re seeing some aspects of that today with titles like Ni no Kuni where the play-to-earn features are there but entirely optional,” he said.

Putting its own spin on Philippine myths and creatures, Anito Legends is a strategic auto-battler. You assemble your own team of Anitos by buying the non-fungible tokens. Then feed and train your Anitos, battle other players, and earn $GINTO tokens.

Asked what is the competitive advantage that differentiates Anito Legends from other blockchain games, Fernandez replied: “Our perspective comes from that of game developers. We do not come from fintech or are ‘crypto bros.’ The team has had so many learning experiences from past success in web2 games (App Store and Play), especially in the casual space. Aggregately, the team has shy of 60 million downloads for the casual game titles.

“We were actually quite surprised that many blockchain GameFi projects don’t even have an MVP (minimum viable product) after fundraising. For us, the team had already released a game while the fundraising was happening — and it was out on four platforms with cross-play features. Many projects don’t think long term and make themselves look like quick cash grabs. We were honestly disturbed by this because the indie mindset meant a constant iteration based on feedback from the community. For the record, our six-month beta period had a total of 40 game updates pushed out and this was all from user feedback. We take data very seriously.”

Fernandez pointed out that Masayato Games (the game developer behind Anito Legends) is actually the product of 15 years of friendship and collaboration.

“On my end, I’ve known [Co-Founder and COO] Erick Garayblas while I was still working with Hinge-Inquirer Publications as I was actively beta testing his games on Palm OS and the Pocket PC and writing about them for Mobile Philippines — our publication at that time. [Co-Founder and CEO] James Chua and [Co-Founder and CCO] Jed Cruz were my guildmates since the Guild Wars days. Since the local game development scene was small at the time, James and Jed of Pixelkit met up with Erick and founded a game studio together almost a decade ago. I think you could say that Anito Legends is 15 years in the making, bringing together all the success, failures, and learnings the four founders accumulated in that span of time.”

While we saw the meteoric rise of play-to-earn last year, why did it lose momentum, and where will it go from here?

“Play-to-earn was a hit because of the pandemic. All of a sudden people had time to focus on something new because they needed new sources of income while staying home. The problem was in-game economic hyperinflation that had real consequences to the token value. To be very fair, this isn’t the fault of anchor games like Axie Infinity and Pegaxy — they were not prepared to grow this fast in such a short period of time. You could call it the first mover dilemma — they reaped the benefits but also have to deal with creating a playbook that new games will have to either follow, critique, or build on top of.

What happens, however, to the community that formed around play-to-earn games, especially the scholars? What can be done to help them if they have been previously relying on play-to-earn games for income?

“I think guilds should take an honest look at the industry, at their scholars, and their goals. The Axie phenomenon was a unique blip in time and I doubt copying it today will be sustainable. Scholars need to graduate at some point. You can see how many scholars-turned-influencers are doing it and they have branched out to more than just playing play-to-earn games. What the industry needs more of is education. It’s hard, I know — but that is reality.

“Also, a lot falls on the game developers as well, to design loops and gameplay features that prioritize rewarding players and collaborations rather than looking too much like a grind. At the end of the day, a good gaming experience retains players because it’s fun, not just because you can potentially earn,” he said.

Blockchain is not a fad, and both the blockchain and gaming industries will continue to evolve and reshape each other. The important thing to remember is that play-to-earn is just one of the different business models that exist now for blockchain games.

Who knows what others the future will bring?

Play-to-earn to become like SEO, says Anito Legends co-founder was originally published in The Playfix Chronicles on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.