(Note Matr1x should be spelled as Matrix for proper English translation)

(Matrix should be spelled as 'Matrix' for proper English translation)

Source: medium

It is not difficult to see from the recently concluded blockchain conferences such as ETHCC that the blockchain industry is once again entering a “winter” of narrative, except for the “prosperous” Bitcoin ecology. Currently, funds and projects are mainly focused on infrastructure, including modular public chains, MEV, AA wallets, ZK, etc. However, there is a lack of new growth points in narrative, especially in terms of large-scale user adoption and conversion.

Whether it is Vitalik Buterin’s statement from a few years ago that “the first practical use case of blockchain will be in finance and gaming,” or the fact that Web 2.0 has billions of players and a massive industry market value of trillions of dollars, it is clear that Web3 Games hold great hope for breaking the barriers of blockchain and becoming the next growth point in narrative. Although the first attempts in the past two years, represented by Axie and StepN in the Play-to-Earn (Move-to-Earn) space, failed due to their overly focused economic models, which neglected the essential gameplay aspect in favor of earning, hundreds of teams are actively exploring the next generation of “Gamefi2.0” based on the lessons learned. The billions of dollars in financing raised in the Web3 Games sector in the past year also reflects the favor of developers and capital towards this sector.

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In the past few months, we have seen a greater emphasis on playability in the 3A RPG genre, as well as the creation of NFT-based Free to Own games, NFT+ games that continuously empower NFTs, and Bet to Earn/Skill to Earn games with a certain level of gambling and competitive nature. New creative ideas emerge constantly, but in essence, the direction of Web3 Games (or Gamefi2.0) can be categorized into two main types:

The first type can be called Web2.5 style. It emphasizes Play & Earn, weakening the Earn component and increasing the proportion of Play. Unlike the various “chain transformations” in 2018 when blockchain technology was applied to various applications like using a hammer to find nails, the blockchain now represents not simply the concept of “on-chain assets,” but also a fusion of game culture and story background with blockchain, Web3 communities based on NFTs, on-chain and off-chain governance, and more, all of which give a unique experience different from both the Web2.5 style and Web2 Games.

The second type is a more authentic “pure Web3 Game,” Crypto Native, Fully On-chain Game. Now there is a new term, Autonomous World, represented by Dark Forest, OpCraft, Curio, Topology, Influence, and others, leading the frontier. The narrative in this sector is grander and more blockchain-native, but it is still in its early stages. To give an inappropriate analogy, it is somewhat similar to DeFi in 2018 or ZK in 2020, and it still needs a few more years of iteration and development.

After all the buildup, we finally get to the point – why should we invest in Matr1x?

Because Matr1x is the one and only project that we see in the current market that has reached the pinnacle of the first type of Web2.5-style Game track.

There are four reasons for this:

Track selection – Web2 games have been proven for many years

If you are a veteran gamer with many years of experience, you must have noticed that PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds), which was released 5-6 years ago, was almost the last non-single-player “phenomenal game.” The gaming industry has not seen any major gameplay innovations for many years since then. And as MMORPGs like World of Warcraft gradually decline, the two most mature and suitable multiplayer gaming tracks for the current fast-paced fragmented life are shooting and MOBA.

Shooting games include the CSGO genre (including Valorant) and the PUBG genre (including Call of Duty Warzone and Fortnite).

MOBAs are even more familiar to everyone – Dota, LoL, and many more.

Matr1x directly chooses this shooting track, which is proven and extremely mature. The first game directly competes with CSGO, and the second game that is being developed is a Battle Royale style (CSGO also recently added a Battle Royale mode, which indirectly confirms that shooting games cannot escape team confrontation and survival as the two major modes). Since Matr1x is a Web2.5 game, it does not need to seek innovation like Fully Onchain games, but can directly choose the hottest and most mature shooting track.

There is another important reason for choosing shooting games, which is competitions and live streaming. Many viewers who don’t play shooting games themselves enjoy watching streamers play games like PUBG on platforms like Douyu or Twitch. Therefore, a game with a sense of competition and streamability is crucial for generating traffic. We have always wanted to achieve “mass adoption” through GameFi, and we want it to be a non-pay-to-win and sustainable model. Competitions and live streaming are likely to be the breakthrough, and the prerequisite for all of this is that the type of game is suitable for competitions and live streaming, and its quality makes people love playing and watching. In August, Matr1x invited a former professional esports player to do a live stream, and the number of viewers reached 110,000.

By the way, in the past few months, the most popular gaming streams on Twitch have been Valorant and CSGO.

Game Quality – Equivalent to Web2’s top tier

Web2.5 emphasizes Play more than Earn, and it is clear that games like Axie, which are placed within Web2, definitely do not meet the standards of graphics and gameplay from over a decade ago. The next generation of Web3 Games should at least have enough appeal on the “Play” level. So, where is the ceiling for this “enough” appeal? Naturally, it is the top-tier games in the same category as Web2.

For Matr1x, the upper limit of gameplay quality would be CSGO and Valorant.

Based on the released alpha testing videos and feedback from testers, Matr1x’s first game, Matr1x Fire, is on par with Valorant in terms of graphics, gameplay, and other aspects. In other words, even if this is not a Web3 game and is placed in Web2, it has enough competitiveness to attract many players in the shooting genre. In the world of blockchain gaming, it is considered a ceiling-breaking game.

Another noteworthy point is that both CSGO and Valorant do not have mobile versions, leaving many players who want to experience these games disappointed. Currently, the mobile gaming market is three times bigger than the PC gaming market, and Matr1x Fire seizes this opportunity by developing a mobile version. Furthermore, for players who want to experience the game on PC, there will be dedicated emulators for them to use. It can be said that Matr1x is extremely considerate in this aspect.

In the 20-day alpha testing period in August, there were over 200,000 registered players, with over 100,000 downloads. The average daily active players reached 15,000, with a peak concurrent player count of 4,000. The average game duration was two hours. It is worth emphasizing that among the testers, there were a considerable number of traditional shooting game professionals and semi-professional esports players. These numbers would be considered outstanding achievements in any Web2 game beta testing phase, but in the realm of Web3, it is way ahead, once again proving Matr1x’s game quality equivalent to Web2’s top-tier games.

Gameplay and Culture – Web2 Experience + Web3 Culture

As mentioned earlier, for Web3 games that focus on a Web2.5 hybrid style, if they only offer Web2 gameplay plus the integration of tokens and NFT assets, they would be no different from the “tokenization” trend in 2018, and it would be difficult to sustain long-term operations, as shown by the fate of CryptoKitties.

The hybrid nature of Web2.5 requires exclusive Web3 gameplay as well as a narrative and culture distinct from Web2. When Matr1x was first in alpha testing, there were doubts from players, questioning why they should play this game when they can just play CSGO or Valorant.

The answer lies in culture – just as in this industry, people don’t care whether you wear a Rolex or a Patek Philippe watch, but they do care if your avatar is a Punk or a Monkey.

It’s the same with gaming – when the gameplay is equally satisfying, why not play a game that aligns with our community culture?

Matr1x has really put in a lot of effort in terms of gameplay and culture. The entire game’s story revolves around a future Earth where AI society is facing resource depletion, and human data sovereignty is monopolized by some mega organizations like Uranus (giving us Black Mirror vibes). Matr1X Alliance is fighting to regain data sovereignty and take on Uranus head-on (think Web3’s Read, Write, Own…). The current novel based on the story background is already over 100,000 words long and the whole structure is divided into a trilogy with a unified worldview. The first step, CSGO + Battle Royale mode, takes place on Earth. The second part, a shooter + MMORPG, continues the storyline on Mars. The third part of the game is set in the interstellar era, with the game type yet to be determined.

As for the gameplay aspect, most users under normal circumstances won’t even realize that this is a Web3 game. Even when officially promoted, they position themselves as a mobile game version of CSGO. Only when you want more flashy characters, cooler gun skins, or want to explore similar CSGO skin markets, will you notice these NFT and Market Place elements.

In short, the Play to Earn elements in the entire game are downplayed, while some unique features of NFTs such as breeding and hatching will bring a different experience to Web2 players. It is currently in the limited testing phase, and its issued NFT 2061 has already accumulated a trading volume of over 7,000 E with a floor price of 2.1 E, which has increased more than tenfold in just a few months.

A team that is both excellent and “up to something”

In Web3 projects, the team is crucial, and if you want to break the norm, the requirements for the team increase exponentially. For the gaming sector, the team needs to have strong game development capabilities, a deep understanding of the game market and Web3, and they need to be able to “stir things up”. Each of the above conditions may not be difficult individually, but when combined, they are extremely rare.

The Matr1x team is one of the few teams we believe meets all of the above conditions. They have both the senior production experience of major game studios and the years of immersion in blockchain. They also know that “good wines are afraid of deep alleys” in today’s market, and they possess a series of moves that demonstrate their formidable business development and marketing capabilities.

• KOL live streaming – mentioned above;

• Community-led competitive tournaments with a prize pool of up to 10,000 U;

• Character design – featuring a cyberpunk style, with some characters resembling the elements of Marvel’s Black Widow and the CyberPunk game;

Famous Coser Cosplay – Friend.Tech, which was popular before, accurately found the entry point of Twitter KOL and ignited the SocialFi trend. Matr1x is also collaborating with some well-known Cosers on Twitter, capturing traffic both within and outside the circle.

According to the team, as the number of players increases and the popularity of the game IP rises, they also have plans to create short videos and even movies. The project itself will also consider imitating the model of Steam and Half-Life back then, gradually moving towards becoming a Web3 game distribution platform after making Matr1x a hit.

In summary, we believe that Matr1x has the potential to become the leading project in the Web3 gaming track in the future. In the next bull market, it will play a role in breaking barriers and driving mass adoption of Web3, becoming the next phenomenon-level GameFi work like Axie/StepN.

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