DeHorizon: The Disney of the Crypto World, The True Metaverse
DeHorizon is a metaverse game ecosystem built on a multi-chain network.Written by: Noodle
The first time I heard about DeHorizon was at a dinner party, where a friend mysteriously said, "I invested in a really awesome project, and I'm counting on it for a 100x return," and then I learned that the project's name was DeHorizon.
A comment from my friend left a deep impression on me, "The Disney of the crypto world, a true metaverse," which I decided to use as the title for today's article.
On December 6, OKEx announced that DeHorizon would be the latest project in the OKEx Jumpstart program, with staking and mining activities starting on the 7th at 2 PM.
Out of curiosity, I will provide a comprehensive analysis of DeHorizon.
What is DeHorizon?
DeHorizon is a metaverse game ecosystem built on a multi-chain network, meaning it is not just a single game but more like a gaming platform that creates a user-governed co-creation game metaverse.
Their long-term goal is to build a virtual carnival that is interoperable across multiple chains, open to all metaverse natives, allowing them to have a second life in the DeHorizon metaverse world.
DeHorizon has a complete story universe; for example, Numen is the guardian deity in the DeHorizon metaverse, including rangers, thieves, adventurers, alchemists, and warriors. JuJu is a pet that accompanies players, which they can nurture and witness grow.
This is one aspect where I think DeHorizon excels. From the beginning, they focused not on how to develop a game but on building a story IP, making each character more vivid. This is similar to Disney, where the IP is the core.
On the official website, players can read background stories about characters and organizations, and there is also a Comics (Coming soon) section, looking forward to future comic content.
From the characters revealed by the official team and Founder Shane, their character designs are essentially in a Disney-like comic style, small and exquisite.
Currently, the DeHorizon ecosystem has launched three games of different styles and one DID product.
Multiplayer Team Battle DeVerse
DeVerse is a team battle MMORPG chain game, where each player needs a guardian deity to join the fight against enemies, defeating them to earn game items and rewards. Each guardian deity has 1 normal attack and 3 skills.
DeVerse is expected to launch in Q1 2022.
Battle Royale DeTournament
DeTournament is a battle royale game where each player can play alone or with friends, exploring the map to discover treasures, while outside players can observe the match in god mode.
Dragon Racing DeQuidditch
DeQuidditch is a dragon racing game where the goal is to score more points than opponents.
Each target is worth 5 points, catching the "magic ball" is worth 50 points, and each point is also worth the same amount of tokens (in-game currency). The game ends when the "magic ball" is caught or the last one is left on the field.
There are no penalty rules during the match. Dragons can fight each other and shoot at each other. The number of players in each match is limited. If players do not have the chance to play or do not have a dragon, they can bet on players and win rewards after the game ends.
This reminds me of the Quidditch matches in Harry Potter.
DeMeta
DeMeta is an innovative NFT product, an interoperable, editable, and evolvable ERC-721 NFT, consisting of 6 changeable game avatars and equipment, along with a character profile stored on-chain that players can edit.
The key feature here is "editable." Players can consume GAS to reset their character profiles, while the previous owner's profile will be saved on-chain for future reference. This kind of editable NFT has immense imaginative potential.
Overall, it can be seen as a passport for each player entering the DeHorizon metaverse, a decentralized identity to access multiple game worlds.
This is also a development trend I see for NFTs in the future, shifting from purely JPG NFTs to those with both artistic and practical value.
According to the official roadmap, the public beta versions of DeVerse and DeTournament will be launched in Q1 2022, while the public beta version of DeQuidditch is planned for Q3 2022.
If we compare traditional gold mining games to GameFi 1.0, then DeHorizon’s games are gradually entering the 2.0 era, making a leap in terms of visibility and playability, Play for fun and to earn.
Team
Looking at the backgrounds of the DeHorizon team members, it can be summarized as rich traditional gaming experience and crypto industry experience. Here are a few highlights.
Gaming Background:
Todd Porter is the founding producer of Dungeons & Dragons and the first MMORPG, Ultima, with over 20 years of experience in the gaming industry.
Changtao Zhou has participated in the release of over 20 games and has served as the CTO and co-founder of Yoozoo. Gamers should be familiar with Yoozoo, a publicly listed company with a market value exceeding $10 billion, which once held over 20% of the Chinese mobile gaming market share.
Matt Mocarski has previously worked on World of Warcraft and developed Candy Crush at the UK game developer King.
Crypto Background:
Shane Zhu, founding director, graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in robotics and is a serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Previously, he was a cryptocurrency trading fund manager.
Cecilia Maple, Chief Marketing Officer, is responsible for DeHorizon’s global marketing efforts, with over 7 years of operational and marketing experience in fintech and blockchain, previously serving as the marketing director at Bithumb Global.
David Chiu, Chief Technology Officer, has over 5 years of experience in cryptocurrency wallet development. After obtaining a PhD in computer science from the University of Houston, he became the technical director for several multinational tech companies and CTO for several AR and AI companies.
Economic Model
For a blockchain game, the economic model is crucial, balancing Play and Earn.
DeHorizon uses a governance token + independent native token model.
DEVT is the DAO governance token, with a total supply of 300 million. Those who hold and stake DEVT will have the opportunity to become members of the DeHorizon DAO and participate in governance proposals. The official materials also mention that a burn mechanism will be introduced later to maintain a relatively stable supply of DEVT.
On the official website, the project team has thoughtfully labeled the circulation of tokens at each time point and where they are released, which is commendable.
Source: https://dehorizon-foundation-1.gitbook.io/dehorizon/tokenomics
An important date is December 15, the launch day, when 9 million DEVT will be unlocked, with an initial circulation of 3%.
Additionally, each game has its own independent native token, such as DVT (DeVerse Token), DTT (DeTournament Token), and DQT (DeQuidditch Token).
Players can use these game native tokens to purchase digital assets like characters, land, and equipment. As more game scenarios are released, players will need more tokens to unlock gameplay and upgrade equipment. To participate in the game, players must purchase tokens from the liquidity pool in the early stages to generate their characters and complete the game startup.
The supply of DVT/DTT/DQT is entirely based on the growth of the game user base and unlocked gameplay, with an initial supply of 1,000,000,000, and to ensure fairness in token issuance, it will be launched using Fair Launch.
Investor Background
In October, DeHorizon announced the completion of an $8.5 million Pre-A round of financing, led by Sfermion, Dragonfly Capital, and Everest Ventures Group, with participation from Animoca Brands, Yield Guild Games, Mechanism Capital, and others.
The investment lineup is impressive, with Animoca Brands and YGG being benchmarks in the blockchain gaming field.
The three leading investors are also noteworthy.
Sfermion raised $100 million in November specifically to invest in the NFT space, with LPs including a16z founder Marc Andreessen, early partner Chris Dixon, and the Winklevoss twins from the Gemini exchange. Sfermion founder Andrew has also invested in OpenSea.
Dragonfly Capital, a prominent fund, can be summarized in four words: wealthy and powerful, having invested in Lido, Bybit, Animoca Brands, Avalanche, and zkSync's parent company Matter Labs.
Everest Ventures Group (EVG) is low-key yet luxurious, having invested early in The SandBox, Animoca Brands, Flow… Dapper Labs CBO Naayem once described EVG as the DCG of Asia. (The original quote was EVG is building the DCG of Asia.)
YGG
I want to specifically mention YGG because, on one hand, YGG invested in DeHorizon, and on the other hand, they purchased exclusive assets within the DeHorizon Metaverse game before its launch.
According to their disclosed information, YGG purchased $91,000 worth of DeHorizon game assets, including exclusive weapons, equipment, a dragon racing team, DeMeta Pass ID, and 40 custom monsters named JuJus. Compared to regular game items, the exclusive weapons and equipment obtained by YGG have better attributes. Additionally, YGG also conducted a token swap worth $60,000 for YGG/DEVT tokens.
A clear message released here is that YGG and its scholars will definitely participate in this game and have already started strategic planning, which also expresses confidence and recognition of the games within the DeHorizon ecosystem. Therefore, I also label DeHorizon as YGG Selected.
However, I personally have a question: Does allowing gaming guilds to intervene early and obtain better equipment violate fairness?
Finally, let's summarize the project's highlights and potential risks.
Game Highlights
The team background is very strong and comprehensive, with both OGs in the gaming field and marketing and technical talents in the crypto field.
A platform-type ecosystem with a high valuation ceiling and a clear long-term plan and vision.
Excellent art style and high playability.
YGG Selected certification, ensuring traffic upon game launch.
Strong investor lineup.
Potential Risks
The macro market trend may affect players' enthusiasm for participation; of course, the market treats everyone equally.
The future value capture of the governance token, including the burn mechanism, needs further clarification and improvement.
