ABCDE: Why should we invest in Matr1x?

From the blockchain conferences like ETHCC that ended some time ago, it is not difficult to see that the blockchain industry has once again entered a "frozen period" of narratives (aside from the "prosperous" inscription ecology of Bitcoin). Currently, funding and projects are mainly concentrated on infrastructure aspects, including modular public chains, MEV, AA wallets, ZK, etc., while there is a lack of new growth points in narratives, especially in large-scale user adoption and conversion.

Whether it is what Vitalik said a few years ago, that "the first landing scenarios for blockchain will be finance and gaming," or the massive 3 billion players and $200 billion industry market cap of Web2, Web3 games carry great hopes for breaking the boundaries of blockchain and becoming the next narrative growth point. Although the initial attempts in the past two years, represented by Play (Move) to Earn games like Axie and StepN, failed due to their overly emphasized earning aspects at the expense of gameplay, hundreds of teams are actively exploring a new generation of "Gamefi 2.0." The billions of dollars in financing in the Web3 game sector over the past year also reflect developers' and capital's favor towards this track.

In the past few months, we have seen more playable 3A RPG-style games, as well as NFT Free to Own games that continuously empower NFTs, or Bet to Earn/Skill to Earn games that incorporate certain gambling and competitive elements… New ideas are emerging endlessly, but fundamentally, the current direction of Web3 games (or Gamefi 2.0) can be categorized into two main types:

The first type can be called Web2.5 style. It emphasizes Play & Earn, downplaying the earning component and increasing the proportion of play. Unlike the various "chain reform" applications back in 2018 that were like hammering nails, blockchain carries not just a simple concept of "asset on-chain." The cultural and storytelling background of the combination of games and blockchain, the Web3 community based on NFTs, on-chain and off-chain governance, etc., all provide a different experience from Web2.5 style and Web2 games.

The second type is a more authentic "pure Web3 game," Crypto Native, Fully On-chain Game, now referred to as Autonomous World, represented by Dark Forest, OpCraft, Curio, Topology, Influence, etc., which are at the forefront. This track has a more grand narrative and is more blockchain-native, but it is still in its extremely early stages. A somewhat inappropriate analogy would be that it resembles DeFi in 2018 or ZK in 2020, which still needs a few years to iterate and develop. After laying out so much, let's finally get to the point: why should we invest in Matr1x?

Because Matr1x is currently the only project we see in the first type of Web2.5 style game track taken to the extreme. There are four reasons for this:

Track Selection --- Web2 Games Have Been Validated for Years

If you are an old player with years of gaming experience, you must have noticed that PUBG (Battle Royale), released 5 or 6 years ago, can almost be considered the last "phenomenal game" that is not single-player. The gaming circle has not seen any major exciting gameplay innovations since then. With MMORPGs represented by World of Warcraft gradually declining, the two most mature multiplayer game tracks that fit the current fast-paced, fragmented lifestyle are shooting and MOBA. The shooting genre basically includes the CSGO style (including Valorant) and the PUBG style (including Call of Duty: Warzone and Fortnite). The MOBA genre is even more familiar, with DOTA, LOL, and Honor of Kings…

Matr1x directly chooses this fully validated and extremely mature shooting track, with its first game directly competing with CSGO, and the second gameplay currently in development being a Battle Royale type (CSGO has recently launched a Battle Royale mode, indirectly validating that shooting ultimately revolves around team competition and survival). Since it is a Web2.5 game, there is no need to seek innovation like Fully On-chain games; it can directly choose the hottest and most mature shooting track.

Another important reason for choosing shooting is the competition and live streaming. Many viewers who do not play Battle Royale enjoy watching streamers play on platforms like Huya or Twitch. This shows how important a game with a strong "competitive feel" and "livability" is for traffic. We have always wanted to achieve "Mass Adoption" through Gamefi, and in a sustainable model that does not involve gold farming, competition and live streaming are likely to be the breakthrough path. The premise of all this is that the game's type is suitable for competition and live streaming, and its quality makes people "love to play" and "love to watch." In August, Matr1x invited a former professional esports player for a live stream, which attracted 110,000 viewers. By the way, the most popular game streams on Twitch in recent months have been Valorant and CSGO.

Game Quality --- On Par with Top Web2 Games

Web2.5 emphasizes Play over Earn. A game like Axie, which clearly has graphics and playability from over a decade ago in Web2, would not pass muster. The next generation of Web3 games must have sufficient appeal in terms of "Play." What is this "sufficient" ceiling? Naturally, it is the top games in the same track of Web2. For Matr1x, the upper limit of playability is CSGO and Valorant.

Based on the internal testing videos released and feedback from internal testers, Matr1x's first game, Matr1x Fire, is basically on par with Valorant in terms of graphics, playability, and other aspects. In other words, even if this is not a Web3 game, if placed in Web2, it would still have enough competitiveness to attract many players in the shooting field. In the chain game circle, it is absolutely at the ceiling level.

Another noteworthy point is that CSGO and Valorant do not have mobile versions, leaving many players wanting to experience these two games but unable to. The mobile game market is currently three times larger than the PC game market, and Matr1x Fire seizes this opportunity by directly developing a mobile version. Additionally, for players who want to experience the game on PC, there will be a dedicated emulator available for them, which can be considered very thoughtful.

During the 20-day Alpha test in August, over 200,000 players registered, with downloads exceeding 100,000, daily active players reaching 15,000, peak concurrent users hitting 4,000, and average game duration reaching two hours. It is worth emphasizing that a considerable number of traditional shooting professional and semi-professional esports players were among the testing player group. This data would be considered very impressive for any Web2 game testing network, and in the Web3 space, it is truly outstanding, further validating that Matr1x matches the game quality of top Web2 games.

Gameplay and Culture --- Web2 Experience + Web3 Culture

As mentioned before, Web3 games that focus on the Web2.5 hybrid style cannot simply be a combination of Web2 gameplay + token and NFT asset on-chain; otherwise, they would be no different from the "chain reform" that emerged in 2018 and would struggle to operate long-term, with Legend of Mir 4 being the best example.

The hybrid style of Web2.5 must have exclusive Web3 gameplay and a narrative and culture that differs from Web2. During the early internal testing of Matr1x, some players questioned why they should play this game instead of directly playing CSGO or Valorant.

The answer is culture --- just as in this circle, others do not care whether you wear a Rolex or a Patek Philippe, but whether your avatar is a Punk or a Monkey. The same applies to gaming --- when playability reaches parity, why not play a game that aligns with our culture?

Matr1x has truly put in a lot of effort in gameplay and culture. The entire game's story background revolves around a future Earth where resources are facing depletion in an AI society, and human data sovereignty is monopolized by some super organizations like Uranus (reminiscent of the first episode of Black Mirror Season 6). The Matr1X Alliance is engaged in a direct conflict to reclaim data sovereignty from Uranus (think of Web3's Read, Write, Own…). Currently, the story background novel has exceeded 100,000 words, and the entire structure is divided into a trilogy with a unified worldview: the first part, a CSGO + Battle Royale mode, takes place on Earth; the second part, a shooting + MMORPG game, continues the first generation's plot on Mars; the third part will be set in the interstellar era, with the game type yet to be determined.

As for gameplay, most users would not even perceive that this is a Web3 game under normal circumstances. The official promotion only positions it as a mobile game similar to CSGO. Only when you want cooler characters, cooler gun skins, or want to explore a market similar to CSGO's gun skin market will you notice the elements of NFTs and the marketplace.

In summary, the elements of Play to Earn are very subtly downplayed throughout the game, while some unique characteristics of NFTs, such as breeding and hatching, will provide Web2 players with a different experience. Currently, it is only in the limited testing phase, and the issued NFT 2061 has already accumulated a trading volume of over 7,000 ETH, with a floor price of 2.1 ETH, increasing more than tenfold in just a few months.

An Excellent Team That Knows How to "Make Things Happen"

In Web3 projects, the team is very important, and if you want to break boundaries, the requirements for the team increase exponentially. For the gaming track, the team needs to have strong game production capabilities, a deep understanding of the gaming market and Web3, and the ability to "make things happen." Any one of these conditions may not be difficult to meet individually, but combining them is extremely rare.

The Matr1x team is one of the few teams we believe meets all the above conditions. The team includes senior producers from major game companies and OGs who have been immersed in blockchain for years, and they understand that in the current market, "good wine fears no alley." A series of combined efforts showcase their formidable business development and marketing capabilities.

KOL live streaming --- as mentioned above; community-driven competitive events with prizes reaching $10,000; game character designs --- which have a strong cyberpunk style, with some characters reminiscent of Marvel's Black Widow and characters from Cyberpunk games;

• Well-known cosplayers --- previously, the very popular Friend.Tech accurately found the entry point for Twitter KOLs, igniting the SocialFi craze. Matr1x is also collaborating with some well-known cosplayers on Twitter, not missing out on traffic from both inside and outside the circle.

• According to the team, as the number of players increases and the game's IP gains recognition, there are plans to create short videos and even movies. The project itself will also consider mimicking the model of Steam and Half-Life, 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 a leader in the Web3 game track, playing a significant role in breaking boundaries and achieving mass adoption in the next bull market, becoming the next phenomenon-level Gamefi project like Axie/StepN.