StepN's brand new version 2.0, exploring the "upgrades" of STEPN GO in one article

Author: Jaleel Jia Liu, BlockBeats

When mentioning the summer of 2022, many people still remember the popularity of StepN, where buying a pair of running shoes and earning rewards by exercising daily became a major trend in both the crypto and tech circles.

Two years later, StepN has launched a brand new 2.0 version—STEPN GO, which is also the third game developed by FSL following StepN and Gas Hero. Although this new version is still in the testing phase with a small player base, its improvements in the earning mechanism and design have already attracted the attention of many new and old players.

Amin is an old player of StepN and is now also an early participant in STEPN GO. In his experience, the GGT token has performed well, and with his level 19 running shoes, he can earn about $300 a day. He also mentioned, "The payback period is currently around 30-40 days," and while there is still uncertainty, this is already a pretty good result for old players.

STEPN GO Game Interface

In this article, BlockBeats will delve into the "upgrades" of STEPN GO, the entry barriers for new users, and the earnings and payback periods that players are most concerned about. It should be noted that STEPN GO is still in the testing phase, so specific data may change with game updates.

What upgrades does StepN 2.0 have?

GGT: The New GST

StepN uses GST and GMT as its main tokens, while STEPN GO introduces GGT (Go Game Token), which is deployed on the Polygon chain and has no limit on the number of tokens.

Since its launch on September 5, GGT's price has been quite volatile. Just one hour after its launch, the price surged by 2120%, and then quickly fell back to around $6. However, after a period of fluctuation, GGT's price has shown a steady upward trend in the past week. As of the time of writing on September 12, GGT's price has rebounded to $10.

GGT can mainly be obtained by completing daily outdoor exercise tasks. Users can choose to earn GGT while exercising with NFT running shoes. Many factors influence GGT earnings, including the type of shoes, level, efficiency attributes, and quality of the shoes. For example, Runner shoes typically earn more GGT than Jogger shoes.

STEPN GO has also implemented a daily earnings cap and a token burn mechanism. Users initially have a daily GGT cap of 5/5, which can be increased to a maximum of 300/300. By upgrading shoes or burning gems, users can raise this cap. Users can burn GGT to mint and "breed" new shoes, upgrade existing gear, unlock slots, create clothing, and even initiate or participate in events on the interactive map. The burned GGT will be permanently destroyed, reducing the circulating supply in the market, maintaining the ecosystem's balance, and controlling token inflation.

Shoe Levels and Customization System

In StepN, the maximum shoe level is 20, but in STEPN GO, the maximum level has been raised to 60. Additionally, two new attributes have been added: Charm and Karma, which not only affect performance in the game but also influence social interactions and competition among players.

Charm can help players acquire more clothing fragments in the game, while Karma affects performance on the PvP leaderboard; the higher the Karma, the more rewards users receive.

Users can enhance these attributes by upgrading their shoes. During the upgrade process, users will consume a certain amount of GGT, and some higher-level stages will also require GMT. Shoes of different qualities will gain additional attribute points after each upgrade, which users can allocate freely.

New Shoe Rental Gameplay: Treating Running Shoes as Financial Tools?

In StepN, users could only participate in exercise and earn rewards by purchasing and holding NFT running shoes. Although the idea of introducing a shoe rental feature was considered in version 1.0, it was ultimately not launched, leaving users to use their purchased shoes alone without sharing with others.

However, as a 2.0 version, STEPN GO has realized this long-awaited feature by launching The Haus system. This system is similar to a sharing economy platform, allowing users to list idle shoes on the platform for others to rent.

For shoe owners, renting out shoes means they can earn extra income even if they don't have time to exercise themselves, making shoes more like a financial tool (but if the owner does not consume 2 energy daily, they will not receive the earnings provided by the renter). For renters, the cost of purchasing two pairs of shoes is relatively high, currently estimated at around $8,000. However, STEPN GO's The Haus system provides a low-cost entry point, allowing users to start experiencing StepN GO and earn GGT or other rewards without purchasing NFT running shoes.

In addition to these three significant functional upgrades, STEPN GO has also enhanced social interaction, reward mechanisms, and anti-cheating systems. In STEPN GO, users can view nearby runners through an interactive map or compete with global players via the PvP leaderboard. This design breaks away from the previous solitary exercise model and incorporates more social elements.

Moreover, STEPN GO has introduced diverse reward options. Users can earn GGT through exercise, search for treasure chests, and unlock clothing fragments. To ensure fairness in the game, the platform has introduced a more advanced SMAC-7 anti-cheating system.

Running Shoes Entering the "Narrow Gate": How Much Higher is the Barrier?

"The design adjustments made by STEPN GO are very clever; the team has clearly learned a lot from StepN and Gashero." Amin, an early participant in StepN in 2021, is now also an early player of STEPN GO. In his view, the design of STEPN GO has greatly improved the game's lifecycle and sustainability, making this experiment more viral.

STEPN GO Box Opening Interface

STEPN GO initially had strict control over invitation codes. Shoes purchased from the Mooar market could not be used directly; only shoes with activation codes could start running. It seems that in STEPN GO's strategy, controlling the growth rate of new users is one way to maintain the lifecycle of this mechanism.

This can also be seen in the data; in the past 30 days, the number of new users in STEPN GO has decreased from over 400 to around 50.

"StepN was initially too FOMO, and the growth mechanism for running shoes was too aggressive, which led to a loss of profits later on. The total amount in the crypto space is here, and only gradual growth can allow the entire running shoe ecosystem to survive longer." In Amin's view, STEPN GO's control over the entry barriers for new users will continue for a long time.

Amin obtained his running shoes through staking GMT and participating in a lottery, "Of course, this is something many people criticize; the staking period for GMT is 4 years. Who knows what will happen in 4 years?" At this point, Amin clearly expressed some complaints.

Moreover, there are only two ways to obtain invitation codes: being gifted or renting shoes. "Of course, the official will also hold events and lotteries through various channels, and it is expected that they will gradually loosen the restrictions," Amin also revealed to BlockBeats that there are a small number of invitation codes available for trading in some off-market channels.

Receiving an invitation code for free is almost impossible; renting shoes through The Haus system is still a possibility, but the supply is limited. "Looking for owners, online," many users in the STEPN GO community channel are seeking "shoe owners willing to rent out" to participate at a low cost.

Currently, in the market, successful pairings of "shoe owners" and "renters" generally follow a profit-sharing model of 9:1 or 8:2, with rental periods typically set at two weeks. However, for shoe owners, if they encounter renters who "fish for three days and sunbathe for two," the opportunity cost and time cost of the shoes are wasted, especially since The Haus system is a new concept.

As a result, the number of users willing to rent out shoes is relatively small; most people still choose to burn shoes to gain energy or rent shoes to family or friends rather than strangers.

High Risk, High Reward? What Are the Earnings and Payback Periods?

Amin currently owns level 19 shoes, and since he has raised his cap once, he can consume 3 energy points daily to earn 26 GGT. Based on the current GGT price of $11, he can earn about $300 a day.

"The payback period is a bit difficult to calculate because the energy consumption cap and earnings during the beginner phase and later stages are actually different; it can only be estimated." When asked about the payback period, Amin said this.

If we disregard the special effects of the shoes, Amin estimates the payback period to be around 30-40 days. According to his cost calculations, staking GMT to win a pair of running shoes and spending around $4,000 in the market to buy a pair of shoes to burn for energy results in a cost of around $5,000.

He can earn 22 GGT daily. However, since upgrading shoes consumes some GGT, the actual payback period is about 25 days. Amin mentioned that burning a pair of shoes can yield 90 energy points, while the energy cap during the early stages is 2 points daily, meaning users can run continuously for 45 days. In an ideal scenario, after recovering the costs on the 20th day, the remaining 25 days can yield pure profit.

"Of course, this estimate ignores many influencing factors, such as the daily energy consumption cap potentially increasing to 3 points later, the bonuses from special shoe effects, fluctuations in GGT prices, the speed of user growth, and other earning methods like breeding shoes and renting shoes." Amin added that these factors would all have some impact on earnings.

Currently, most users in the market estimate their payback period to be around 30 days, which is a widely accepted timeframe. Another player, Max, who has also participated in the internal testing for a long time, recalled that the payback period for early StepN was only 7-14 days, while now the payback period for STEPN GO has extended by 2-3 times.

Max believes that the biggest factors currently affecting STEPN GO's earnings and payback period are the price of GGT. He pointed out, "GGT is essentially the new GST, but its production cost is higher." Amin also expressed similar views during the interview.

Therefore, Amin is very concerned about the data on GGT's destruction and production. From several data sources, it can be seen that since September 10, the destruction of GGT has been greater than its production, and in the previous days, the difference was also similar. Additionally, the trading volume of the $GGT /GMT trading pair on several DEXs has also seen significant growth, which has made both Amin and Max optimistic about the short-term price trend of GGT.

The short-term rise of GGT and GMT is not very friendly for new players who have not yet entered the market. This is because the rise in GMT has also pushed up the price of running shoes, soaring from 35,000 GMT a few days ago to 63,300 GMT.

Max also mentioned that over time, the cost of energy replenishment in STEPN GO is about 35% of the total value of the shoes, similar to the "repair" cost in version 1.0, but this cost is fixed at the time of initial investment. He believes that as long as the daily growth rate of users remains at 0.5-0.75%, the current price structure can be maintained, which will further support market demand for shoes and keep the floor price healthier.

Overall, the 2.0 version of STEPN GO has brought many innovations to the entire running shoe ecosystem, especially in terms of the introduction of the GGT token, the launch of the shoe rental system, and the more strategic entry barrier design. For early players, this is undoubtedly a new opportunity, but it also requires careful evaluation of potential risks and rewards.

Considering that the game is still in the testing phase, certain mechanisms and earnings may be adjusted over time. As Amin said, "Although the barriers have increased, this also means that the returns may be more substantial. If you can enter early, the returns from STEPN GO are still quite considerable."

Thanks to: Mable, Amin, Max, Zijing