Target and market
We are initially targeting 3D combat video game players who appreciate futuristic universes are familiar with NFT and cryptocurrency.
In the longer term, we aspire to target all game lovers, familiar with cryptocurrency or not, by popularizing its use and making it as transparent as possible.
Our avatar is :
Between 18 et 52 years old.
has a 75% chance of being a man and 25% of being a woman,
is first French-speaking, then English-speaking, Chinese-speaking, Korean-speaking and Japanese-speaking
is an occasional or regular player
Current status of the project and roadmap
The world of online play to earn has existed since the beginnings of the Internet, with for example online casinos, poker, but also very accessible mini-games like Prizee (2000), allowing anyone to play very simple games and earn points that can be exchanged for physical gifts.
The rise of play to earn then accelerated with the development of MMORPG (Massive Multiplayers Online Role-Playing Game), where a virtual character explores a universe and has an inventory. Each item that equips him allows him to improve his abilities and progress in the game. Thus, a weak character, but better equipped, will quickly remove obstacles and frustrations in the game, unlike another who does not have such good items and will be faced with repeated and time-consuming actions to progress and better equip himself.
Marketplaces within these games, such as the auction house in World Of Warcraft, allow items to be traded or sold using the game's currency. Rare items sell for a high price and allow players to progress faster and save a lot of time.
The arrival of 'in-game' marketplaces has led some players to develop external marketplaces where these items can be bought for real currency. In this case, the payment is made outside the game and the item is transferred manually within the game, often illegally. Thus, the most expensive items allow players, mostly teenagers or young adults, to obtain an additional income while playing.
This has led to numerous abuses, forcing game publishers to take into account the emergence of this new economic model: players must now be able to buy items with real money without disrupting the game, and in a perfectly legal way.
The growing adoption of cryptocurrency as well as the advent of NFTs is now giving rise to previously unimaginable concepts. It is no longer necessary to be a "pro gamer" who aims for excellence to become the best and get the biggest rewards in a play to earn game. A smart player will clearly be able to achieve his goals in this type of game, where performance is not synonymous with results, provided that the game has a solid and structured economy. The player earns valuable NFTs and cryptocurrency by exploring, selling, trading or being a smart strategist. This is the case for example with:
Decentraland.
Axie Infinity.
Illuvium.
Splinterlands.
The Sandbox.
Neon District.
MyNeighborAlice.
The evolution of the marketcap and the considerable growth volume of these games
can be consulted at any moment in real time by clicking here
We can see :
Dazzling growths in less than a year. For example: Axie Infinity which has reached a market cap of 3.9 billion dollars.
Active projects, The Sandbox has reached a volume of 197 million dollars as of September 14, 2021.
A growing number of projects that are only at a development stage and yet generate millions in terms of volume. This is the case of Star Atlas ($215m market cap) or Illuvium ($297m market cap).
What's even more interesting is that sometimes Bitcoin is being battered while these new economies are resisting and continuing to grow, a sign of considerable enthusiasm for these projects and of an economy that is increasingly uncorrelated with market fluctuations.
E-sports market
The boom in the mobile gaming market has been a key phenomenon in the world of video games in recent years. Part of this phenomenon, which we want to participate in, can be explained by the massive adoption of smartphones and the consequent decline of computer gamers who need to make a substantial investment to play the latest games.
In a family, the purchase of a smartphone is made in priority to a computer. Very often, the computer available at home will be dedicated to office tasks and not to gaming. The development of the game on mobile devices will allow a better market penetration by decreasing the friction at the moment of the installation of the game.
The online gaming market is growing at a steady pace due to factors such as:
The increasing adoption of advanced gaming technologies.
Changing consumer preferences for entertainment.
Rising income levels and increasing demand for mobile gaming.
Increasing penetration of the gaming market by smartphones and apps.
Improved Internet connectivity resulting in an increase in the number of gamers.
As competitive video games continue to become part of popular culture, investors, brands and the global media are all paying attention. Consumers are also paying attention. In fact, there will be 26.6 million monthly e-sports viewers in 2021, up 11.4 percent from 2020, according to Insider Intelligence's report.
The industry has seen a huge increase in the number of investors, and more recently private equity firms, who believe in its success. In fact, the number of investments in e-sports doubled in 2018, from 34% in 2017 to 68% in 2018, according to Deloitte. This is also reflected in the total amount of money invested: the amount of investment in e-sports rose to $4.5 billion in 2018, up from just $490 million the year before, a staggering annual growth rate of 837% again according to Deloitte. This investment is being distributed to players in the ecosystem - from e-sports organizations to tournament operators to digital broadcasters - allowing it to operate and grow.
The significant growth of mobile in the world of video games now also extends to the discipline of e-sports. As the computing power of smartphones increases, major licenses are making the transition to mobile. This is notably the case of the unavoidable League of Legend with Wild Rift.
The latter is not an isolated case, there are for example PUBG Mobile, Fortnite Battle Royale or Call of Duty Mobile. Competitions have started to appear to celebrate the rise of this new category, giving new ideas to development studios! The Red Bull MEO (the acronym for Mobile E-sports Open) is now considered the biggest e-sports tournament on mobile. Asia and South America are in full swing when it comes to competitive mobile gaming. China for example is reported to have twice as many players on mobile as on PC. The reasons are a low cost of entry and increasingly powerful mobile phones.
According to esports.net, 4 of the 5 most viewed e-sport competitions in the world are mobile games. For the 2022 Asian Games, the 8 selected and medal-eligible games include mobile games.
Interest in the world of mechas
Originating from the world of science fiction, mechas are quickly adopted in manga and anime. It is rare to find no mecha or giant and powerful creature, piloted by humans, in the biggest successes of Japanese animation. So much so that today it is possible to visit real animated statues of robots, especially in Tokyo, and it is even possible to pilot them as is the case with the famous Kuratas created in 2015.
The fascination for the creation of robots is only increasing, whether they are piloted or totally autonomous. Examples include the colossal successes of films like:
Pacific Rim with $411 million box-office.
I-robot with $347.2 million box-office.
Alita with $404 million box-office.
Or Transformers 3, which generated the colossal sum of $1.124 billion.
These show that, although born in Japan, the Western world is producing more and more films on the theme of robots. As for anime, their success is no longer to be proven, as shown by the cult devoted to series such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Code Geass, Goldorak or Mobile Suit Gundam. So much so that a 18 meters high Gundam robot has actually been designed by a Japanese company and is publicly visible.
Beyond that, on social networks, we can observe fascinating videos such as:
34 million views for the Boston Dynamics robot, and a considerable growth in the number of subscribers of their YouTube channel.
Video games, meanwhile, are also successful:
The famous Mechawarrior series from 1989 continues to develop mecha combat games. Its latest release is from 2019.
Hardcore Mecha gets quite honorable ratings (8.8/10) rivaling those of the best video games.
New games with great potential are developed and highly anticipated by the critics like MASS Builder.
Surfing on the waves of E-sports, play-to-earn, cryptocurrency or NFT and the interest for mechas, we want to push even further the experience offered to our players.
We don't want to create yet another mecha combat game. We are going to change lives and create a virtual world where every action of the players will have value and impact on the game's economy.
Inspiration
The universe and concept of Mechachain are rooted in various inspirations, but above all they capture the great challenges of tomorrow: the new space race and its future colonization, the rise of artificial intelligence and the question of transhumanism.
In addition to this deep interest in the great questions of our century, we also assume more or less direct influences to our favorite works of fiction such as:
Ready Player One
Code Geass
Evangelion
Aldnoah Zero
Mobile Suit Gundam
Knights of Sidonia
Ghost in the Shell
Pacific Rim
Alien
Warhammer 40K
The founding members are all regular or occasional players and enjoy games as varied as:
Overwatch
Super Mecha Champions
League of Legends
Minecraft
Hades
MechWarrior
Fortnite
Titanfall
Dofus
Guildwars
Some of these games are an inspiration for Mechachain's gameplay, but also examples for our team to follow in terms of adoption and marketing strategy.
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