Mythoverse
VeradiVerdict - Issue #208
InfiniGods is a Web3 multi-game studio with a focus on providing a seamless and fun onboarding experience for gamers to Web3. Pantera is excited to partner with InfiniGods in their $9M seed round as they build out a suite of creative, engaging, and interoperable blockchain-enabled games.
On-chain gaming has been one of the most explosive parts of crypto: over 500 active games exist and gaming transactions now compose over half of all blockchain activity. As P2E gaming reaches mass markets, it’s important to step back and analyze the sustainability of a game and its user base. If a Web3 game is just being treated as a short-term income stream, its health and community will suffer. It’s becoming clearer that Web3 gaming is a promising sector because it puts power into the hands of gamers, but there must be a focus on innovation and user experience over financialization. The best games combine blockchain technology’s elements of ownership with traditional gaming’s immersion and fun. We believe InfiniGods strikes this balance with its cross-game NFTs, complex worlds, and innovative rewards system.
A creative and user-centric product
InfiniGods’ thesis is built around creating fun games backed by powerful blockchain-enabled features like interoperability, scarcity, and community. The team noted that they’re focusing on creating an amazing user experience and high level of game quality first and Web3 integration second. Instead of launching a singular development-intensive game, InfiniGods plans to continually release three smaller games and one large game per year – all in their “Mythoverse” – with a focus on gaging the market and deeply knowing their user base.
An Elder God. Source: InfiniGods
Cross-game NFTs and a flexible token
InfiniGods is developing interoperable NFTs for cross-game utility – a huge unlock for liquidity and synergies across different gaming ecosystems. This seamlessness enhances stickiness across games and makes users more likely to purchase or develop NFTs on InfiniGods’ platform. InfiniGods’ NFTs are designed to be dynamic, with character SDKs provided so they can be leveraged by creators and players across the entire InfiniGods Universe and beyond. A governance token is being discussed to generate in-game rewards and encourage community engagement. Owning the token would enable users to help determine the direction of game development, choose which artists are chosen for game design, and decide on release schedules. InfiniGods is also considering integrating utility tokens into at least two of their games for users to earn in-game rewards.
Beta levels in Infini Merge. Source: InfiniGods
A game experience focused on fun
InfiniGods is designing immersive worlds based on ancient mythologies and civilizations with initial worlds of Greek, Norse, Chinese, and Egyptian myth. In-game NFTs are flexible and customizable:
NFTs can also be used across all InfiniGods games, so their utility is more likely to grow at a faster rate because of cross-chain interoperability.
Each one has a specific set of traits that help determine its value and in-game utility.
NFTs can be characters set in mythological times such as Gods and Heroes.
In June, InfiniGods dropped InfiniPass, an NFT collection of all-access passes that give users powers across the InfiniGods universe. InfiniGods’ “Community Pass” (0.05 ETH to mint, supply of 4,000) gives users early access to InfiniGods games and access to mint all future NFT sales on the platform. The “Ultimate Pass” (1 ETH to mint, supply of 259) gives buyers airdropped NFTs for every subsequent InfiniGods release, exclusive merch, and access to IRL experiences. InfiniGods currently has 4 games in the pipeline:
Infini Merge: players are given a new daily level to play which together compose a mythical story
Infini Towers: a tower-defense game where each day players are given a new island with a unique layout
Infini Isles: an exploration-based game where players discover lands, rescue heroes, and find treasures
Infini Arena: fight against other players’ Gods and earn treasures for winning battles
Infini Realms: a unique take on the city-building genre, following in the footsteps of such classics as Civilization, Clash of Clans, Pharaoh, and Age of Empires
Infini Merge’s closed beta period ended on July 15, and the open beta period is scheduled for mid-August.
An in-game God (Odin – Norse God of War & Thunder). Source: InfiniGods
Characters used in these games will have a set of body, mind, and soul traits including might, speed, cunning, charm, spirit, and luck. An example of an in-game character is Zeus: all Zeus’s are classified as “Elder God” but each have attributes such as “Vengeful” or “Wise.” Each character also has a culture classification (e.g. Greek or Chinese) as well as a description of their appearance (e.g. tall, beautiful, rich), personality (e.g. angry, calm, persuasive), and affinity (in-game actions like lightning or fire). Characters also are classified by attributes (e.g. Spiritual, Charmed) and skills (e.g. Archer, Hunter).
A level in Infini Merge. Source: InfiniGods
A team of gaming experts
InfiniGods’ cofounders, Damon Gura and Owen O’Donoghue, are both gaming industry veterans and have assembled an impressive team with deep industry experience. Damon founded the mobile gaming firm DGN Games and has 25 years of experience in the gaming sector, and Owen was the Director of Gaming at Facebook focused on helping game developers launch and grow their products. Matt Jackson is InfiniGods’ COO and has decades of operations experience at Motorola and Scientific Games. Mat Willows is the team’s Creative Director and has also been in the gaming industry for 25 years. He has produced, designed, and engineered dozens of games including Children of the Nile, Hinterland, Caesar 4, and Prelude to Darkness. InfiniGods’ Art Director is Chris Beatrice, who was the Impressions Games studio head, designer of Pharaoh, and founder of Tilted Mill Entertainment. Ryan McCarthy has extensive experience in the entertainment industry and is coming on as a Game Designer. The team is now 22 people and growing rapidly.
Designing the future of blockchain gaming
After the success of the closed beta for InfiniMerge that wrapped up on July 15, InfiniGods is excited to open up Infini Merge to the general public in Q3 2022. In that same quarter, they plan to release an NFT sale called Gen 0 - Elder Gods. Subsequently, the team will drop the Gen 1 - Gods and Monsters collection and the Infini Towers game in Q1 2023. Infini Isles and Infini Realms are slated to come out in Q2/Q3 2023 along with two more NFT collections. InfiniGods has already created a flourishing gaming community with ~4,000 Discord members and ~7,000 Twitter followers. By creating a strong and interoperable network of games – each with a unique player experience – InfiniGods will become a popular Web3 platform for both traditional and cryptonative gamers.
InfiniGods’ game roadmap. Source: InfiniGods
- Paul Veradittakit
DISCLAIMER
Pantera Capital Puerto Rico Management, LP and its affiliates (“Pantera”) makes investments in crypto assets and in blockchain-related companies. Pantera and/or its affiliates or personnel may be an investor in, or have relationships or other business arrangements related to, certain instruments, companies and/or projects discussed herein. This article does not contain any advertisement for Pantera’s investment advisory services, or any other services or products, whether provided by Pantera or otherwise. The information and opinions presented in this article are solely those of Paul Veradittakit, and do not represent investment, legal, tax, financial, or any other form of, advice or recommendations. Neither Pantera nor Mr. Veradittakit is acting, or purports to act, as an investment adviser or in a fiduciary capacity with respect to any recipient of this paper. Information contained in this document is believed to be reliable, but no representation is made regarding such information’s fairness, correctness, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness. There is no obligation to update this document or to otherwise notify a reader if any matter stated statement or information contained here changes or subsequently is shown to be inaccurate. Nothing contained herein constitutes any representation or warranty as to future performance of any financial instrument or company. Opinions included here incorporate subjective judgments or may be based on incomplete information. This document does not constitute or contain an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities or a recommendation to enter into any transaction, and no reliance should be placed on this document in making investment decisions.
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ABOUT ME
Hi, I’m Paul Veradittakit, a Partner at Pantera Capital, one of the oldest and largest institutional investors focused on investing in blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies. I’ve been in the industry since 2014, and the firm invests in equity, early stage token projects, and liquid cryptocurrencies on exchanges. I focus on early-stage investments and share my thoughts on what’s going on in the industry in this weekly newsletter.