The crypto bear market has definitely had an impact on the blockchain space with NFT art along with DeFi getting hit particularly hard.
Monthly sales volume on OpenSea have plunged to $700 million in June, down from $2.6 billion in May, while Bitcoin lost around 57% in the first six months of the year, and Ether dropped 71%.
So what about the P2E gaming industry. How’s that doing right now?
There was major speculation for play-to-earn gaming, if you recall the big Solana industry conference that took place in Spain last November 2021. Axie Infinity was a hot ticket in CryptoTown, generating over $10 million a day last August.
But the combination of poor in-game economics, inflation threatening the real world’s economy and a $600 million hack, the price of Axies and the game’s cryptocurrency collapsed. But that’s just one bad case.
If you look closer, you’ll discover that there are many Web3 games out there which are thriving. And what better way to understand what’s really happening with P2E gaming than to connect with the gaming company, which holds the #1 ranked P2E game on Solana, Catheon Gaming.
Catheon Gaming Brings an Unmatched Track Record to P2E Gaming
If you’re not familiar with this company, then you will be shocked to hear about how successful they’ve been in a very short period of time. Catheon Gaming claims to be the fastest growing play-to-earn integrated blockchain and entertainment company globally. And if you check out their track record, then you’ll see that they truly are unmatched with their achievements.
There are 22 games under the Catheon Gaming brand, 11 million community members, and 80+ million downloads — all built in just the last 9 months. You’ll learn from this interview, with the Catheon Gaming COO Lewis Grafton, that P2E is far from doomed. On the contrary, they’re getting ready to hit the blockchain industry with a storm in the most positive way!
One of the big questions I’ve personally always had about P2E gaming, which is probably the same question everyone else has is ‘where does the money come from?’ and ‘how can the P2E game be sustainable?’ Fortunately, Lewis took some time out of his very busy schedule to answer my questions, and share his insight about the inner workings of P2E gaming at Catheon.
Check out our deeply insightful interview with Lewis Grafton! You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn about the positive things happening in the Web3 gaming industry, and why it’s going to bounce back even stronger than ever before.
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Introduce yourself. Share some background information about who you are, how long you’ve been with the company, your role with Catheon.
I’m Lewis Grafton, the Chief Operating Officer at Catheon Gaming. My background is in traditional finance with a mix of investment banking and private capital investing. I was involved in the Solchicks project at the very beginning from September 2021, before the inception of Catheon Gaming.
Catheon officially owns the title of having the #1 play-to-earn game on Solana! Tell us about this game. What has made it so successful?
SolChicks is a fantasy RPG revolving around the concept of cute but fierce SolChicks NFTs, battling it out with their mortal enemy SolFox for the survival of their planet Chicco.
RPGs are a popular genre and we really captivated people with the chicken, fantasy concept, which is very playful and has a broad appeal. What made the game so successful is that we really focused on user entertainment and ensuring that it’s a fun game to play first and foremost.
There are 22 games under the Catheon Gaming brand, 11 million community members, and 80+ million downloads. How have you had such explosive growth in the last 9 months?
We have been fortunate to partner with some very successful game developers and studios, who have brought renowned game titles to our portfolio. We are working to combine the best elements of popular Web2 video games with the benefits and extensive use cases that blockchain technology can bring. Catheon Gaming has an industry leading business development team, a wide network and a unique value proposition.
What’s the secret to your #1 rank? Is it the game itself or is it a matter of having a large enough marketing budget?
We actually bootstrapped our growth with a very modest marketing budget. The secret for us has been the community and empowering our most passionate supporters to step up and take leadership roles in the management and growth of each individual project. We really empower our team to contribute to the growth and success of the company, it makes them feel part of something bigger.
Explain the tokenomics behind your play to earn games. Where does the money come from to pay the players?
Each of our games has a bespoke economic model that we design to suit the style of the game. The guiding principle is to not disrupt the fun of the core game loop, whilst allowing players to exchange items of value within the game.
To be sustainable, the aggregate of players need to be net contributors to the game economy. Unlike traditional games where there is only a one way flow of value to the developers, play-to-earn (or what we now typically see described as play-and-earn or play-to-own) redirects some of this value back to the players and other stakeholders within the game and creates a circular economy around it.
How do you maintain the token prices for all your games, and prevent players from selling the tokens as soon as they earn them? (Example, Axie Infinity)
Token prices are a function of supply and demand. The key to maintaining economic balance is to carefully manage each. Keeping supply in check requires that the token emissions rate is not too high and scales with player numbers. Demand is driven by providing utility for the token with lots of appealing in-game use cases for players to hold on to their tokens for.
How much does an average player earn playing your games? Do any of your players play games for a living?
The earn rate in SolChicks is very modest currently as players are playing the minigame as we lead up to the full game release (Q4 2022). In our upcoming title Angrymals, earn rates will be driven primarily by player skill and it will be possible for very successful players to earn significantly more if they can consistently win tournaments and PvP matches.
How do you see the future of the play-to-earn gaming industry in the next few years? And what role will your company play?
We see Web3 gaming as being the biggest shift in the gaming industry over the next few years with earning and ownership based player economies being the third major business transition from what started as pay-to-play and then free-to-play models.
Catheon Gaming will help drive this transition as we bring many strong titles to Web3. What is currently holding the transition back is the lack of quality gameplay in the first generation of blockchain games and we are solving this by bringing proven IP and game titles to this part of the industry.
Are all your games playable in the metaverse?
We are building all our games with interoperability in mind. That means when you have game items or avatars in one game, NFT technology allows for these same assets to be present in other games and virtual worlds. This creates endless possibilities for playing our games and others in the metaverse.
Metaverse technology is still in its early stages. What are your plans with future metaverse gaming development?
We are developing a couple of different metaverse platforms with interoperability in mind. The aspect of the metaverse that gets us most excited is user generated content and the potential to create all kinds of items and environments. Unlocking the creativity in the game community has so much potential.
We noticed that you have a “sing to earn” game. There’s also a lot of buzz going around with the “move to earn” games. Do you have plans to expand into these new areas?
We’re looking to launch titles across all game genres and styles. We don’t have any immediate plans for move-to-earn but where we see innovative use cases for blockchain technology that brings people entertainment and value beyond monetary rewards we will look to get involved.
Catheon for sure has an unmatched track record. Have you had any stumbling blocks along the way?
To build and grow at the pace that we are, it is essential to have the right people on board. We are constantly hiring and looking for the best people. We have been very fortunate so far with the team that we have but acquiring new talent is one of our biggest challenges. There’s definitely a dearth of talent in the Web3 space, which is understandable given the infancy of the industry.
Can you share more information about what kind of figures your company is generating right now? And how are you reinvesting this money?
“We have generated over $100m revenue since we started less than 12 months ago.
Everything is being reinvested back into the business at the moment as we look to accelerate growth and expand the platform side of the business.”
Lewis Grafton, COO of Catheon Gaming
Any exclusive news you’d like to share with Blockster? 🙂
We’re just about to launch our first equity raise for the business and are seeking the best partners to invest and help us with the next stage of growth.
In addition to this, we have also recently hired Mark Aubrey from Activision Blizzard as our Co-CEO, who will help steer the company in the right direction, alongside William – our founder and CEO. With Mark’s appointment, we will be able to cement our place in the blockchain gaming space.
