P2E game eliminates high-cost barriers for new players to participate in next-gen gameplay

In many ways, cryptocurrencies were designed to be an equalizer, a characteristic likened to the asset’s abilities to promote financial inclusion. Similarly, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were designed to accomplish the same mission of equality, only across industries such as art, real estate and gaming. Unfortunately, despite these lofty goals, the early use of NFTs has unintentionally introduced new forms of inequality.

Consider the gaming industry, for example. Conventional NFT games have introduced the concept of rewarding players as members of a community-built ecosystem. The intention of many developers was to allow gamers to earn fair compensation for their efforts and redistribute power from major corporations to players. In reality, these games are subject to high barriers to entry, making it difficult for players to participate in these ecosystems.

Since most of the players lack the funds to start or try out these games, many end up relying on the help of investors or communities for sponsorship; in exchange for doing so, the player would be required to split a portion of their profits with the investor. The need for an investor introduces the world to an entirely new intermediary and increases inequality, as sponsors are now eating up a significant portion of a player’s earnings. 

Addressing this market-wide concern is ETHEKing, a metaverse game built on the Binance Smart chain (BSC) blockchain network. The game, which incorporates NFT technology, was launched to cut out this middleman, shifting the power from the investor into the hands of the hardworking players who earned the funds in the first place.

“Strategy games usually attract smart and hardworking players who put in long hours into the game. We want to ensure these players are duly rewarded, and “You keep what you earn because you deserve it” is what the game creators believe in,” Tony Tran, the co-founder of ETHEKing, shares.

Put into practice, the game relies on a “play-to-earn” model with a lower barrier to entry than previous releases. Their different take on the market has since led to a secured investment from ‘The Bitcoin Man’ venture capital fund, with the founder, Herbert Sim, also joining the team as an advisor.

A best of both worlds launch

The ETHEKing game is set to be released in two parts, a strategic decision to ensure that the needs of both the crypto investor and play-to-earn gamer are being met.

In the first phase, which has already been launched, investors are allowed to purchase as much NFT land as possible. Each plot can be mined daily to earn ETHE for an immediate profit and later rented to players who participate in the free-to-play game. Although designed to provide passive earning opportunities for the crypto investor, it is worth noting that purchasing land will become beneficial in the phase two launch focused on building a profitable kingdom.

The second phase of gameplay, which is soon to be released, will add on a mobile strategy game, where players can construct, upgrade and grow their land while simultaneously defending their territories and earning rewards via NFT collectible. Leveraging the P2E model, players will be tasked with the mission to control a group of soldiers to gain Moon Point (MOP) in-game coins, which can be traded with ETHE for profits outside the NFT landscape.

Together, this dual release will ensure that barriers to entry are lowered to encourage widespread NFT use, and interested investors still have a profitable avenue to participate, although not at the player's expense.

Thousands of players with more to come

Over the last year, the team behind ETHEKing has made indications of several notable successes, including the delivery of returns on investment (ROIs) of 2-3 times for their NFT land owners, numbers which were achieved through the mining of land for crypto coins. As a result, their community now includes thousands of players who have signed up and entered the game, with a total of 10,000 plots of land being sold within the first three months of the release.

Although the team has made significant progress towards their goals, their plans for the next 12 months show little indication of slowing down. Their plans can be summarized as working with bigger named VCs and partners across the globe, maintaining a steady stream of game updates to encourage healthy action and further ensuring tokenomics and in-game economy are healthy and sustainable for the continued growth of the ETHEKing ecosystem.