Play2Earn game Blast Royale: what you need to know

For quite a while, games, as we knew them, were perceived merely as a way of having fun. But right now, players spend money on such games to acquire in-game crypto items. So, Play2Earn games are emerging not only for fun but as a viable investment as well.

Jump into the action was blockchain-based gaming platform First Light Games. Founded by two gaming industry veterans, Neil McFarland and Anil Das-Gupta, the company is behind the first blockchain-based battle royale game built on Polygon L2 chain, Blast Royale.

Before we get into the whats and hows of Blast Royale, let’s get to know First Light Games a bit.

Founded in March 2019, the team behind First Light boasts a combined 100+ years of experience designing AAA games for mobile, console and PC. The London-based startup is headed by Neil McFarland, who started his career as a commercial artist before joining UX agency UsTwo. While there, he was actively engaged in all of the UI and UX for Sony Ericsson phones and also worked on world-class titles such as Monument Valley, Fable, Street Fighter and Tomb Raider.

Anil Das-Gupta, CPO – Product / Design Lead and Co-Founder, has been in the gaming industry for over 15 years. Anil has worked on some of the world’s biggest games projects and held positions as Director of Product, Lead Designer and Product Manager on a huge range of top-tier games. Shortly afterwards Matt Ryan came on board as the third co-founder and CTO. 

As a web3 games studio, First Light Games says its primary business model revolves around a P2E mechanism that builds up revenue in their game treasuries, which both players and the company share when the treasury is staked.

Engaging Gameplay

First Light Games’ flagship product is its blockchain-based mobile game, Blast Royale, which has recently closed a $5-million private token sale. The round was co-led by Animoca Brands and Mechanism Capital along with a clutch of reputable crypto-centric investment funds.

Blast Royale has gained a lot of traction in developing countries where such play-to-earn games can make a meaningful impact. 

Battle Royale matches feature up to 30 simultaneous players with minigames, collectables, and gameplay variations to satisfy both casual gamers and the hardcore competitive pro. On the other hand, its ‘investment’ structure is based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) which introduce an earning system and unites the concept with conventional gaming. 

There are two ways to play Blast Royale: free-to-play or by purchasing and equipping NFTs that allow players to earn while playing matches. The game uses two ERC-20 compatible tokens:

• Blastoken ($BLST) is the primary governance and staking token. With a limited supply of 512 million tokens, $BLST can be utilized to perform many actions within the Blast Royale metaverse: equipment purchases/sales, creating new items and repairing them.
• Craft Spice ($CS) is a secondary token that has critical in-game uses. $CS is minted through interacting with the gameplay mechanics, primarily as rewards; with the proportion of tokens earned by each player dependent on their NFTs’ quantity.

These tokens allow players to control in-game assets and trade them in the built-in marketplace: marketplace.blastroyale.com. In a nutshell, Blast Royale has two major selling points:

• Compatibility across platforms: The game is playable on Windows, Android, and iOS, making it accessible for all kinds of players.
• The P2E model: The main highlight of Blast Royale is the P2E model, which offers a passive source of income for speculative players. If the game keeps performing well, your NFTs could be sold later at a higher price tag.

While some blockchain games are free-to-play, most require you to spend a certain amount to purchase a starter pack or progress further. Those not willing to fork out the upfront capital will be happy to know that Blast Royale allows them to earn by completing a free line of a battle pass and climbing into higher competitive leagues. Eventually, players will earn enough to obtain NFT equipment, even though they started with just free equipment and no upfront payments.

Nevertheless, the fastest way to start earning on the Blast Royale ecosystem is to have NFT equipment. More interestingly, $BLST holders can stake the token in exchange for a portion of the regular distribution of funds from the treasury.

Conclusion

Blast Royale offers users a rich gaming experience along with multiple opportunities to earn money. Anyone who would like to explore the play2earn universe will come there at one point. 

If the player lacks enough funds to buy the NFT equipment he can opt for a free-to-play route, although the former one offers better and faster rewards. 

In sum, Blast Royale has a promising future. The developer, First Light Games, is focused on a gameplay-first mantra to make it an open universe. 

If you want to understand Blast Royale, start with the game itself. Playing it will give you an understanding of its token economy as well as its value as a game.