Why the Metaverse and the Future of E-Sports Will Converge With Games Like Castle Defense

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Gaming and Metaverse have actually co-existed for a long time dating back to when we first played Damagochi. For several decades, the concept of the Metaverse has been consistently thought of as a solid economy, where players could engage in trading game items among themselves in numerous big game titles, like Lineage and others. 

As time passed, the concept of the Metaverse has grown in popularity and has now become the new kid on the block, largely due to the recent pandemic and drastic lifestyle changes that have ensued. The concept is so future-proof, that Facebook FB has even released its plans to shift its focus to the Metaverse. 

So What Does This Mean for Esports, Particularly Blockchain Gaming?

The Esports ecosystem has evolved post-COVID-19. Now anyone, from anywhere in the world can become an Esports player. They even can make a living out of it, especially when it comes to blockchain games, thereby making the profession of being a professional Esports player more realistic than ever. 

As lucrative as blockchain games may seem, there are still not many high-quality and playable mobile blockchain games available on the market. The three key things to look at when evaluating a blockchain game are Tokenomics, Blockchain Tech, and Game Quality. Blockchain game developers should work towards striking a balance between these 3 factors. How many live blockchain games in the market satisfy all three elements? 

The answer is not many. Thankfully, there are games that have focused on striking this delicate balance. Pocket Arena is one of them. 

Pocket Arena has been on an upward trajectory ever since the introduction of their flagship NFT game, Castle Defense. On a daily basis, over 6,000 unique users play Castle Defense with approximately 300 to 500 daily new user sign-ups purely through word of mouth and networking. Pocket Arena is also in the process of building guilds, with the first 99 guilds allotted for the Luzern battle. For those who don’t know, guilds are a group of professional Esports players who can manage NFT castles and increase their value (in other words grinding) through a revenue-sharing model.

This appeal has led to rapid traction for Pocket Arena, with the average session duration per user sitting at 40 minutes per day. Nearly 20,000 users visit the game daily, with a 45% retention rate and 78% adoption on mobile devices. 

Strong Esports players are in demand and the good ones are hard to find with NFT castle sponsors offering an extra premium to ‘grind’ (increase the value of castles). ForC those who are not able to find good players, can have fun by playing the game themselves.

There is also a “Land” feature coming soon to the Castle Defense ecosystem where castle owners can earn passive XP from the land they capture via battles and decorate their land with NFT items like flags and other structures. In addition, castle owners can also defend their land from peer attacks or attack peers to acquire lands.

The Metaverse is interesting but it can be limiting if it does not have Esports and its elements as described above. One could argue that Esports battles are much more fascinating for gamers, as seen in Castle Defense which sold out 5,000 NFT Castles. Castle owners can participate in peer-to-peer battles to acquire virtual lands in Luzern, Switzerland. 

Enter the convergence of the Metaverse and Esports. 

Image Sourced from LaunchTeam

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.