Merit Circle partners with explorative ‘Game3’ MMO game, Undra

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Undra, an upcoming game that aims to challenge and expand on conventional web3 practices in order to take games beyond the GameFi space to Game3. As part of the partnership, Merit Circle has invested $500,000 and has taken an advisory role.

A new & unfamiliar land

In an age of zeppelins and steamships, one mystery dominates the greatest minds from across the globe: what is Undra? What caused this strange island to rise from the ocean? And can Undra’s deadly wildlife and unique raw materials be exploited to propel humanity into a brave new era? Only with skillful collaboration can the bravest survive and thrive in Undra’s subterranean depths.

The team behind Undra, Studio Decent aims to take advantage of a new environment in which they can experiment with web3 principles in the context of gaming. These include player ownership of assets, the mechanics of community governance and trustless collaboration to name a few. Undra serves as the perfect breeding ground for fresh perspectives of GameFi, which will propel games to a level that Studio Decent coins as ‘Game3’. Play-to-earn games in this space go beyond the simple gamification of DeFi activities, such as speculation and yield farming, and take on a more game-driven approach.

Adapting our traditional models

While there is much that we can learn from the traditional model of game development, there are stark differences that prevent these from fully transferring over into the GameFi space. Previously, big teams with even bigger budgets would invest their time and money long before the game was announced to the public. There was less need for hype and gamers in the industry accepted the practices of these established gaming companies.

The situation quickly changes when you place ownership back in the hands of the players. In this rapidly changing space that is constantly being redefined and further developed it soon became clear that studios would need to garner and maintain support in their early stages. Typically, games are released in segments and must be entertaining and rewarding for both early backers, as well as future players. This poses a challenge when creating the complex economic and financial systems that MMOs are known for.

In a bid to tackle this, the team at Studio Decent have taken a radical approach to the development of Undra. Taking a staggered approach, the storyline and systems within Undra will be released in mostly-finished layers. What starts as a simulation of an early industrial empire, evolves into a strategy-rich game focusing on politics and industry.

Through organic interactions between an increasing base of players, these simple systems will grow into multi-layered financial and political systems. By putting ownership back into the hands of the gamers, the team has planned for the progressive decentralization of the Undra economy to be fully governed by community-owned and maintained systems.

Game3 — first play, then earn

As the GameFi space matures, the novelty of gamified DeFi activities has begun to wear off. Going beyond simple staking and voting mechanisms, the team at Studio Decent is looking to take a more game-driven approach. They assert that gamers in this space are a mix of those who enjoy gameplay more, while there are others who play for financial gain. To satisfy the demand from both groups, the team believes that ‘Game3’ games like Undra will only enable financial play in their games, not place it at the forefront.

Merit Circle x Undra

We love everything about gaming at Merit Circle and are committed to the idea that the fun comes first. We are happy to see this idea being well represented by the team behind Undra, and being made the focus of their development. As early backers, we are intrigued to see how the political and financial systems will develop as more episodes are released and the community base expands.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming governance release in May 2022, which will introduce a weekly story update. Early supporters will also be able to vote on the future of Undra with the associated player votes.

“Merit Circle is one of the very few groups who truly “get” this space. As operators themselves, this isn’t just funding, this is a partnership to build something truly exciting together.” ~Sazerac

To learn more about Undra, follow them on these channels:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/undra_game
Discord: https://discord.gg/undra
Website: https://undra.game/

To stay up to date with our journey, follow Merit Circle on these channels:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeritCircle_IO
Medium: https://medium.com/@meritcircle
Discord: https://discord.gg/meritcircle
Website: https://www.meritcircle.io