The Current State of Illuvium

From time to time it’s good to step back and take stock of where Illuvium is as a project. I’ll look at this from a couple key perspectives. First we will look at game progress. Second will be the funding runway. Lastly, we will look at marketing and mass appeal. Each of these areas are crucial to Illuvium’s long term success.

Game Progress

Coming off the recent Overworld Twitch stream with Brycent and subsequent streams by Illuvium team members, I think the Wen crowd is starting to quiet down. People seem to be satisfied with the level of gameplay we currently have and most are eager to try the Overworld for themselves.

Although we have had countless delays, I think the overall sentiment is positive. Ultimately, games of this caliber take time and the Illuvium team is working at a break neck pace to deliver. Having a working Overworld in 2 years time with a team of 200 is unheard of for a game with the standards of Illuvium. Overall, it seems that the hard work is paying off and the progress on the game is being noticed by both Web 3 and traditional gamers. Illuvium is beginning to make waves, but the sea is large.

Other pain points have been Illuvium Zero and Illuvitars. The recent artwork shown on this side of the project has been spectacular, but the delays have taken a toll.

The excitement for IZ and Illuvitars has all but dissipated. This of course will re-emerge when these aspects of the game launch, but at the moment things are quiet.

It’s been months since the Illuvitars hype video. Luckily, we do have the Overworld hype to cushion some of the blow. Just like the Overworld launch hype, these too will have their day. It’s just a matter of time and ultimately once they are released no one will remember the delays. The wait can be tough for the diehard fans, but the masses who will take this game to the stratosphere are none the wiser.

Funding Runway

This is an interesting one and not something that should be taken lightly. Community member Lelahel is very data driven and always provides good insight into the current state of Illuvium’s financial picture. All the data is on chain and open to the public for those willing to dig a little bit. Here is a chart they posted on Twitter:

This is where we currently stand. The team is spending between $1–2 million roughly per month. There was a recent uptick in October to about $2 million. According to this chart, there is about $15 million of runway remaining. If you assume no revenue generating events, this would maybe get us through 2023 if finances are guarded closely. Luckily, we do have potential revenue generation coming in the form of Illuvitars and possibly a capital raise. These two events should see us through. At the end of the day, we just need to survive until the Illuvium engines are fired up. Once we have the full game loop and economics in motion, the cost to play will hopefully drive future revenues. Couple that with merch sales, Illuvitar sales, media and sponsorship deals etc and the sky is the limit. We will need a bridge to get there and questions do remain, but I have faith in this team. We did not come this far just to come this far. This project will be seen through.

Marketing and Mass Appeal

We are still early. Most gamers have no idea what Illuvium is and that is okay. A few are starting to take notice. This shift will be gradual and then seemingly all at once. Illuvium just needs to make sure they have things buttoned up when the flood gates do open. You only get one chance to make a first impression. The team realizes this and has prioritized it as some of their best Illuvials are the free to play Tier 0s. This was not an accident. They know what they’re doing.

The marketing has been fantastic in some ways and lacking in others. Kieran’s willingness to jump on AMA’s and always interact with the community has been next level. He will literally do anything for the project. This culminated with 11k concurrent viewers on a Twitch stream to debut the Overworld. This was an hour long free ad for Illuvium on the biggest gaming platform in the world. Well done! Equally as effective is Andrew and Grants weekly Illuvium Showcase. This always keeps the community involved and updated with the most recent happenings in Illuvium. However, I do think Illuvium’s Twitter is lacking. The Illuvium Twitter should be a hub of activity. This should be the spot people go to regularly for first looks, live streams and Twitter spaces. So far it hasn’t been that way. Leaks in discord will sometimes show up a week later on Twitter or not at all. The Illuvium account should be constantly pumping out the best leaks and updates. I want to see that account reach 1M followers in 2023. There’s no reason why they can’t. For example, they only had 4 tweets about the Overworld debut and none in real time showing footage of the gameplay. This was a missed opportunity. The Overworld was a massive win on Twitch and it could’ve been a massive win on Twitter as well. To put it into perspective here is a side by side of my account with less than 400 followers vs Illuvium’s account with 350k followers.

These tweets were 40 minutes apart. Simply put I should never have more engagement than Illuvium’s main account. People are dying to see the game. It needs to be showcased more on Twitter. So are there areas for improvement on the marketing front? Of course and that’s to be expected with a project this size. There are a lot of moving parts and you can’t always get everything right. At the end of the day, the team is putting their best foot forward daily and that’s all you can ask for. There will be growing pains and things will be corrected over time. I think the Twitter marketing of the Twitch stream can be seen as a learning opportunity and a chance to take a harder look at social media protocols. Overall, I’m happy with the content that Illuvium provides. Whether it’s Andrew and Grant mixing it up in the Illuvium Showcase or Kieran joining an AMA, this team goes above and beyond to spread the word about Illuvium. Illuvium’s Twitter account should be the loudest voice in the room. It’s still early, I think they’ll get there.

As we wrap this up, I hope this gave you a good idea of the current state of Illuvium. The project is humming along and making progress everyday, but the job is never done. The Overworld looks amazing and the team (and community) should celebrate how far they’ve come. In my eyes, Illuvium proved their legitimacy to the larger community during that Twitch stream and the trust will only grow stronger. The Illuvium brand is becoming more legitimate everyday and people are taking notice. Keep it up!

Thank You

As always, thank you for reading my article! Follow me on Twitter (@Rhamphy) to keep up with the latest Illuvium news, leaks and more.

Everything I write is purely my opinion and should not be taken as financial advice.