2018: A Year In Milestones 🚀

From ICO to TRON migration, we look back on all that happened at BitGuild this year

Working in the crypto space is like being on a rollercoaster — the ups and downs are simply part of the ride. BitGuild is no different, and this year we’ve certainly experienced the high highs and low lows of an industry that’s still in its infancy. We completed our ICO and launched our portal, then faced the struggles of ETH’s scalability challenges. But, thanks to the strength of our team, we’ve managed to stay resilient and emerge stronger than ever. In less than a year, we achieved more than what we could’ve imagined and made some surprising pivots along the way.

Let’s take a look at all that we accomplished in 2018.

March: BitGuild Is Born ⭐️

Earlier this year, a group of crypto enthusiasts and gaming veterans came together to bring a revolutionary idea to life: the first ever blockchain gaming platform. For months and months, our team poured everything they had into this project, and by March it was time to let the world in on our journey. We kicked off our public sale that month and managed to raise more than $20 million through our ICO and private sale. While we were so humbled and overwhelmed by this response, it showed us that people believed in what we were doing and that exciting times were up ahead.

That same month, our VP of Business Development, Sean Keith, appeared in a panel discussion at GDC to talk about what the future holds for games on the blockchain. He laid out a vision for how the BitGuild portal can solve many of the pain points players and developers currently face, and how that has the potential to usher in a new era for the gaming industry.

April: Turning Heads 🗣

We successfully completed our ICO, selling more than four billion PLAT through both our public and private sales. With our tokens now in the wallets of our supporters, we entered a critical phase in the BitGuild journey. It was now up to us to deliver on the promises made, and show gamers and developers alike that their investment in our project would pay off.

It was also around this time that major publications started taking note of our work, not just for BitGuild but for crypto gaming as a whole. After the buzz generated by GDC, Forbes published a piece that focused on the convergence of games and the blockchain. Our CEO, Jared, was quoted extensively as he shared his vision for the future of the gaming industry. “Blockchain technology finally allows gamers to own their in-game items while providing a strong focus on trade and the gaming economy,” he explained.

May: Portal Release 🎮

After two months of work from our development team, the alpha version of the BitGuild portal went live. The portal featured multi-language support, ETH to PLAT converter, and ERC71 token inventory. The first game integrated to the platform was Ether Online, which became the #1 crypto game on the Ethereum platform that same day, signaling strong interest among the community for games that offered more than just collectible items. Shortly after, Magic Academy — another idle crypto game — launched on the portal.

By this time, traditional gaming outlets were already paying attention. Venture Beat wrote an article about our ICO, featuring an interview with Jared. In it, he explained the potential of games on the blockchain and teased BitGuild’s upcoming projects, including the game incubator.

June: Pioneers Pre-Sale 🚀

As we prepared to show Bitizens to the world, we launched the Pioneers Pre-Sale at the end of the month. These exclusive items offered an exciting glimpse into the unique world of Bitizens, amping up the BitGuild community for what was to come. Two of the items, the Cyberspace Pioneer and the Pioneer Compass, sold out shortly after the launch!

August: Landing in Bitropolis 🏙

The summertime was full of activity, as we spent July hunkered down and working through the various projects in our pipeline. The effort paid off and by August we were ready to launch one of the pivotal features of the BitGuild platform: the Marketplace. On August 2, the beta version went live, allowing players to buy and sell items from games on the BitGuild portal. We also launched Mythereum, a highly anticipated TCG on the blockchain.

On August 3, we released the preview build of Bitizens, our most ambitious project to date. It was the first step into our vision to create a fully fledged gaming ecosystem, where all players can find a place to express themselves socially in new and exciting ways. The preview featured the character creator, giving users the chance to build their very own avatars. By the end of August, the Wardrobe update launched, introducing the living quarters and opening the doors for character customization.

September: Partnering with TRON 🤝

Exciting things were brewing at BitGuild HQ by the time fall came around. We had been paying close attention to the rise of the TRON, which had been growing in size and scope throughout the year. We understood the potential of the TRON community and decided to announce our candidacy for TRON Super Representative. The support was instantaneous, and with 115 million votes, we earned a spot on the list of SRs. This showed us that the enthusiasm for what TRON had to offer was more than just hype, and gave us the confidence to continue our partnership with this emerging blockchain.

October: Hello, GuildChat 💬

October was a busy month, as we continued making inroads on our quest to bring blockchain gaming to the masses. With our newest product, GuildChat, we aimed to provide the simplest solution for using cryptocurrency in everyday life. The open beta version launched on October 4.

New games debuted on the BitGuild portal throughout the month, including Blockchain Cuties, Axie Infinity, and CryptoDungeons. Bitizens also got a brand new feature — a retro-inspired fishing mini-game which was added on October 23 and gave players a chance to unwind while earning PLAT rewards.

October was also the time when a lot of big changes started happening at BitGuild. On the 21st, we announced to the world that most games on the portal would now be accepting ETH along with PLAT. This decision came after feedback from our community made us realize the currency exchange and integration processes were cumbersome and time-consuming for both users and developers. That said, our faith in PLAT remains steadfast and so on October 26, it was officially listed in its first exchange, LATOKEN.

The move to revise our tokenomics also came with the realization that, by opening up the BitGuild platform to multiple cryptocurrencies, we’d be able to introduce even more users to blockchain games. To that end, we were thrilled to report that Roy Van Kaathoven would be joining the team as CTO. Counting on his expertise with TRON and other open-source projects, we started working on our new goal to integrate BitGuild with all major blockchains.

November: Keeping up with the Guild 🔵

Throughout November, we continued working on new projects and improving existing ones. We launched the GuildKeeper Program, enlisting our community’s help to make sure GuildChat remains a safe and thriving space for crypto enthusiasts. PLAT was also listed on a new exchange — ABCC. And we made the decision to remove Ether Online from our portal, following our commitment to give players only the best experiences. This requires constant optimizations and not every game will be up to those standards.

December: Making the Move ⛓

December is the month where we made one of our biggest moves yet: migrating Bitizens to the TRON network. Though we owe much to the innovations Ethereum has made in the blockchain space, we decided TRON was ultimately the better place to grow the Bitizens community and attract more users not just to our game, but to crypto gaming as a whole. With that in mind, on December 10 we launched GuildWallet. GuildWallet’s plans for multi-currency support will be one more step in our mission to drive blockchain adoption and bring it to the masses.

Lastly, we closed out the year on December 17 by listing PLAT on yet another exchange: BitForex.

None of this could have happened, of course, without our amazing community. Your support and feedback have helped us not just make better products, but come up with new ideas that can fulfill the needs of crypto gaming enthusiasts the world over. As we bid farewell to 2018 and prepare to welcome 2019, we extend our deepest gratitude to you for standing by us and fueling our work. We have many things in the pipeline that we know you’ll love so, as always, stay tuned. And have a happy new year!

BitGuild aims to bring blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption to the masses by providing compelling experiences that are easily accessible. Between the official BitGuild portal, our discovery platform for great crypto games, and GuildChat, our decentralized wallet mobile app with an integrated social suite, we’re firing on all cylinders to usher in a new age, changing the way people interact with their digital goods.

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