CryptoTitans: Join Order or Chaos in an Epic Battle
CryptoTitans is a P2O (play-to-own), turn-based game on Solana that is currently in development. This project has a few things going for it that caught my attention: the art, the game story, affordability, and most importantly its partnership and tournament strategies. The game is not there yet so the overview will be on the readily available information with a pinch of my personal takes. Does this game have good potential? Should you look forward to its release and long-term plans? Let’s take a look.
About the Game
From Polygon to Solana
It started as a Polygon-based game. But at a crucial point, the team made a call to switch to Solana. The reasoning was due to the bright future for gaming on Solana, the community there, and also the fact this chain is more accessible to people as it is considerably cheaper. Personally, I cannot agree more with this reasoning. Solana is a place to be for gaming.
From P2E to P2O
Initially, the game was supposed to be P2E (play-to-earn). Again, the team decided to pivot and in this case towards P2O (play-to-own) model with a focus on ownership and affordability (as in the chain switch decision too). This is being stressed repeatedly by the team. Players will level up by playing rather than by pay-to-win. There will be no microtransactions and also no token is planned.
Game Details and Game Modes
The game will be turn-based with Order and Chaos Titans fighting for supremacy. You pick a side and let the battle begin. More information should be coming out soon. I hope there will be some interesting game modes besides the classics.
The Team
When looking at a team and judging the ability to deliver on a promise of a good game, I consider one important factor: how many developers does the project have? CryptoTitans check this very well with 10 in-house developers and a gaming studio working on the game. The gaming studio’s name was not released yet but the team says it’s a reputable one that has under its belt cooperations with clients like Epic Games, EA, and Ubisoft.
Compatibility
The game will be browser-based and compatible with both PC and Mac.
Roadmap
To be released.
Project’s Mission Statement and Purpose
“Our mission is to allow access to Web3 technologies, and the Metaverse space, to everyone through a low mint price.”
The whole purpose statement can be found in this Twitter post.
Let’s Immerse You in the Story
Personally, I am a huge fan of stories in games. It is what immerses you in the game. So even if it might be a little overwhelming to grasp in the beginning, it will be what keeps you with the game for a long time after the release. Not to mention a complex backstory provides more options for the creators when it comes to new storylines and game modes. Let’s uncover the CryptoTitans universe.
The Creation of All
It started all with the god-like beings — the Elementals. As it tends to be among very powerful beings, they fancy to create and control. Therefore, they decided to craft the Existence — an entity that would contain all the beautiful things Elementals imagined — creatures, plants, and other creations. Existence’s purpose was to be the caretaker and keep Order. From that point on, everything went smoothly and all creations lived happily ever after…WRONG!
Existence had other inclinations. It wanted Chaos. it wanted the wild and unbound nature to prevail. Existence was about to go against its founding principles. Elementals seeing this danger “brewing” (a pun that you will get if you keep reading ) decided to put in place guardians — the CryptoTitans of Order. Their role was simple: keep Existence in check if it ever decides to go against the wishes of Elementals.
Elementals used all their energy on creating Existence and CryptoTitans and it forced them into a deep sleep. Little analogy: What is a kid going to do when parents go to sleep? Opportunity started to present itself to Existence.
Order and Chaos
CryptoTitans started to carry out their mission of maintaining Order in the new world. Titans were strong creatures and the Existence knew it could not beat them. It had gathered all its strength and drained power from everything and everyone it possibly could for one purpose only — to create capable adversaries. Its own CryptoTitans of Chaos. Their mission was straightforward. Wreak havoc and destruction and ensure renewal.
This energy-intensive creation process had the same impact on Existence as it had previously on Elementals. Existence fell into a deep slumber as well. Both sides geared up with fighters and the war was imminent.
The Great Battle
Elementals’ Titans and Existence’s Titans waged brutal neverending war, causing destruction to everything that was created in their world. But contrary to this trend, one thing sprung into existence during these volatile times. From all the unbalance and battles, a new breed of CryptoTitans was raised from the ground. The ultimate fighting specimen — Battle CryptoTitans.
That was like pouring fuel on flames. Fights got even more vicious. Actually so savage that it woke up Elementals. “Oh no, parents are awake…Somebody is gonna get in trouble!”
The Final Chapter
Goes without saying, Elementals were not thrilled about what was happening. But they were not strong enough anymore to contain the Titans. So they had to come up with an alternative plan.
They crafted a new world. Where the Titans and their thirst for war could go on without causing collateral damage to the Elementals’ initial creation. This new world dedicated to Titans is called Ereo.
Then Elementals gathered the last pieces of their strength and transported the Titans there. Completely exhausted, they fell back into a deep sleep.
Now the strongest beings in Existence call this battle arena their new home. And the battle between Order and Chaos is just beginning. Titan yourself!
Primordial CryptoTitans
First, Elementals created 4 Order CryptoTitans.
Then Existence created 4 Chaos CryptoTitans.
These 8 are called Primordial CryptoTitans.
Let me give you a quick overview of these “holy” 8 Titans as they are important for the much anticipated NFTs (I know what all you degens are here for).
Disclaimer: These overviews are based on the videos posted on CryptoTitans Twitter and descriptions provided by the team in Discord.
I came up with the categorization of traits. So take it with a pinch of salt — e.g. something I categorized as a personality trait can be something else or not a trait at all, etc. Especially if it comes to the actual NFTs later on. Take it just as a redesigned summary of what we know at this moment.
I advise you to check “meet-the-titans” channel in CryptoTitans Discord for the full information.
Primordial Orders CryptoTitans
Primordial Chaos CryptoTitans
My personal favorites are: from Order — Pegor and from Chaos — Balig.
NFTs & The Mint
Battle Titans
Now do not worry, there are not only 8 variations of your fighters/NFTs. These serve just as a basis — your genetic pool. Traits (which are yet to be fully disclosed and defined) will be combined from across the Primordial Titans to create unique Battle Titans (those that rose from the ground in the backstory) that you will own and fight with. There are millions of possible combinations but only 7,500 will be selected (mint details spoiler).
Below is a sneak peek of a possible list of traits. Let’s wait and see what will be the final catalog.
The head of CT “Adz” disclosed in one of many AMAs some existing alpha:
1. There will be different rarities and levels for the Titans at the mint
2. As it is a play-to-own game, you will have to battle to level up and upgrade your Titan (cannot pay your way out sorry-not-sorry). You will be able to obtain new weapons and such by playing and these will be reflected in the NFT’s metadata. Meaning your Titan will be upgraded as you level up
3. There will be tournaments where you can put your Titan to the test. But the tournaments will have different tiers to make it fair.
Mint Details
- Mint Date: November 5, 2022
- Price: TBC but less than $50 (project’s focus on affordability)
- Supply: 7500 battle Titans
- Launchpad: MagicEden
- During the Mint: People can meet the team members at Solana Breakpoint and get some in-person activations for the game and other bonuses
Game Release
Unfortunately, the game will not be out at the time of the mint. On the bright side, the game development has already started so the project is not reliant on the income from the mint to start building. And it will be released just a few months after the mint — somewhere in early 2023. Moreover, there will be a beta available for the community prior to the release.
What Company is Behind the Game
I think this information will come as a surprise. It is Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer (note: Now you can understand my “brewing” pun from the Story section of the article). Some brands in its portfolio include Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Leffe, Brahma, and many more from all around the globe. Some of them have their own NFT projects and initiatives already out on Ethereum — I will be covering them in other articles as I find the topic of traditional companies dipping their toes in Web3 very intriguing.
But CryptoTitans are a different animal even for AB InBev. It is the first blockchain-based game the company is working on. Moreover, as far as I could find, AB InBev is the first Fortune 500 company building on Solana — I think that is some cool bragging rights to be such pioneers.
With such backing, it would be easy to slide into “big Web2 company” ways of working. But from what I have seen, the team is very smart about it. The AB InBev name is not being thrown around and no big bucks marketing campaigns are being launched to hype up the project. They are doing it the proper organic way. And that gained my respect big time.
People in AMAs were curious how will this influence the game itself. And the CT head Adz shined some light on this topic as well. AB InBev brands will be incorporated into the game. But not in the obvious “let’s put a big shiny banner in the middle of Ereos” way. Rather it will be done via sponsoring CT gaming tournaments. This is part of the bigger strategy to take the whole game toward the esports segment. Players will level up their Titans, enter tournaments and win prizes which will be provided by the brands.
Strategic Partnerships
From AB InBev’s portfolio, the partnerships will be built around its soft drinks brands. There are already 2 such partnerships established which you can read about in the CT’s Twitter posts below.
CT is also working on establishing partnerships with other Web3 projects.
There will be more news about partnerships coming up so I will surely be following up on this subject as I find it one of the most intriguing aspects of this cross-section of Web2 and Web3 worlds. Some might say an analogy of Order vs. Chaos could be fitting… :)
Final Words
Before wrapping up, I want to address the subject of the game release timing. I know there are two schools of thought on this whether the game should be playable before the mint or not necessarily. I have to admit, I am more of a “game before a mint” guy. Although, in this case, I can let it slip. Why? Because I believe the backing by AB InBev is a stamp of seriousness and legitimacy -which lack thereof is generally pushing me to want to see the game before spending money on an NFT. In this case, the reputation of a publicly traded company is on the line. Plus, the project is minting with a low mint price so to risk bad press and an angry and loud crypto community over some pennies would be the worst tradeoff in history. Therefore, it lets me sleep easy knowing the game will come after the mint.
To summarize, I initially came to check out CryptoTitans for curiosity about a big company venturing into blockchain gaming and Solana. And ended up staying for the great backstory, awesome art, and actually a promising game! The whole concept of how to make gaming affordable and at the same time, to take it towards esports is just a great combo. In my opinion, this is the right kind of mindset that will help push the whole blockchain gaming forward and make it more accessible and desirable. Rather than endless grinding for some doodoo coins (looking at you play-to-earn).
I will be keeping up with this project and bringing new updates and my takes on the evolution of the game. And hopefully also some gameplay review soon!
Links of CryptoTitans
Website: https://www.cryptotitans.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OfficialCTitans
Discord: https://discord.gg/cryptotitans
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialcryptotitans/
