Gala Games and Ion Games will sell Celestial Tokens on November 10th, giving the token holders ownership over celestial bodies in the upcoming strategy game Echoes of Empire. The game companies consider this a presale, and gamers can pre-register on the official website.
As the play-to-earn business model is catching headlines, Gala Games is doubling down on its promise to create a player-owned ecosystem. After introducing play-to-earn in Town Star, and announcing a play-to-earn playtest for Mirandus, they will now sell NFTs for their upcoming space strategy game. Each of the Celestial Tokens gives players ownership over a planet inside the universe of Echoes of Empire.
Echoes of Empire is a so-called 4X strategy game: exploration, expansion, exploitation and extermination. Players either go solo or group up in guilds in an effort to gain resources, upgrade spaceships, and craft new weapons. Ultimately players want to gain power, and owning a planet sure could help.
In this first presale for the Celestial Tokens of Echoes of Empire, Gala Games will sell 4 out of 6 rarities. Planets contain mines which provide resources. Planet owners can either mine the assets themselves, or lease them to other players. Rare celestial tokens offer mines with more upgrades, different resources and more options to lease mines to other players.
Ubisoft and Electronic Arts see future in play-to-earn
The hype surrounding play-to-earn gaming can be felt across the wider blockchain industry. Games represent most of the activity in the dapp industry, as 1.19 million UAW connected to game dapps in October. The games category reasserted its 55% dominance over other categories, first achieved in September. The recent mainstream attention for the metaverse adds fuel to the fire.
Last week both Ubisoft and Electronic Arts revealed plans to enter the blockchain industry. Both gaming behemoths are exploring ways to embrace play-to-earn. Ubisoft even invested in Animoca Brands, currently the leading company in the blockchain gaming space. However, Gala Games is growing its footprint by adding more games to its portfolio.
Last week The Sandbox, an upcoming virtual world for gaming experiences, made headlines. Their native SAND token has increased 220% in value in the past 30 days. This price increase happened off the back of a new investment round and wider interest in the metaverse. The amount of interest from investors in the play-to-earn business model seemingly highlights that it will reach a wider, more mainstream audience in the years to come.
