It’s an interesting time in the market right now. Sentiment around Web3 gaming feels close to an all-time low, and we’re seeing games struggle and shut down. We need to figure out what will make Web3 games sustainable. There are still teams building and we’re not giving up. We have a decent runway, we’re surrounded by people who care, and we just came back from YPS motivated and energized. Being a builder in Web3 gaming isn’t easy and you have to try things that don’t always work. We’re figuring out how to reach an audience that doesn’t believe in crypto and make the benefits of Web3 gaming obvious to people who aren’t interested in it yet. I truly believe the way to win is to make people who don’t understand the benefits believe in them. The concepts we’ve learned (instant payments, play-to-earn, global markets) are what people actually enjoy. People enjoy that there’s a live ecosystem where you can earn money and sell your assets, so now we want to get rid of the crypto stigma.
Questions from the AMA
We would like pets to have a more important role in the game and for them to truly make a difference. Is this possible in Chapter 3?
With pets, we’ve pivoted to our new pets app Chubkins. You can level up your pet through small daily tasks, bigger tasks, and taking care of your pet daily. We also have an offer system where you’ll get a boost in Chubkins if you own a pet NFT.
Wouldn’t attracting more players be easier if the $PIXEL price went up by lowering the token issuance or adding burns?
This is exactly the work we’re doing and the biggest challenge is how we get DAU and price to go up. The goal is to onboard as many people into Web3 gaming as possible. To do that there need to be games and to reward people in smart ways for staking into these games.
Will we have any Christmas events?
We will be doing a Christmas event like we do every year, but there will be a different event first that is coming out next week. Stay tuned!
Is VIP worth it?
Yes! There are a lot of benefits with VIP and we implemented a new tier system recently. For more details on what’s included in VIP, check out the Pixel Post here!
What if the taskboard gives only your Union’s Yieldstones, while sabotage Yieldstones must be crafted in Yieldstone Press.
We’re looking at how to increase competition between the Unions and we are always open to feedback from you guys. In the new taskboard update you can now receive multiple Yieldstones inside one box. Every task that gives Yieldstones will give a box that has a chance to drop any Union’s stone.
Why don’t they give us Tier 4 tools for completing missions instead of cosmetics? Or more fishing rods? When we complete a mission, we want things that help us progress in the game. Things that are useful; cosmetics just take up space.
Different tasks give different rewards. Each player might prefer something different. Some players love cosmetics. There’s just different flavors for different people.
Curious if pigs will ever be animal industries or if there are other animals you are considering adding to the game? Also will there be more opportunities to win animals like cows, sheep, and turkeys again soon?
Animal Care is being reworked. Before the rework, no other animals are planned to be released.
When will Chubkins stop being a test? I stay here in the fight to get more lives. I love it.
We’re unsure of the official launch but we are looking to get a major update out before the end of year which will include a UI and art overhaul.
Any chance for a $vPIXEL store to buy UGC, pets, potentially surplus NFT lands?
It’s on the radar and something we’re thinking about.
Neon Zone was fun before the Pool System, I don’t see competition where people play 1 of 7 ranked games to get $PIXEL reward. At least bring back old prize system for main ranked games.
In a week or two there will be more information we can share.
Animal Care update?
The next major update inside of Pixels will be centered around Animal Care.
Do you have plans for $vPIXEL to be used in other apps like Chubkins?
Potentially. The way you’ll be able to use inside of Chubkins will be the offer system we’ve created and it might be able to reward $vPIXEL. If we can give out more $vPIXEL instead of $PIXEL it would be better for the ecosystem. In the pets app we will likely not have crypto elements and will be more Web2-based.
You guys won an award at the GAM3 Awards!
It was very cool so shoutout to anyone who watched the stream and feel free to watch it here (starts at 2:17:00) if you weren’t able to catch the live stream. This is your award too and we’re the Best Browser Game because of you guys, so thank you!
Will the offer app be mobile only?
It will be mobile-native and a web app, and we’ll be pushing the mobile app more because we’ll be able to give you a notification to your phone whenever there’s a new offer for you.
Can you please fix the 1st Pixels game then go for other mini games
We have a whole team dedicated to the core game and there’s so much work we’re doing there. We have an external studio we’re using for Chubkins so it’s not taking any resources away from the core team. What’s nice about other games is that we get to experiment with some riskier things we can’t do with core Pixels. We can’t run paid mobile UA on Pixels until we have a mobile native app. Chubkins is a great way to experiment with a mobile strategy that we can bring into Pixels.
It would be great if reactors had tiers. This would increase the level of strategy in Bountyfall and reward the most dedicated players.
We could require Tier 4 resources to be used in the taskboard. We think it’s a more elegant of a solution since the taskboard can be adjusted.
Why don’t you run ads in Pixels, like watch ads to earn some Pixels rewards, raw mats, or any item that is kinda soulbound that can’t be sold?
Rewarding ads is easier to implement on mobile and we were looking at ad placements in core Pixels. It’s planned in the ecosystem and when we move core Pixels to mobile native we’ll start to add in rewarded ads.
Why no more story mode? The most popular pixel games are Pokémon and Stardew Valley
Core Pixels is more of an MMO-style game with a live economy (trading, marketplace). We’ve first been focusing on the live economy aspect and nail down those mechanics first. It’s a long-term goal.