Seraph: Exploration and Innovation of Web3 AAA Games

After the temporary decline in the popularity of TON mini-games, the volume of blockchain games seems to have quieted down. However, at recent industry exhibitions such as Token2049 in Singapore, THBW2024 in Bangkok, and Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, the vitality of blockchain game projects can still be seen, with both new and established blockchain games actively participating in key booths. Among them, Seraph has attracted a lot of attention with its positioning as a next-generation AAA blockchain game and its eye-catching design. This article will attempt to analyze Seraph's game design, economic model, and globalization strategy, exploring how blockchain game projects can break through bottlenecks and what insights they may bring for the future development of GameFi.

Project Background

Seraph is an AAA loot game developed by Seraph Studio. The project has received over $10 million in investment, providing ample funding to achieve its goals in technology research and development, game development, and ecological construction.

Seraph began its alpha testing in April 2023, followed by beta testing, Chaos Legacy Test, Preseason, and Season 0, with Season 1 set to start soon. The official data shows that the number of participating players has reached 90,000, making it a leading game on the BNB Chain. The BNB Incubation Alliance (BIA) has set up a Seraph booth at its on-site events, and during the Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, it was showcased near the main exhibition hall entrance, with Binance CEO Richard Teng posting a photo, indirectly demonstrating BNB Chain's strong support for its ecological flagship project.

According to the data presented by Seraph, its player base is very diverse, spanning multiple countries and regions globally, with a relatively prominent presence in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, characterized by rapid user growth and high activity levels. The Southeast Asian market may show a more pronounced increase in player numbers due to a higher acceptance of blockchain games. Currently, Seraph has achieved over $10 million in revenue, primarily from player in-game purchases and service fees from the free trading of NFT-equipped items among players.

Game Content: Classic Gameplay Verified by the Market

Seraph currently supports PC and Android, with plans to launch on Steam, Google Play, and iOS in the future. The game features classic ARPG (Action Role-Playing Game) graphics and gameplay, where players use magic or combat skills to defeat monsters and bosses in a dark world of Western fantasy. As players face increasingly difficult challenges, they continuously acquire stronger attributes and visually stunning weapons and equipment through monster drops.

In simple terms, upon entering the game, you first create a game character, then accept quests to experience the storyline, controlling the character to move, attack, and cast skills to defeat enemies and complete a series of challenges, while continuously familiarizing yourself with the character's skills and gameplay, leveling up to 60. After reaching level 60, players enter the core gameplay, which is the loot farming aspect. Players repeatedly challenge more difficult monsters and bosses in dungeons to obtain higher-level and rare equipment to enhance themselves, creating a positive cycle of loot farming. Coupled with multiple difficulty levels and different seasonal gameplay modes, players can experience more challenging and refreshing gameplay.

It is important to note that the dividing line between Seraph's Web2 and Web3 lies in the loot farming phase after level 60. Although loot farming can continue to be played, if players want to earn profits through the gameplay process, they need to purchase an NFT-equipped item with real money (which serves as a "ticket" and startup capital for making money) and then participate in specific challenges to obtain randomly dropped treasure chests that may contain valuable NFTs, NFT fragments, or limited edition outfits.

Having seen the common click-based mini-games and light gameplay in the blockchain game market, the graphics and content of Seraph can be described as somewhat "surprising," as it indeed aims to match Web2 AAA games. The foundational systems for character upgrades, skills, and equipment are well-developed and deep, allowing players to create powerful builds through skill learning and equipment combinations. For a deep Web2 gamer, these elements will feel very familiar and easy to grasp. This gameplay framework spans the entire Web2 gaming era and remains popular, demonstrating its enduring appeal and market validation.

Within this gameplay framework, and without affecting the underlying fun of the game, Seraph seamlessly integrates the NFTization of equipment with a free trading market among players to build a self-sustaining in-game economic system, which is a reasonable and easily accepted concept for gamers.

Economic Model: "Everything is Tradable" and "Play and Earn"

Seraph's economic model combines the philosophy of "everything is tradable" with "Play and Earn," allowing players to trade in-game equipment NFTs to create a self-sustaining and sustainable game economy:

1. NFTized Equipment: All equipment used for farming in the game is tradable NFTs, which players can obtain from treasure chests after completing dungeons. These items not only have game attributes but also different rarities and collectible values, which can be sold in the platform's trading market for profit.

2. Player-Driven Free Trading Market: The game features an in-built trading market where all in-game assets can be traded, with players setting their own prices. Market supply and demand determine price fluctuations, and the decentralized market mechanism allows players to truly own their in-game assets.

3. Revenue Mechanism and "Play and Earn" Model: Players obtain equipment and items through loot farming, monster hunting, and cooperative challenges, and trade them in the market, thereby realizing the possibility of earning actual economic returns through gameplay.

4. Self-Sustaining Economic Ecology: As the number of players continues to grow, the market demand within the game will expand, driving more transactions and liquidity. This will continuously enhance the stability of the entire ecosystem, improving the gaming experience and revenue potential.

Comparison Analysis of In-Game NFTs and Art NFTs

As previously mentioned, Seraph has generated over $10 million in revenue, with part of this revenue based on the trading of in-game equipment NFTs. It is known that the NFT sector seems to have become a thing of the past, and discussions about NFTs can even evoke fear. However, the NFT ecosystem based on in-game weapons, equipment, and items in Seraph presents a different picture. Here is a simple comparison between mainstream NFTs released by artists/stars and those in Seraph:

1. Source and Acquisition Method: Artist/star NFTs primarily derive their value from personal branding, with their creation unrelated to actual use, relying more on the creator's fame and fan base. This acquisition method is singular, usually obtained through purchase, lacking interactivity; in contrast, game equipment NFTs are obtained by players through dungeon completion or synthesis, directly linked to their efforts. This acquisition method increases the fun and sense of achievement, while also enhancing players' recognition of the item's value.

2. Functionality and Applicable Scenarios: Artist/star NFTs often serve as collectibles, possessing only aesthetic or symbolic value, lacking practical functionality. Their value stems more from fan emotions or limited scarcity rather than actual utility; game equipment NFTs, on the other hand, have clear functionality, enhancing player character attributes and improving farming efficiency. Players can not only collect them but also trade them both in and out of the game, realizing economic value. This practicality makes them more attractive.

3. Market Driving Force and Value Stability: Artist/star NFTs rely on the creator's brand influence; if the creator's popularity declines or market interest shifts, their value can easily fluctuate or even drop to zero. In contrast, the value of game equipment NFTs is determined by the supply and demand relationship within the game ecosystem, with rare equipment directly linked to market demand. If the game is active, the liquidity and value of equipment NFTs will stabilize accordingly.

4. User Participation and Interactivity: The acquisition process for artist/star NFTs is singular, requiring users only to purchase, lacking a sense of active participation. This passive consumption model may lead to a decline in user enthusiasm; in contrast, game equipment NFTs are obtained through player actions in the game, making the participation process interactive and enjoyable. This model encourages players to continuously invest time and energy, enhancing community engagement.

In summary, compared to the singular attributes and volatility of artist/star NFTs, game equipment NFTs perform better in terms of functionality, market driving force, and user participation. Artist/star NFTs overly depend on the creator's personal influence, making it difficult to maintain value once popularity wanes. On the other hand, equipment NFTs are part of the gaming experience, allowing players to enhance their sense of achievement while also earning actual profits through trading, offering greater sustainability. Therefore, while the applicability of game NFTs is limited by the audience of the game itself, their design logic and trading value are more rational.

Seraph's revenue data serves as a validation of the maturity and effectiveness of its NFT economic model, showcasing the strong self-sustaining capability of this model. The economic returns players gain from their gaming experience will further enhance the game's appeal, attracting more players, and the influx of players will, in turn, promote the healthy development of the in-game trading market. Based on this, Seraph continues to update game content to provide players with fresh gaming experiences, creating a positive economic flywheel.

Asset Management System: Lowering the Barrier for Web2 Players to Enter Web3

The main obstacles Web2 players face when entering Web3 games are the complexity of blockchain technology, including wallet creation, private key management, and on-chain transaction processes. Seraph has integrated the ActPass account and asset management system within the game, allowing players to log in using their email/account, abstracting away the steps of managing crypto wallets and private keys, and utilizing an MPC wallet to manage assets and transactions within ActPass. This design has the following advantages:

1. One-Click Wallet Generation for Easier Operation: Most Web3 games require downloading and configuring a separate wallet, while ActPass is integrated within the Seraph game, allowing players to generate a wallet with one click and directly bind it to their account without switching to external applications. This design is similar to the email or social login methods in Web2 games, significantly lowering the entry barrier.

2. Built-In Asset Management to Reduce Operational Burden: Asset management in blockchain games often involves complex on-chain transactions, while ActPass directly stores digital assets like equipment and items in the built-in wallet, supporting quick in-game transactions and management. Players can complete operations without switching platforms, eliminating cumbersome signing processes.

3. Hiding Complexity to Optimize User Experience: ActPass automatically handles gas fees, allowing players to pay with fiat or stablecoins, shielding most blockchain technical details. Players do not need to learn complex processes, enabling them to focus on game content for a smoother experience; additionally, thanks to the low gas fees, speed, and security of the opBNB chain on BNB Chain, players can save on gas costs for transactions and item exchanges.

In summary, this design maintains a certain separation between game content and the Web3 asset management system, avoiding the poor experience of repeated asset verification and wallet interactions common in many Web3 games. This effectively lowers the technical and psychological barriers for Web2 players transitioning to Web3 games, leading to higher user conversion rates and market penetration, making it an excellent solution for linking Web2 and Web3.

Exploring Incremental Markets: A Bridge Between Web2 and Web3

In the context of fierce competition in the existing market, expanding new user groups has become an important task in the Web3 field. As a representative of the incremental market in Web3, blockchain games, with their high user stickiness and interactivity, are a significant avenue for attracting Web2 players into Web3. In particular, AAA-level heavyweight blockchain games, compared to traditional lightweight blockchain applications, offer new possibilities for converting Web2 users due to their higher technical standards, stronger immersion, and richer ecosystems.

Based on the analysis of Seraph, here are some design ideas for similar games that can be referenced:

1. Lower Entry Barriers: Integrate convenient Web3 wallets to simplify asset management and transaction processes, allowing Web2 players to participate without complex blockchain knowledge.

2. Strengthen Economic Incentives: Adopt a "Play and Earn" model, where players earn NFT equipment through gameplay actions (such as loot farming and challenges) and gain actual profits through market trading, enhancing their motivation to participate.

3. Provide Immersive Experiences: Through high-quality graphics, rich storylines, and diverse gameplay, make the game closer to traditional AAA game experiences, making it easier for Web2 players to accept and engage.

4. Balanced Economic System: Maintain an active trading market and encourage long-term player participation by reasonably designing scarcity and market supply-demand relationships (such as limited equipment or functional items).

The potential of the incremental market for blockchain games should not be overlooked. According to BusinessResearch's predictions, the GameFi market size is expected to reach $90.51 billion by 2031, with growth potential of 10 to 15 times. In the current bull market, the blockchain game sector has yet to truly take off. It is hoped that with the emergence of more high-quality blockchain games, the simple and crude impression of Web3 games will gradually change, bringing more players to the Web3 industry.