Today, I bring you a very intriguing project. Zentry is an ambitious and exciting project aimed at creating a “metagame layer”. They are dedicated to turning everyday life into an epic MMORPG. If you are a gamer (PC, console, mobile, or web3), then you definitely don’t want to miss this article.
Zentry aims to unify all your activities across different games (web2 and web3) and platforms, allowing you to earn rewards while playing through another metagame. This team has already achieved significant success in the GuildFi space and has the support of top investors (such as Binance, Animoca, Coinbase Ventures, Defiance Capital, etc.). Their treasury is valued at a staggering $1.5 billion.
After reading this article, I will tell you how to start playing games and earning shards through their first product.
Today, I had the privilege of discussing their vision and the overall situation of web3 games with Zentry’s co-founder, Jarindr. This article was co-written in collaboration with Zentry, and I may continue to work with them in the future because I am very fond of their vision. I hope to support as many high-quality blockchain consumer applications as possible.
Firstly, could you briefly introduce GuildFi and why you decided to launch Zentry?
We founded GuildFi over three years ago. GuildFi is a gaming platform. If you are familiar with Axie Infinity, a game that has created job opportunities for millions in Southeast Asia, you’ll understand what we do. Headquartered in Thailand, we saw a huge market opportunity in Southeast Asia around two and a half years ago. At that time, Axie Infinity was one of the largest games and the only one to introduce gaming guild narratives and scholarships. We created thousands of jobs for people, allowing them to play games and earn rewards and income.
As a player with 10 years of gaming and business investment experience, I have seen many protocols being created. Given my engineering background, I knew that the “play to earn” model was not truly sustainable. You can’t just keep giving tokens to speculative individuals. This pyramid structure would eventually collapse.
This realization led us to transition from GuildFi to Zentry. The main reason for this shift was the change in narratives and business models. While GuildFi focused on gaming guilds, we are now building something larger with Zentry. The name GuildFi still signifies gaming guilds, but we are creating more ambitious and revolutionary projects, so rebranding was necessary to help people understand that Zentry is not just about games. We aim to fundamentally change this industry in a significant way.
So, what problem does Zentry primarily solve?
Through Zentry, we are building a “game of games”. What problems are we trying to solve here? We are addressing the two biggest challenges in the gaming industry, not just in games but in a broader range of sectors. This includes both web2 and web3 games, although I dislike categorizing them separately.
The first issue is distribution, and the second is monetization. Gamification has always been a crucial component of consumer applications. If you are familiar with e-commerce applications or Duolingo, you’ll know that gamification has been a key element.
Observing some of the largest consumer applications like TikTok or YouTube, you’ll notice that they always enhance user engagement through various gamification methods, encouraging users to keep coming back and enhancing the overall experience. This could be as simple as daily login rewards. In the case of Duolingo, one of its significant features is streaks of consecutive logins, with some users logging in for 700 days in a row. These are practical examples of how consumer applications use gamification to retain users.
We are building a layer that covers consumer applications, whether they are games, social networks, or any other platform. This layer helps these applications monetize better, improve user retention, and create real storylines that make users genuinely want to keep visiting.
Zentry is an ecosystem with multiple interconnected products, all based on the same goal. Imagine it as a universe of interconnected games, with stories, intellectual property, and characters that users can immerse themselves in. To progress in our games, you may need to do things outside the game and interact with different layers and applications.
Our layer helps these applications achieve better monetization and distribution. For example, if you frequently play games like Dota, League of Legends, or Axie Infinity, each game has its own mini-games and achievements. Our layer adds another layer of engagement. For instance, every time you hit an opponent in Valorant or complete a game in Axie Infinity, you may receive additional rewards from our layer.
These rewards could come in various forms from the Zentry universe. Playing different games can earn you different resources, which can be used to craft items, gift cards, or enhance your profile. This encourages players to return to their favorite games, helping these games monetize better.
First-party publishers may not want to use mechanisms like timed loot boxes or gambling, as users may see them as money-grabbing tactics. As a third party, we can apply these gaming mechanisms across different games without worrying about these issues, enhancing user experience and monetization capabilities without affecting people’s perceptions of the original game or application.
So, is Zentry like the movie “Ready Player One,” where everyone plays games in a persistent universe but essentially plays a bunch of different games? Can people understand Zentry in this way?
Absolutely. If you look at our daily lives, this is already happening, just scattered all over the place. For example, if you have played Dota for 20,000 hours, that is incredibly valuable. For game publishers looking for experienced players, you are an important asset. Suppose I am a new game developer and I want to reach out to people who have played mobile games for at least 10,000 hours to test my new game. This is a great example of why this is important and how you eventually can monetize through your own data and skills.
Zentry empowers users with more autonomy, helping players in the Zentry universe grow, thrive, and make profits from their daily activities. Unlike unsustainable “play to earn” models (earning tokens by playing games), we have a more sustainable model.
This applies not only to the digital realm but also to the physical realm. Imagine you want to forge a rare sword in Zentry, requiring resources from different games. We don’t force people to play different games because that’s not practical. Users usually only play a small number of games. For example, if you want to forge that sword and you need resources from game A, but you only play game B, we designed a model where you can still create those resources because other players are playing game A.
Now, imagine the last resource you need can only be found in a physical store. You can go to a new partner store, like Dunkin Donuts, and be one of the first 500 customers. This creates collaboration between the digital and physical spaces. Remember when Pokémon Go had rare Pokémon appear at specific locations, attracting crowds to certain stores? We have the ability to create similar experiences in any field, from the digital world to the real world.
Zentry will be launching a series of interconnected products, starting with Nexus. Could you introduce your products?
We start with Nexus, which has been live for a few weeks now. We have already attracted over 10Nexus is revolutionizing social networking by gamifying interactions and building games on top of it. We have created a social graph to identify powerful users in the Web3 ecosystem. What we offer is a gamified experience, not just a mining platform like other platforms, but a true game. While the current version is simplified and focused on direct interaction, our next upgrade will transform Nexus into a more complete game.
In the full version, every time you discuss different games or earn resources on Twitter, you can use these resources to create items and equip them in your profile, engage in PVP battles with other players, or create guilds. We aim to encourage a gamified experience, allowing users to become content creators while playing games. We believe that Web3 lacks enough content creators, leading to industries relying on a few influential individuals, streamers, and players. There is a significant gap in this aspect compared to Web2 games.
For example, hiring a YouTuber or streamer with 1 million subscribers to play your game might cost $5000 to $7000. However, hiring a similar Web3 influencer could cost five to six times more. Nexus aims to address this issue by gamifying content creation. Instead of directly incentivizing people to create content, we make it fun through games, improving how people interact with social networks.
Our upcoming product launching in the third quarter is Radiant. Radiant is a game collection designed to enhance your daily gaming experience across different games (both Web2 and Web3).
It acts as an overlay, adding new interactions and reward layers. For instance, if you play games like CSGO or Apex Legends, Radiant will introduce mechanisms similar to loot boxes in all your games. These loot boxes provide items and resources, encouraging players to participate more in their games. We aim to create a win-win situation for game publishers and players.
The third product to be launched is Zigma, our primary NFT collection. While we haven’t revealed many details yet, Zigma will serve as a global passport for the entire Zentry ecosystem.
What do you consider the advantages of Zentry in the market?
Zentry is a layer that can run on top of thousands of existing games. If some games fail, we won’t fail with them. Our layer integrates into successful existing IPs and new games.
One of our biggest advantages is our team, consisting of senior professionals from the Web3, advertising, ad tech, and gaming industries. Additionally, we are one of the largest gaming ecosystems, with $1.5 billion in funding. This enables us to incentivize and build the entire Zentry ecosystem and invest in games. Crucially, Zentry itself won’t fail due to the failure of a single game.
What role does the $ZENT token play in the Zentry ecosystem?
The Zentry token will play multiple roles in various areas and will be used across all our Web3 builds. Firstly, Zentry is profitable, and the revenue we generate can be used to purchase and destroy these tokens. These tokens will be the primary currency for all our products, including transactions and sales. This applies to games, social networks, and all layers we build. The Zentry token will be the only token used by all platforms and partners wishing to collaborate with us.
For example, if a game wants to join the Zentry universe, they need to use our token to pay us fees for managing resource distribution in their game. Additionally, when you stake Zentry tokens, you will have access to multiple ecosystem areas since we also invest in various fields like gaming, social finance, and artificial intelligence.
We call it “staking rewards.” When you stake, you receive rewards that can be used to purchase tokens or earn extra tokens when participating in different games. For instance, if you enjoy running, and we invest in a running ecosystem, you can earn more tokens from that ecosystem. We aim to distribute the right tokens to the right people to maximize the likelihood of their reuse in the ecosystem.
What are your thoughts on the current Web3 gaming industry?
I believe we have gone through different cycles of evolution in Web3 games. From the beginning, if you remember back in 2017, people were already discussing how to integrate games with blockchain, even though the concept was not fully developed at the time. Now, almost six to seven years later, we have progressed from a lack of trust or belief in Web3 games to having real participants and high-quality developers entering the field. These new entrants are trying to create dreams that cannot be realized in Web2.
When we look at the current status of Web3 game users, I would say we are still in the early stages, but the potential is enormous. No other industry can attract millions of users like games. People are still exploring how to build games on the blockchain, but they have not fully understood the unique advantages provided by blockchain technology.
For example, the traditional gaming industry uses Kickstarter for funding, which differs from Web3. In Web3, people invest in your company from the beginning and stay with you as your game develops. We need more high-quality developers from the creative industry who understand both traditional games and Web3.
Major companies like Ubisoft are trying to enter this field, but they often fail because they do not understand Web3 culture. Similarly, some Web3 game studios do not know how to create engaging games. However, we see progress in those who can advance in both Web3 and Web2.
We are still waiting for a fully successful Web3 game. Competing with giants like PlayStation with large budgets is challenging. Blockchain provides a unique way to distribute games and acquire users, which is impossible in traditional games.
For example, Mavia launched an event on the Apple Store, using token airdrops to incentivize downloads. This strategy helps acquire users who become loyal fans because they can spend the tokens earned in the game.
We are still in the exploration stage. Many Web2 studios are exploring Web3 because it offers new ways to attract and incentivize users. We just need a successful game to showcase the power of blockchain in games and help people understand its huge potential in user acquisition and engagement.
Are there any games you believe could be highly successful?
Frankly, I am quite pessimistic about AAA games. AAA games require a lot of time, huge budgets for development, and specialized knowledge to create high-quality games. In contrast, I am more interested in indie games that require less time, are well-designed, and have the right incentives.
For example, “Pixels” is a simple game, similar to “FarmVille” farm simulator, evolving into an RPG game gradually. It has a large user base, possibly a mix of humans and robots. This example demonstrates the powerful role of incentives in attracting users to start playing games. However, whether this is sustainable is another issue that everyone is trying to solve.
If I had to point out a sustainable pattern, I couldn’t give an exact answer because this is still an evolving field. However, I believe games on Ronin have a good user base because they are familiar with blockchain and gaming. The success of “Axie Infinity” on Ronin shows that a loyal user base is ready to use wallets for gaming.
Ronin has attracted millions of users in Southeast Asia through incentives. If someone can replicate this success, I think some indie games dependent on Ronin can serve as good examples.
I am also excited about Parallel and the projects they are building.
