Spells of Genesis (SoG), the blockchain-based mobile trading card game, is set to launch today on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store in a bid to attract gamers and trading-card collectors to the blockchain.
SoG, which was created by Swiss-based EverdreamSoft, teamed up with All 4 Games, the mobile video game arm of Channel 4 Television based in Glasgow, last October. In December, the trading card game held its soft launch in Canada and Switzerland.
Now, 18 months after its BitCrystals ICO, in conjunction with Channel 4, the EverdreamSoft team is launching SoG on a worldwide scale.
“It’s a huge milestone because SoG will be one of the first ICO projects that hit the mainstream market,” said Shaban Shaame, CEO and founder of EverdreamSoft, to Bitcoin Magazine.
The trading card game, which has been available for play for a while, is committed to true asset ownership. The electronic-format trading cards, which are SoG’s gaming assets, are tied to Bitcoin’s blockchain. The colorful trading cards — with real-world value attached to them — are recorded on the blockchain as they are traded, bought and sold. Spells of Genesis trading cards are purchased with BitCrystals (BCY).
During the BitCrystals Token Sale, the supply of BCY was limited to 100,000,000 units. EverdreamSoft was allocated 30 percent, while 70,000,000 BCY were put toward the token sale. Any that didn’t sell by the end of the ICO were burnt. Since the quantity of BitCrystals issued can’t increase, destroying a portion of them leads to deflation, followed by a fall in market supply before a price rise. Players can trade their BCY on the blockchain and exchange them for other digital currencies. They can also use them to purchase Spells of Genesis blockchain-based trading cards.
To ensure peer-to-peer trading and true ownership of game assets, EverdreamSoft partnered with Tokyo-based IndieSquare to release the Book of Orbs, a mobile wallet that permits users to create and manage blockchain assets via tokens called ORBs (Ownership Revolution on the Blockchain). The tokens are created via Counterparty, a blockchain protocol that extends Bitcoin’s functionality.
A major advantage of the ORBs is the fact that they are interoperable among other blockchain-based games, permitting cross-game capability between games and apps such as SoG and Force of Will (FoW), another online trading card game.
Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, Koji Higashi, co-founder of IndieSquare, said that cross-game capability is very important.
“Before, many games and game items were isolated in their own world, but blockchain [technology] helps open it up and realize many unique possibilities in the future,” he said. “As the Book of Orbs expands its user base, the synergy will become even greater.”
Higashi added that the ORB network has become the go-to blockchain digital asset platform and that having full ownership on the blockchain will increase demand for certain game items, making the games more fun and competitive.
Shaame agrees and thinks that SoG is setting a precedent with true ownership.
“People will better understand how card gaming and the basic needs of exchange between players is available now in the digital world,” he said.
He adds that this will help to open the door to the mainstream gaming community as gamers have a natural affinity for new technological services.
“They will see a real benefit for them by this true ownership that is the first blockchain consumer service before the unrealized ones from the finance, bank and insurance world.”