Author: cointime.com Lu Tian

The web3 gaming ecosystem has encountered a significant hurdle in recent years: a shortage of genuine "players" and a surplus of "investors."

While gaming has consistently been a popular topic in the web3 domain, it has become increasingly associated with speculation. Numerous low-quality products with limited playability have surfaced, and many projects rely solely on white papers to generate hype. The community is inundated with users seeking fast profits, with the majority of participants driven by financial incentives rather than enjoyment of the gaming experience itself.  

To address this issue, web3 gaming startup Ambrus Studio is working to shift the emphasis back to the core essence of gaming. The studio, named after the Greek word for "immortality," strives to create enduring games and universes that engage players. Ambrus Studio champions a "Play for Fun" approach instead of "Play to Earn," aiming to attract authentic players who genuinely appreciate the gaming experience.

Founded in 2021, Ambrus Studio launched its official website in May of the subsequent year. The company's founder and CEO, Johnson Yeh, formerly served as the CEO of Riot Games in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Dubbed the "Godfather of Chinese e-sports," Yeh and his team effectively transformed the League of Legends (LoL) esports landscape into China's premier sports event, outpacing even the NBA and local basketball and football leagues, boasting over 5 billion broadcast hours annually.

In July 2022, Ambrus Studio completed a round of token financing at a valuation of $65 million. This funding round was spearheaded by leading venture capital firms Spartan Group and M13, and also featured contributions from CVP NLH, 6th Man Ventures, Axia8 Ventures, Krypital, Red Building Capital, Cobo, and Bas1s Ventures.

Ambrus Studio's E4C Ecosystem: Combining Metaverse, Games, and NFTs

At the heart of Ambrus Studio lies the E4C (Earth 4 Degrees Celsius) ecosystem. Set in the year 2100, the Earth's temperature has risen by 4 degrees, pushing the planet to the brink of destruction with ongoing disasters. To save the world and preserve human civilization, "Rangers" have joined the battle.

With this worldview, Ambrus Studio introduced the E4Cverse game metaverse, the main game "E4C: Final Salvation", and the Rangers series NFT.

The E4Cverse game metaverse will incorporate diverse game content, a comprehensive trading system, extensive community involvement, and robust social interaction. As the ecosystem matures, game development tools will be gradually made available to players. Additionally, the project team will provide financial support to encourage players to engage in content creation and foster a sustainable User-Generated Content (UGC) ecosystem.

E4C: Final Salvation is a Free-to-Play (F2P) Web3 Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, with an official launch expected by the end of this year.

E4C chose to take MOBA games as the entry point, according to the report of Silicon Valley’s top VC a16z Metaverse Game Fund, Web3 players liked traditionally more "hardcore" genres. First-person shooters, BRs, and action games were popular as per usual, but MOBAs ranked higher among the Web3 gamers surveyed and puzzle and life sim games lower.

E4C: Final Salvation is distinguished by its fast-paced gameplay and low entry barrier. Each game session is designed to last 10-15 minutes, catering to players' fragmented gaming needs. While many web3 games require players to hold official NFTs or purchase tokens to participate, E4C has opted for a 100% Free-to-Play approach. From downloading the game to registering and participating, all aspects are entirely free.

Moreover, E4C aims to provide a seamless transition from Web2 to Web3 for players. Technical jargon, cumbersome mnemonic phrases, private keys, and frequent phishing scams can deter Web2 users from entering the Web3 realm. E4C addresses this issue by offering a smooth migration experience for Web2 players. The game accepts fiat currency payments, allowing Web2 players to trade, hold, and purchase in-game assets without the need for a cryptocurrency wallet.

E4C Token Economics: Dual Tokens and NFTs

The economic model is crucial for determining the sustainability of a web3 game project. E4C's token economics is built upon two pillars of crypto assets: fungible tokens ($E4C and $DGC) and in-game non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The primary objective is to maintain the economic stability of both the main game, "E4C: Final Salvation," and the E4Cverse metaverse.

$E4C serves as the governance token within the ecosystem, with a total supply of 1 billion. Players can acquire $E4C tokens through initial issuance, secondary market transactions, and community rewards.

$E4C tokens holders are entitled to the following benefits:

- Governance rights: Token holders can exercise governance power across all levels of the DAO.

- Ecosystem contribution rewards: Incubation and distribution of UGC. Once the project enables UGC production, beyond the official screening of eligible content, token holders can invest in UGC projects by allocating their tokens to the $E4C fund (tentative name). After the content is launched, they can obtain a share of the project revenue or profits.

- Staking: Token holders can earn additional income by staking their tokens.

$DGC functions as a utility token within the game. Players can use $DGC to purchase in-game items, rent other players' NFTs, buy UGC content within the game ecosystem, pay for on-demand minting and skin upgrades, and more. Ambrus Studio plans to design additional gameplay features in the future.

$DGC can be issued infinitely, serving as the foundation for the E4C game economy's operation. Players can obtain it through recharge purchases, secondary market transactions, and in-game rewards.

It is important to note that there are no plans for exchange issuance of $DGC tokens. Players can only acquire them by charging or purchasing tokens from other players in the official secondary market.

E4C incorporates NFTs as in-game assets, representing ownership on blockchain. Each on-chain item in the game, such as skins and gems, is a unique NFT, granting players full ownership of their game assets.

Players can exchange in-game tokens ($DGC) for NFTs or purchase them directly on the secondary market. E4C has also introduced an innovative skin upgrade feature. In MOBA games, impressive skins not only symbolize the emotional bond between the player and the hero but also showcase the player's personal style.

$E4C is a limited-supply token, which may appreciate in value over time, while $DGC is an infinite-supply token that can be minted and burned on demand, preventing in-game item prices from becoming excessively deflationary or inflationary. The dual-token model of E4C can create a sustainable and balanced gaming ecosystem. Picture E4C as a sovereign nation, where $DGC is the legal tender, and $E4C represents the sovereign fund. In reality, no country allows its currency to appreciate or depreciate indefinitely. Currency appreciation hampers exports, while devaluation leads to rising prices and curbs consumption. The same applies to the game; if $DGC becomes excessively inflated, the entry barrier for new players will be too high, and external funds will not flow in, ultimately causing the in-game economic system to collapse. The dual-token mechanism separates investment from the game economy, catering to the diverse needs of players while ensuring in-game price stability. As for the $DGC issuance mechanism, the project team adopts a centralized approach based on reserve assets to achieve free capital flow and independent monetary policy in the "Impossible Trinity." The issuance power of $DGC tokens is 100% controlled by the official team and is issued only through players' token exchange recharges. Simultaneously, every token issued by the team has the recharged amount from the player as a reserve asset, forming the token's fundamental value source.

Per the official roadmap, the studio plans to generate $E4C tokens and launch an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) by the end of the year. Following the listing, players will be able to purchase $E4C tokens directly on exchanges.

Ambrus Studio aims to consistently attract Web2 traffic and cultivate a loyal player base by offering free and entertaining games. However, their ambitions do not stop there. In the future, Ambrus also plans to reach a broader audience through esports events.

In a related announcement, Ambrus Studio is set to release the NFT of their fifth creation hero, DJ NANA, at the end of July. For more information, follow the official Ambrus Studio Twitter account: @AmbrusStudio.