xGov-152: Algorand as go-to chain for Gaming (establishing the RWA narrative)

Governance xGov Proposals
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Abstract:

Gaming will onboard the next big wave of users to Algorand. As one of the oldest and biggest games on algorand we are uniquely positioned to to carry lions share of that influx. Our recent nomination for best blockchain game of 2023 is a good indicator of that.

To help establish the narrative that Algorand is great for gaming it is crucial that games are secure, performant and ideally built to appeal the masses (e.g. actually fun to play) - all of which Cosmic Champs is!

To date, we are the only game that supports real time 3d PVP, with authoritative servers (more secure) on Algorand. This increased security and performance - which are both crucial as they implicity represent Algorand itself (to an uneducated user, a buggy/slow game equals algorand is buggy and slow) are incuring high infrastructure costs for our project and our platform.

To meet the increasing userbase and be prepared for future influx on gamers, we need to migrate our server fleet to a more powerful instances that will be able to handle sudden spikes in active game sessions better. Xgov grant will help us to maintain the industry standard performance without introducing friction to the new people entering Algorand ecosystem for the intermediate time until we reach critical mass to become profitable.

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We believe all our proposals are very straight forward and don’t necessarily invite additional discussion, however if you have additional questions by all means ask here or on our discord: Cosmic Champs

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Any initiatives from your side to attract users from other ecosystems??

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id: 152
period: 3
title: Algorand is THE chain for Gaming (establishing the RWA narrative)
author: Cosmic Champs (@madshapes-dev)
discussions-to: Cosmic Champs
company_name: Cosmic Champs International Limited
category: Community
focus_area: User Onboarding
open_source: No
amount_requested: 100000

Abstract

Gaming will onboard the next big wave of users to Algorand. As one of the oldest and biggest games on algorand we are uniquely positioned to to carry lions share of that influx. Our recent nomination for best blockchain game of 2023 is a good indicator of that.

To help establish the narrative that Algorand is great for gaming it is crucial that lead games are secure, performant and ideally built to appeal the masses (e.g. actually fun to play) - all of which Cosmic Champs is!

To date, we are the only game that supports real time 3d PVP, with authoritative servers (more secure) on Algorand. This increased security and performance - which are both crucial as they implicity represent Algorand itself (to an uneducated user, a buggy or slow game experience can easily be turned into misconception that Algorand is buggy and slow) are incuring high infrastructure costs for our project and our platform.

To meet the increasing userbase and be prepared for future influx on gamers, we need to migrate our server fleet to a more powerful instances that will be able to handle sudden spikes in active game sessions better. Xgov grant will help us to maintain the industry standard performance without introducing friction to the new people entering Algorand ecosystem for the intermediate time until we reach critical mass to become profitable.

Team

https://cosmicchamps.com/#team

Experience with Algorand

For the last 2 years, we have been building a p2e game on Algorand called Cosmic Champs. We are innovators in the 3d NFT space with our fully animated 3d NFTs that are used in our game and also have utility outside of the game itself (3d viewer, AR viewer).
We have a strong understanding of the NFT space, the technical specifications, and the supporting infrastructure available. This positions us well to deliver a strong product for other Algorand projects to use and benefit from.

Present Proposal

Blockchain Gaming will onboard the next big wave of users to Algorand. As one of the oldest and biggest games on algorand we are uniquely positioned to to carry lions share of that influx. To date, we are the only game that supports real time 3d PVP, with authoritative servers (more secure) on Algorand. This increased security and performance - which are both crucial as they implicity represent Algorand itself (to an uneducated user) are incuring high infrastructure costs for our project and our platform.

To meet the increasing userbase and be prepared for future influx on gamers, we need to migrate our server fleet to a more powerful instances that will be able to handle sudden spikes in active game sessions better.

Xgov grant will help us to maintain the industry standard performance without introducing friction to the new people entering Algorand ecosystem for the intermediate time until we reach critical mass to become profitable.

The funds will be allocated 50% to our AWS account where we are subscribing our server fleet which we scale to meet the demand with increasing user base. We are happy to take/convert to AWS credits to ensure the funds are locked for this particular use.

The other 50% will be allocated towards dev work involved with migrating the fleet and updating the server code as well as to cover other costs such as Certificates, subscriptions and non-AWS infrastructure for next few months (we try to disperse our infrastructure(within reason) so we don’t have a single point of failure).

To date we have built and maintaned entire Cosmic champs platform (android + ios + browser game, 4 utility web pages and 2 seasons of innovative fully animated 3d game-ready AR compatibile NFTs) on our own (and VC) funding, we weren’t recipient of any of the $8MM+ in grants that were allocated to the “algorand gaming” scene by the foundation neither have we received direct investment from them, yet we can easily be considered benchmark in the space.

We are hopefull xgovs will recognize our contribution and value we bring to the ecosystem and will support our endeavours to ensure we remain on top of our game and fully prepared for the upcomming bull.

Future Blueprint

In the future, with increased userbase, we plan to become profitable as soon as possible to ensure the platform can keep meeting and exceeding the needs of algorand(and wider) gaming scene.

Benefits for the community

Imagine a bad Algorand Wallet, if that wallet is slow and buggy(or hacked) people simply assume that is Algorands fault. To enforce the narrative that Algorand is great for gaming it is crucial that games are secure, performant and ideally built to appeal the masses - all of which Cosmic Champs is!

To date, we are the only game that supports real time 3d PVP, with authoritative servers (more secure) on Algorand. This increased security and performance are both crucial as they implicity represent Algorand itself (to an unedeucated user). Our game is also inspired by one of the most successfull mobile games of all time, using a proven model with very wide audience appeal and huge potential for mass adoption.

Cosmic Champs has been recognized with a nomination for the best blockchain game of 2023 by PlayToEarn. This nomination is a testament to the game’s impact and potential in the blockchain gaming community. Even more so as we were the only Algorand game that was nominated.

We are constantly looking for new ways how to empower other Algorand projects (cross community NFT collabs, branded prize bots in our game) so they can benefit from our exposure and success and vice-versa.

Recently we’ve seen Blockchains or L2 solutions that heavily focus on gaming constantly topping the charts on dapradar, by either UAW or tx count - simply because gaming is sich a huge market. Algorand’s tech is perfect fit, let’s push this the narrative together.

Additional information

Play our game here: https://beta.cosmicchamps.com/
NFT browser + 3d view: https://nft.cosmicchamps.com/
Browse game characters: https://cards.cosmicchamps.com/
Coorporate page: https://cosmicchamps.com/

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Absolutely - firstly let me just say we are constantly in conversations with big players from another chains looking to make collabs and co-promotions whenever it makes sense.

We are engaging users from other ecosystems via different channels:

  • tournaments: We periodically host tournaments that aim to bring new users to our game, we had one of these tournaments focused and advertised cross-chain and it was a big success. We aim to do another Cross-chain tournament this quarter as xgovs were kind enough to approve our proposal for it in previous period - allowing for a appealing prize pot this time round. Here is a report from one of our tournaments: Tournament Wrap Up. Thank you to everyone who took part in… | by Cosmic Champs | Cosmic Champs | Medium

  • CG/CMC listings: As a gaming project that algo has token, we are able to bring new users in simply by having presence where projects without token cannot. We had a misfortune of needing to do token migration due to myalgo hack, but we’ve since managed to update the contracts and detail pages and fix old LP pairs, so our pages are back in working order. Having a positive uptick on token price will (and has) bring new people to the ecosystem

  • High value NFT sales - some of our legendary NFTs sell for 10k+ algo, often times positioning us amongst top sales on dappradar, again giving exposure to Algorand NFT scene in general, and Algorand gaming for ones interested.

  • Making the spotlight: We organically appear in competitions, twitter threads and in articles(although articles have seen downturn as we’ve cut back on our paid promotions while back) in wider crypto space. We rally are the only Algorand gaming project that does that, despites not even being included to the ecosystem page of the AF page… thanks for that.
    Huge thanks to our loyal userbase that constantly and selflessly promotes Cosmic Champs and Algorand. For an example we managed to have a very successful reddit post on cryptocurrency sub some while back, Algorand related content very very rarely makes the cut.
    Also big thank you to CoolDWN Gaming Guild who by including us in their articles managed ot open some pretty important doors for future of cosmic champs!

  • Community collabs etc. - we have ongoing collabs with Algorand and cross-chain communities

  • P2E + fun game: Once we are ready we can start promoting our game to known p2e spaces and players guilds, which we already have open channels for comms with. This will guarantee influx of new users. However before we have our monetization aspect sorted, this is not beneficial for our proejct as it only incurs higher infrastructure costs. But we have significant onboarding potential waiting on us to be ready.

Let me jsut add we haven’t officially launched our game yet, so we are yet to “bank” on the new game on the app stores bonus, that you get for about a week once you launch new game. This is a huge Ace we have in our pockets, waiting on right moment.

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First, this does not seem like it is appropriately categorized as “user onboarding”, as the money is not being spent on onboarding new users. Instead it seems like this is to pay overhead costs in the event of increased users (i.e. “[t]o meet the increasing userbase and be prepared for future influx on gamers”).

To that end, can you please provide some information demonstrating that an increasing user base over time?

Cosmic Champs has been around a while, including during times when things were overall much more bullish and had more activity. So, I am just a little skeptical that at the present time there is a significantly growing user base compared to historical numbers. If the active user base is not significantly expanding, then I do not understand how this ask can be justified “to meet the increasing userbase”.

Thanks

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Now, this could be written by chatGPT as well. A lot of words… What does the above sentence means? One possible translation: “We need your money for our expenses.”

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Since your bio states your are a developer i’ll put it like this: infrastructure that supports real-time games that don’t run anything essential on clients device costs - a lot.

We’ve been providing it for years for free which is simply not viable with current state of algorands userbase. Introducing tons of adds and potential upfront costs is not something we wish to do(friction).

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Everyone reading this - Thank you for considering voting for xgov#152 :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Now to answer your question:

(it could be categorized differently, but we don’t believe it’s wrong as is)I’ll put it like this, we are asking for grant to further improve our platform and keep it running without downtime and support onboarding of new players. The game is the tool to onboard them, the activities around it simply funnel potential users towards the game, but the game needs to be able to “close the deal”.

And on the topic asking for “future stuff” → How is that different from lets say ASA stats asking for funds to secure next 4 years availability… our game is free - anyone can play it.

We’re planning on starting cross-chain promotions and collaborations, including a cross-chain tournament that is happening this month. This will 100% increase active users of our game, as we have historical data from past events to back it up. To date we have never had to “shut down” the game due to user activity, not for the lack of it, but due to us being prepared for it ahead of time.

As for your second part/question:

Our current infrastructure is already nearing it’s limits, more precisely it’s nearing our financial limits on what makes sense for us to support. To that extent yes its well justified if we wish to support onboarding new users, let me just point out:

  • We are objectively the biggest gaming community(and a significant NFT community) on Algorand.
  • We were in the top few NFT projects by volume in 2023.
  • From game dev and technical standpoint we have by far the most advanced game on Algorand.

We have been around for a while, including times when things were overall much more bullish - absolutely your point is 100% true. And during this time - we were spending large amounts of money, time and effort promoting Algorand and engaging communities in and outside of algo that is how we grew our userbase. We’ve cut back on the spending money part, but all the rest is still very much true.

to end with a little bit of rant:
It’s surreal how (and this is not targeted at you) some of the more influential algofam end even AF employees refuse to acknowledge what we’ve achieved in this space.

Hopefully this answers your question.

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I think the important part of it all is to be upfront about why you are asking for what you are asking for. I think we all recognize that times have been tough. Even good projects have taken a beating. ASA Stats was upfront in that it was necessary to secure server costs because they host free API for the community. We could all make a decision based on that. Are we willing pay X to guarantee 2 years of free API?

If CC is in the same position and needs funds to pay server costs to keep going as a project, then just tell us “We need at least X to keep servers going for Y time while we work on sustainability.” I would respect the transparency and I think others would too. But don’t tell us that this is for “user onboarding.” Don’t give it this strange hyped up title and try to force it into some RWA bucket. Don’t suggest this is for some mass influx of users unless there really is a mass influx going on (or something big really is about to bring them in). When things get obscured like that, it spoils good will.

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It is very plainly and directly stated why we are asking for funds and what will be done with them - if you understand it differently that is on you.

Right now, going by unique wallets, there are only 5 proposals in this session that have been voted for by more wallets than this one. So i think people see and understand the value of the proposal.

Thank you all for your support, please vote for #152 →
https://xgov.algorand.foundation/vote/1484325878#:~:text=#152

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“Algorand as go-to chain for Gaming (establishing the RWA narrative)”

Very plain. Much direct. So wow.

It is this sort of refusal to acknowledge the obfuscation going on that bothers me.

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we ask for funds to scale our server fleet and cover costs of adjust our codebase to support it - doesn’t get more direct than that.

How would you go about painting algorand is great chain for gaming then? I think having a quality game that doesn’t look like it was done over 24 hour hackaton is a great way to do so.
Talking about how algo is great because of low fees, fast tx, instant finality etc… but having no real games to back it up is exercise in vanity. If you want to have large studios to use algo as their underlying tech you need some good games built here first to show it’s doable and can work…

Is gaming not RWA?

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This is all a red herring. The issue at hand is not whether I want big studio games, or whether I think CC has a good game. The issue is whether this specific spend makes sense and whether this was presented in an entirely upfront manner. People can decide that for themselves.

But, to answer your question about RWAs: no, video game NFTs aren’t RWAs. I can’t go exchange my CC NFT for a real world spaceship. And no, selling collectibles as a bundle with NFTs doesn’t change that. A RWA token is something where transfer of the token brings with it the right of ownership, use, etc. of some form of property. If I buy an NFT on secondary, I can’t demand that the collectible owner turn over their collectible. Likewise, the collectible owner could sell it without the NFT and nobody would care.

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I think your are mistaking what the RWA (real world adoption) stands for in this proposal.
As to your first point, this feels like kraken and john interview - i’ve explained what our goal is, if you decide to not accept what we are pitching, thats your right. I do appreciate your feedback, and i would in light of it, word our proposal slightly differently if i had a chance to do so, to clarify few aspects that i now see can be interpreted differently from what was intended.