In brief


The first Origins champ @1437_MT8!! #AxieCon #AxieOrigins
In an awesome final series that went to game 5 against @spamandrice pic.twitter.com/Z439hpMXIT
— Philip La (@philipla) September 10, 2022
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-5.17%Reading
Esports team METAT8’s slogan is, “If we don’t own it, we don’t play it.” And while the phrase refers to the organization’s focus on Web3 games built around user-owned NFT assets, it also fits the team’s dominant performance at this month’s Axie Infinity World Championship.
METAT8 Esports players won the two largest tournaments in the finals of the championship, held at AxieCon in Barcelona, with the team earning $229,000 in combined winnings. Interestingly, both champion players are veteran esports competitors that have had success in other, longer-running games before entering the esports space.
Theeban “1437” Siva had a flawless run through the Axie Infinity "Origins" tournament at AxieCon, going 12-0 in sets before claiming the title. "Origins" is the new, overhauled version of the card-driven combat game, in which players bring their owned NFT monsters into battle.
Prior to playing Axie, Siva competed for over a decade in "Dota 2," a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that has delivered some of the largest prize pools in esports history. He played for teams like Cloud9 and Dignitas and competed at the annual international tournament several times, but decided to retire in 2021 after a stint in coaching.
Siva quickly discovered the Ethereum-based Axie Infinity, which saw surging NFT sales volume and player activity in 2021, and said it appealed to him as a “bridge” between his gaming background and his interest in cryptocurrency. As the game surged, he co-founded METAT8 as a guild in September 2021 with the popular Axie content creator known simply as Elijah.
Most Axie Infinity guilds are focused on so-called “scholarship” programs, in which NFT monsters are loaned out to players—often in developing countries—who then play the game and earn reward tokens, giving a cut back to the NFT owners. However, that model has lost steam amid Axie’s economic struggles and transition to the new "Origins" experience.
However, Siva tells Decrypt that METAT8 Esports has been focused on competition from the start. That dedication paid off at the World Championship, he said.
When cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced a 10-year, $210 million sponsorship and naming rights agreement with leading esports club Team SoloMid (TSM) in June 2021, the towering terms sent shockwaves throughout both the crypto and esports worlds. But it wasn’t the first major move aligning the two buzzy, tech-centric industries. Popular teams like OG and Team Vitality launched crypto fan tokens via the Socios platform a couple years back, generating revenue while engaging fans and letting them...
“We wanted to have the best possible team, and something that's just all about competing and making each other better and stronger,” said Siva. “We were making sure that the players in our guild are able to fulfill their dreams of being full-time players, essentially.”
Sebastián “Superchería” Pozzo, who won the Axie Classic tournament based on the older V2 battle mode, also competed for METAT8 from the start, following a career playing "Magic: The Gathering." Pozzo has competed in the card game for over a decade, and placed 5th at the 2019 World Championship played in the video game version, "Magic: The Gathering Arena."
Pozzo had taken a break from Axie earlier this year as it transitioned to the new "Origins" experience, which he didn’t enjoy as much. But when the World Championship was announced, he came out of his hiatus and rejoined METAT8, ultimately claiming his first major tournament title in any competitive game.
“It was amazing. I've done pretty well in 'Magic,' but I had never earned a major, individual title,” Pozzo told Decrypt. “This was something special, because going home knowing that nothing could have gone any better is unique.”
The first Origins champ @1437_MT8!! #AxieCon #AxieOrigins
In an awesome final series that went to game 5 against @spamandrice pic.twitter.com/Z439hpMXIT
— Philip La (@philipla) September 10, 2022
Axie Infinity has undergone a significant transformation over the past several months after its free-to-play economy collapsed, tanking NFT and token prices in the process. Developer Sky Mavis has responded by adjusting the rewards model and launching the new "Origins" (originally “Origin”) version of the game with free-to-play trial monsters and reworked gameplay.
Competition will continue to be a focal point for the Axie community, as Sky Mavis announced at AxieCon that $2.4 million worth of AXS tokens will be offered as grants for esports tournaments and events over the next nine months. Siva said that the esports focus is a differentiating factor amongst NFT-driven games right now.
The Ethereum merge will happen this week. In this serving of Decrypt-O's, Kate Irwin explains the Bellatrix upgrade and the shadow fork, Dan Roberts predicts the impact Ethereum's move to proof of stake will have on Bitcoin's energy use PR problem (plus commentary from Dan Held from the gm podcast), and Sander Lutz hits the street in Hollyweird to ask regular folks if they know and care about the merge. (Production by Zack Edelman, editing by Jason Nelson.)
“A lot of Web3 games are about, ‘OK, how can we make the most amount of money from our users?’ and are kind of forsaking the entertainment aspect of the game," he said.
METAT8 is looking into competing in other Web3 games as well, including an upcoming MOBA that Siva himself is co-developing called "Battle for Giostone." Asked if he thinks the team can remain dominant in Axie Infinity going forward, he was quick to respond.
“Oh, no doubt,” Siva replied. “There’s no doubt about that.”
Game industry veteran John Smedley—who helped bring games like EverQuest, H1Z1, and Planetside to life as president of Sony Online Entertainment (later Daybreak Game Company)—is back with a new studio, Distinct Possibility Studios, and a blockchain-powered debut first-person shooter called Reaper Actual. And while blockchain games have typically found a muted or hostile response from traditional gamers, Smedley believes his game could bring in “millions and millions” of players due to the shoote...
Scor on Sweet, a Telegram mini-app ecosystem, has launched a clone of the classic mobile game Flappy Bird—but this time with a tennis twist, featuring stars of the real-world game. Flappy Racquet arrives as the sport’s most prestigious Grand Slam tournament, Wimbledon, is just getting into full swing. The game appears simple: tap on the screen to hit tennis balls away and avoid drones as your character flies through the sky. Miss a ball, and your progress is reset. Top players will be rewarded...
It's tough to keep tabs on the ever-changing crypto gaming space, thanks to the constant flow of news: everything from big game launches and fun degen experiments to token price swings and occasional project collapses. It's a lot to follow. Luckily, we're plugged in at Decrypt's GG. We cover the biggest happenings throughout the week, and then this weekly roundup provides a quick way to catch up, as well as find a bunch of other little bits of news from throughout the week. Top stories Raini's b...