Recently, the 3A chain game Big Time has suddenly become popular. The pre-season invitation code even appeared on the second-hand e-commerce platform Xianyu, triggering a wave of panic buying. Why did Big Time become so popular in such a short period of time? What risks are hidden in the economic model behind it? This article explores these issues in depth.
What sparked Big Time’s popularity
The main reason for Big Time's popularity is the astonishing increase in its game token BIGTIME. It opened at just $0.01 but created a 265% gain in a week. In sharp contrast to this, the overall market value of the entire crypto asset market only increased by 2% between October 12 and October 16. While the market remains unchanged, BIGTIME's trend is outstanding, which has attracted market users' attention to this game.
The gameplay is different from traditional games: The gameplay of Big Time is similar to "World of Warcraft" and "Diablo". Players can choose different characters to form a team to fight. Different from traditional games, Big Time is an MMORPG game whose economic system is connected to the Ethereum blockchain network. The assets players obtain in the game can be sold and cashed out through the open trading market. The in-game token BIGTIME is cashable. one of the assets.
Entry threshold and economic system
Although Big Time is popular, it is not a new chain game. It has been launched as early as April 2021. The preseason starts on October 11, and participating players first need an invitation code. In a short period of time, this game caused a hot scene of "hard to find", and players asked for information on Twitter and Discord communities. On the domestic second-hand idle e-commerce platform Xianyu, there are even many sellers of Big Time invitation codes, with prices ranging from 99 yuan to 150 yuan.
In terms of gameplay, Big Time's gameplay is similar to "World of Warcraft" and "Diablo", as well as the theme of time travel. There are four professions in the game: Warrior, Mage, Priest, and Shadow Blade, which support a team of up to 6 people. Players can fight with warriors of other professions to kill monsters in the game and obtain valuable loot.
The entire game plan is composed by Ari Meilich, who is the co-founder of the well-known Web3.0 metaverse Decentraland. He has assembled an all-star team for Big Time. Most of the development members come from Epic Games, Blizzard, EA and Top game companies such as Riot have participated in the production of "Fortress Heroes", "Grand Theft Auto", "The Final Hour" and "Strike", etc.
High threshold and player feedback
After the opening of the preseason, many people came here for the opportunity to win gold, but they also discovered that the threshold for Big Time is really not low. Some players said, "Now a new account costs about 900 dollars, and the hourglass recharges 200 dollars a day. Working 3 shifts 24 hours a day, (you can earn) 120 dollars in salary. Today (October 16), the explosion rate and rules have been adjusted. , you can play 2000 BIGTIME 24 hours a day, and earn 520 a day.
A player on Twitter bluntly said, "The game is too boring, 18 hours a day." The entry threshold is at least 2,000 dollars, and it may take ten or twenty days to get back the money. "It's too difficult to play without anyone in the early stage. The threshold is too high," this player believes. It is not recommended for newcomers who have not yet entered the game.
Not long ago, the KYC threshold was added to the withdrawal rules of Big Time game assets. Some players found that KYC review takes 3 to 7 days. Some players believe that Big Time has engaged in "hungry marketing" after it became popular.
Although the official later increased the speed of KYC withdrawals, there are rumors among players that the official has also adjusted the drop rate of important items. "In the beginning, it took one day to get back the money, but now it takes four to five days."
In addition, some players uploaded videos showing that Big Time had a running chart plug-in shortly after it went online. Some people reported that there are endless bugs in the game, such as being unable to enter the personal metaverse, losing the hourglass produced by the time guard, losing the time crystal when slotting, etc.
Risks of Game Token BIGTIME
The game token BIGTIME is the main target for gold miners. The total output of the token is 5 billion. Theoretically, it will be completely generated through game behaviors in the game, rather than through traditional token issuance methods. There will be no token sales for investors. Currently, there is only total token sales. 5% of the supply of BIGTIME is airdropped to players and traded on the open market.
According to the rules, in the game, players need five items before they can start earning gold: Time Guard, Time Hourglass, Card Slot, Time Crystal, and Metaverse Space.
After purchasing these five items, players can equip "Time Guard" in their personal metaverse space, and then consume "Time Crystals" to make a "Time Hourglass". After making it, put it into the card slot, and then continue to spend "Time Crystals" Charge the "Time Hourglass" to generate BIGTIME tokens.
Of course, if you don’t want to make money, you can also form a team with players in Big Time and defeat monsters when completing dungeon tasks. The dropped skin materials can also be sold. After completing tasks, players may receive randomly dropped NFTs, which can also be sold.
However, the randomness of this type of NFT assets determines that its return rate is far less high than BIGTIME.
The production mechanism of BIGTIME determines that its supply most of the time will be related to the distribution of the five materials in the game. In theory, the official can limit the production speed of BIGTIME by controlling the explosion rate, ensuring it to a certain extent. stability and elasticity.
Even if the speed is limited, output is always output. When analyzing the economic model of Big Time, Aiko, a member of Folius Ventures, pointed out that the official only designed a faucet for BIGTIME, but there is no water sink that is needed in the game. “Basically, you use cash to buy NFT to earn BIGTIME, and then sell it in the secondary market. In terms of the logic of recouping the money, BIGTIME has no strong consumption scenarios at all and is only 'mined and sold' as mining coins.
Analysts in the GameFi industry pointed out that for a long time, blockchain games have not escaped from a strange circle, that is, the strong financial attributes caused by gold mining (buying NFT-doing tasks-obtaining tokens) have subjectively and objectively weakened the playability of the game. , also caused players to focus too much on producing and selling coins, forming the so-called "dig, raise and sell". "Big Time has not escaped this vicious circle."
Two market makers account for 80% of BIGTIME’s circulation
According to data from CoinMarketCap, the number of BIGTIME currently circulating in the market is 158 million, and the number of tokens held by two potential market makers, Amber Group and FBG Capital, accounts for almost 80% of the total market circulation. They have huge bargaining power and room for maneuver in the market.
From this point of view, new players who are now preparing to enter the market for gold mining opportunities will not only face the high costs caused by player involution, but will also face a potential crisis, that is, the decline of BIGTIME.
An old chain game player reminded that once the seller's market in BIGTIME is too strong, it will cause players' income to shrink or even suffer losses. "So before entering the game, you must calculate the input-output ratio, otherwise it is better not to play."