Immutable has announced a strategic partnership with LiquidX, the driving force behind the rejuvenation of battle arena gaming Pixelmon. LiquidX’s goal is to create a decentralized intellectual property (IP) focused on capturing and fighting monsters, supported by a comprehensive four-part relaunch strategy.
The rise of Pixelmon
Pixelmon has established itself as one of the most popular games NFTs on OpenSea, which generated a lot of excitement within the Web3 gaming community. Giulio Xiloyannis, co-founder of LiquidX, brings experience from digital ventures to lead Pixelmon into a monstrous combat experience. Furthermore, with a development team and a community of more than 200,000 people, the project aims to meet community expectations.
Responding to the announcement, Xiloyannis said: “By partnering with Immutable and deploying their zkEVM, a new EVM-compatible zk rollup powered by Polygon technology and with full Immutable platform support, we are addressing a key pain point in the gaming experience: the seamless execution of in-game transactions.”
In 2022, LiquidX acquired Pixelmon, initiating a transformative phase for the project. To address issues with artwork and community perception, Pixelmon has revamped the visuals, moving from the original Minecraft-inspired aesthetic to more advanced designs. This change is intended to improve Pixelmon’s reputation and take advantage of its opportunities in the Web3 space.
Furthermore, following a recent $8 million seed capital raise and support from prominent industry figures, Pixelmon is entering a new phase with significant support and optimism for its future prospects.
Using immutable zkEVM
Immutable’s zkEVM platform is powered by Polygon and provides Pixelmon with a range of benefits including custom smart contracts, enhanced gameplay features, tokenomics and a streamlined trading system. This aims to address the challenges in the gaming industry and ease the transition to Web3 development.
Robbie Ferguson, President and Co-Founder of Immutable, expressed his excitement for the partnership, saying: “We are incredibly excited to welcome one of the most anticipated Web3 games to Immutable zkEVM. Pixelmon is an incredible turnaround story, focused on delivering their flagship title with a seamless user experience. They are one of the key games I would look at to drive mainstream activity in 2024.”
The roadmap for a four-phase relaunch
Pixelmon is structuring its relaunch plan in four phases, with each phase introducing new features to the game. The first phase focuses on developing hypercasual web games, including Kevin The Adventurer and PixelPals. The subsequent stages introduce player versus player (PvP) and player versus environment (PvE) battle modes with the Battle Arena mode.
Then the plan moves on to the third phase, which includes creating an open-world role-playing game (RPG) called “Hunting Ground” and an airdrop for the game’s governance token. The final phase focuses on developing a fully decentralized open world and monster fighting arena.
Finally, Pixelmon has introduced a Right-of-Game (ROG) system tied to its first-generation NFT collection as a way to recognize its fanbase. This system offers NFT holders specific in-game rewards and benefits, with the aim of improving the gaming experience and strengthening the relationship between the community and the game universe.