Greetings, Guardians!

The response to our Friends and Family demo (“F&F demo”) for Guild of Guardians has been nothing short of phenomenal. We can’t thank you all enough for your dedication to Guild of Guardians and your commitment to providing us with the feedback and support we need to make it the best game possible.

The Friends and Family demo has been a key milestone on our journey to launch Guild of Guardians and bring the world of Elderym to life. From the Beautiful Corner demo (“BC demo”) to F&F demo we’ve made significant strides in our quest to build a game that fits neatly into our players’ daily lives, and is a ton of fun as well. We excitedly overshot on engagement for F&F with our 555 brave testors committing 1.12 years of playtime into the week-long test.

We’ve completed our first pass on analysis of your invaluable feedback, and it has been instrumental in sharpening the edges of GOG, and for that, we are eternally grateful. We’re excited to share with you what we’re planning for Guild of Guardians in this next phase.

Chris Clay, VP of Game Design

TL;DR

• The Friends and Family Demo: We’ve made significant strides with the Friends and Family demo, reaffirmed by the enthusiastic engagement of 555 total invited participants and their positive feedback.
• Inspiring Engagement Results: Our retention results from the F&F demo were outstanding, with Day 1 retention at 65.85% and Day 7 at 43.38% — both exceeding our internal targets and industry benchmarks (Average Day 1 retention for gaming apps is 29%). Total playtime during the demo exceeded 1.12 years, demonstrating the incredible engagement of our players.
• Overwhelmingly Positive Feedback: Players celebrated our progress since the BC demo and praised the game’s mechanics, design, and strategic elements. Over 86% of players see themselves playing GOG at launch.
• Roadmap Update: In response to feedback and our commitment to delivering the best experience, we’ve adjusted our roadmap to give GOG the best chance of a massive global launch. We will be test-launching the game (web2 only) in selected region(s) in Q1 2024, focusing on getting data at scale to optimize the game. Our global launch, incorporating web3 features, is targeted for Q2 2024, based on the results and feedback from the test launch.

Friends and Family Demo Recap

With the release of the F&F demo, we hoped to offer a clear visibility on where we are at now and how much Guild of Guardians have developed since the last demo. This demo had one primary objective — making sure GOG is fun!

The demo looped in a total of 555 invited participants composed of our GOG community members, as well as all internal Immutables and their friends and family, along with esteemed partners.

With additions ranging from the fresh tutorials, immersive Guardian stories, to the thrilling Ringstone Dungeons and the enigmatic Endless Dungeon, we’re building more than just a game. Every feature, every tweak, and every addition is an outcome from our community, shows our commitment to creating an experience that is truly by the community, for the community.

Phenomenal Engagement Results

Reflecting our confidence in our progress since the Beautiful Corner demo, we extended invitations to a larger pool of players for the Friends & Family demo. And the retention results are jaw dropping. Guild of Guardians has not only met but spectacularly exceeded our retention targets for F&F.

Our Day 1 (D1) retention stands impressively at 65.85%, followed by a robust 58.73% on Day 3 (D3). Compared to industry benchmarks, our D1 retention is 36.85% higher than the average D1 retention of 29%. And another impressive jump of 14.96% in Day 3 retention rates from previous BC demo’s 44.35%. By Day 7 (D7), we still commanded a remarkable 43.38% retention, 23.38% above the industry average of 20% D7 for successful mobile game projects.

Impressively, the collective playtime during F&F demo totaled a whopping 1.12 years! Almost 10% of our participants committed more than 50 hours of gameplay throughout the short, 10-day demo. Leading the pack was Error, who clocked in a staggering 162.55 hours in the demo! Hats off to you, Guardian.

While the exceptional engagement we witnessed is a testament to our game’s appeal, we aim to fine-tune GOG’s daily engagement to ensure it’s both enjoyable and sustainable for our players.

These figures are a testament to the magnetic pull of our game, far surpassing our initial targets and industry standards.

Exceptionally Positive Feedback

The Guild of Guardians demo elicited a wealth of feedback from our dedicated players. First and foremost, it was truly heartening to learn that players recognized and appreciated the monumental progress we’ve achieved in the brief span between the BC demo and the F&F demo. The strides we made within those two short months were evident, and the community’s acknowledgment means the world to us.

Players were effusive in their praise for the game’s smooth, bug-free mechanics, with many singling out the engaging progression loop, daily rewards, and the competitive leaderboard for commendation. The game’s visual appeal was another high point, with dungeon designs and character animations standing out for their quality and intuitive nature. Strategic elements like hero combinations and dungeon challenges lent depth and added layers of intrigue, while the crafting and collection systems kept players hooked with continual milestones.

It’s clear there’s room for refinement. Some found the initial tutorial levels cumbersome, which impacted their initial experience. Even though the game was designed as a ‘second screen’ experience, it frequently demanded substantial attention. There were known technical issues and optimization problems on various devices. Balance concerns with guardians, UI/UX challenges, and battery consumption concerns were among the other points raised. A common thread among the feedback was a desire for greater depth and meaningful choices, emphasizing the importance of continued iteration and development.

Overall, even as we expanded our player base beyond Guild of Guardians’ “golden cohort,” the enthusiasm remains undiminished. Impressively, over 86% of our players, regardless of their prior affiliation or experience with GOG, have expressed a strong intention to play consistently upon the game’s official launch. This not only speaks to the universal appeal of our game but also underscores the depth and engaging nature of the GOG experience. It’s heartening to see such widespread anticipation and commitment from both our long-time supporters and those newly introduced to the world of Elderym.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to our community for their proactive participation and invaluable feedback during the demo. It’s your influential input that will guide Guild of Guardians to become a game that resonates with, and is celebrated by, all.

Salute to our Leaderboard Elites

Huge congratulations to our Top 10 Leaderboard Guardian! We are in awe at their legendary commitment and passion to the game.

In fact, we were amazed by the sheer dedication our players displayed, especially those vying for the top spots on the leaderboard. We even made the decision to nerf the energy regen rates by half midway through the demo so we can give our competitive players better balance in their daily lives.

While the leaderboard may provide a numerical rank, the unspoken hours and silent grind behind each achievement tell a more profound story. Observing the friendly yet fierce competition between these elite players on platforms like Discord and Twitter has been a delight. Their exchanges and camaraderie beautifully capture the spirit of the GOG community.

The Road Ahead

We take immense pride in the strides Guild of Guardians has taken over the past 9 months, and our momentum is unwavering as we navigate towards a successful launch. The Friends and Family demo has cast a spotlight on specific areas that demand further refinement.

These include but are not limited to:

• Engagement Iteration: Ensuring every player’s choice is meaningful and impactful. This pertains to decisions concerning rooms, runes, equipment, and guardians.
• Balance Iteration and Tuning: It’s crucial that we fine-tune guardian skills, define guardian roles (like Tank, Assassin, Support) with clarity, and diversify our monsters.
• System Re-evaluation: We’re reviewing systems that were originally planned for post-launch implementation, such as guilds and pets, evaluating if they can be pulled into launch.

One resonating piece of feedback from our players has been the preference for a robust, balanced experience over meeting a precommitted launch date. We wholeheartedly agree. It’s paramount for us to take the necessary time for comprehensive playtesting before globally unveiling Guild of Guardians.

Launching prematurely, especially rushing into a Q4 open beta, would be detrimental and could potentially hinder the game’s long-term success. Given these considerations, we’ve made the decision to adjust our roadmap to ensure we can deliver the best possible game for you.

Our strategy is to test-launch Guild of Guardians in selected region(s) during Q1 2024 on web2 only. This web2 in-app purchases only regional test launch will focus on analyzing app performance across key KPIs as well as getting data for balance at scale. By obtaining feedback, especially from newcomers to the Guild of Guardians universe, we will garner more insights crucial for ensuring a successful GOG launch.

Our global launch goal for GOG, inclusive of web3 features, is slated for Q2 of 2024.

Wrapping Up…

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each one of our players. Your dedication, enthusiasm and commitment for Guild of Guardians have driven us to push the boundaries for what we can achieve with Guild of Guardians. Your feedback, both the praises and constructive criticism, have been pivotal in shaping the game into what it is today and its evolution the future holds. As we venture onward, your continued support remains our beacon.

Thank you for being an integral part of this odyssey, our guild, for shaping the Guild of Guardians adventure, and for your faith in our vision. Together, let’s light up the future in the world of Elderym!

Till our paths cross again, Guardians.
#LFGOG

Ready to step into the Guild of Guardians Ecosystem? There’s a plethora of ways for you to dive in:

🤝 Connect with Fellow Guardians! Jump into our Discord and immerse yourself in our bustling community of like-minded enthusiasts.

💎 Unlock the gateway to a myriad of rewards and enhanced experiences through $GOG tokens! Secure your $GOG now on OKX or Sushiswap!

As pioneers in the web3 gaming space, we are charting a course for the future of gaming. As the game’s landscape has transformed, so too has its intricate economy, reflecting our steadfast dedication to refinement and innovation. In the newly evolved Guild of Guardians, players will immerse themselves in refined gameplay, trading, and crafting. Collectively, these elements will open up a wider world of strategies for mastering GOG’s economy

With our eyes set on the horizon, we’re excited to share with you all our progress over the past few months as we continue to push the boundaries of web3 gaming, ensuring that Guild of Guardians remains at the forefront of innovation and player satisfaction.

TLDR

• The Fundamentals: GOG’s gameplay revolves around assembling and equipping powerful squads of Guardians to conquer Dungeons, supported by collection and competition and social systems.
• Redesigning for Success: We’ve redesigned GOG’s economy, making web3 the optimal, not mandatory, path for progression in order to onboard millions into GOG
• Engaging Player Journey: The player journey prioritises sustained player engagement with immersive progression, dynamic web3 features, and upcoming Guild gameplay.
• Streamlining Web3 Onboarding: We’re streamlining web3 onboarding for newcomers by minimising friction and collaborating with Immutable’s platform team for an optimal UX. Even with these improvements, our OG supporters will continue to play a crucial role in welcoming a massive influx of players to Elderym.
• Economy Development Progress: The team visited Mineloader Studios in Shanghai to finalise initial economy features, focusing on solo PvE. Future developments will introduce expanded Guild functionality, enhancing communal gameplay.
• Giving Guardians more depth: Guardians are central to GOG, guiding players through challenges. They can be levelled, enlightened, and ascended using in-game resources. Gaining more stars boosts a Guardian’s abilities, with rare ones having distinct upgrade paths. Players can ascend Guardians into “Radiant Guardians” tradable NFTs with special powers, which are amplified by acquiring Radiant Souls, adding depth and rewarding elite players.

The Fundamentals of GOG’s Game Economy

Our team’s primary focus is to build an enjoyable web3 game that resonates with gamers. With the overwhelmingly positive response to the Beautiful Corner playtest, we’re increasingly confident in our ability to achieve this goal, backed by two compelling reasons -

1. Our development partner Mineloader has a solid track record of delivering high-quality, polished mobile F2P games.
2. Immutable brings invaluable experience and technical know-how to the table when it comes to building web3 games and economy systems.

With these valuable strengths, we look forward to launching the first break-out success in the web3 mobile gaming space!

The primary & secondary game loops

The gameplay experience of GOG revolves around two fundamental aspects that play a crucial role in a player’s progression. The primary game loop centres on assembling squads of powerful Guardians, leading them into challenging Dungeons to vanquish foes and reap rich rewards. Success or failure in these treacherous realms hinges on a player’s strategic acumen and mastery of the game’s meta systems.

On the other hand, the secondary loop encompasses the game’s intricate merging and crafting systems, requiring players to make tactical decisions about which materials and blueprints to target within Dungeons and what equipment to craft, all in the pursuit of Dungeon domination.

Amidst the heart of the adventure, players will find themselves drawn to the satisfaction of Collection and the excitement of Competition. As they strive to conquer thrilling challenges and begin ascending the leaderboards, enticing rewards and recognition await. The chase for achievement is continually reignited by a dynamic stream of fresh content, ensuring their passion remains fresh, and their return to GOG is inevitable. Integral to this experience is the deep bond formed through cooperative gameplay, creating a sense of camaraderie and belonging that fuels their enthusiasm for many more adventures ahead.

Economy Learnings: Crafting an accessible and inclusive web3 journey

Over the past year, we’ve learned that economic sustainability and broad market appeal are closely connected. To achieve our vision of onboarding millions of players into web3, we’ve adjusted our economy’s design to accommodate what we’ve learned thus far.

Instead of making web3 mandatory for player progression, we’ve reimagined it as the optimal path for advancement. This means that web2 players can still enjoy all the content without necessarily acquiring Tokens and NFTs (albeit an inefficient play style). By doing so, we aim to create a compelling and inviting experience that naturally draws players towards web3 as they embark on their journey within GOG. Naturally, we have placed careful guardrails in our design to specifically mitigate against value-extraction. We want to ensure that bad actors cannot drain the resources of the game’s economy, and in doing so, we give GOG’s economy its best chance to thrive.

Our dedication to building a sustainable and inclusive gaming environment drives us forward, ready to welcome players from all backgrounds into the captivating world of GOG.

The player journey within GOG

The cornerstone of long-term sustainability in web3 games lies in striking the perfect balance between a consistent influx of new players and naturally retaining existing ones. GOG has been meticulously crafted with this principle in mind, deliberately designed to integrate seamlessly into the lives of our players, ensuring that they remain engaged and pondering their next objectives even after setting the game aside. Our goal is to create a harmonised experience where players never feel compelled to choose between their real lives and their in-game progress.

Throughout the journey in GOG, every player will experience an ongoing sense of progression. From traversing Dungeons to claiming bountiful rewards to merging materials and strategically crafting equipment to overcome formidable bosses, there will always be something captivating to pursue. We strive to sprinkle enjoyable moments of challenge and advancement across a plethora of situations, so every action taken within GOG leads players closer to achieving their goals.

Players can opt to engage in our dynamic web3 system, facilitating meaningful interactions with others and unlocking enhanced progress within the game. Over time, the allure of web3 engagement will grow stronger, enticing players to merge, craft, and trade their way to rare and potent, Epic and Legendary items.

Armed with such formidable gear, players can ascend the ranks of the leaderboards and embark on exhilarating Endless Dungeon modes, earning glory for themselves and their esteemed Guilds.

While our end-game systems are still in development, we envision a fantasy realm where seasoned players, having mastered all the game’s intricate mechanics, can delve into the rich social gameplay of Guilds. Collaborating as Guild leaders and members, they’ll undertake daring challenges against other Guilds, vying for the most coveted rewards and prestigious accolades. Anticipate a slew of captivating features, such as Guild Crafting, Guild vs. Guild showdowns, and epic PvE Raids, all set to debut shortly after the game’s release.

For our cherished Founders, who have already acquired Guardians, rest assured that they hold a special place in the game’s lore and enjoy access to unique characters, abilities, and economic features that remain exclusive to them. As our economy systems evolve into our launch, we will take consideration of the existing supply and make specific adjustments to ensure that a path of progression always remains open to your favourite Guardians. As early adopters, we extend our heartfelt gratitude and hope that you thoroughly relish the GOG experience.

Your support is instrumental as we welcome new players and introduce them to the boundless wonders of web3. Every new player not only amplifies the game’s potential but also deepens the value of our community, as new players are the foundation for further economic activities in our ecosystem. As our community grows, the rewards and recognition for your early belief will be justified by the unique abilities and features that we’ve set earmarked for holders of Founder Assets. Together, our shared vision of the gaming future isn’t just realised; it flourishes, ensuring that your pioneering stake in the world of Elderym is recognised by all that follow.

Developing best-in-class web3 User Experience

One area of web3 economy and game development we have been keenly focused on is how much friction currently exists for new players looking to experience web3 for the first time. Here, we have been working hard to reduce these areas of friction as much as possible to make it easier for new players to enjoy all of the web3 features that GOG has to offer.

We want new players who want to interact with web3, to have a seamless onboarding experience. To achieve this, the GOG team works closely with other development teams within Immutable to design how IMX Passport will work, using GOG as the reference experience. This means that GOG is guaranteed to have a best-in-class web3 UX experience that is a step-change improvement to existing solutions.

Web3 natives will be more familiar with the intent, flow and purpose of web3 systems than the influx of web2 players we expect to onboard in the future. This expertise will give those players a headstart in Guild of Guardians, whether that be in leaderboards or finding ways to build an enterprise out of trading materials and Guardians within the web3 marketplace.

But we are sure that the OG GOG supporters will foster a welcoming and hospitable community on our quest to onboard millions of players to the land of Elderym.

Economy Development Progress

In July, GOG’s core team members travelled to Shanghai, where they had a jam-packed week of meetings with senior designers and engineers at Mineloader Studios. Our objective was to lock in the features and systems that will be present in the initial release of GOG. At launch, we’re focused on delivering an engaging core gameplay loop with the first iteration of the game economy focusing on solo PvE progression. We also locked in the post-launch content update plan with new content drops, narrative updates and even expansions to the game’s world.

This phased approach will allow us to test and balance the game over time, starting with solo progression, which all players will experience, followed by Guild functionality, including Raids, Guild vs Guild PvP, and Guild Crafting. As Guild features are complex and expected to lean heavily on web3 interactions, we will introduce these features last when we are confident that the basic Economy systems are stable and functioning as expected. We’ve already done a ton of design work around Guild systems and features and are excited to begin sharing more details on it in the following months.

Feature Deep Dives: Guardians

Guardians are the focus of our game and our player’s emotional connection to the game world. You, as the commander of a squad of Guardians, are tasked to journey through dangerous Dungeons to defeat the Dread and restore balance to Elderym. As such, Guardians are the primary vector of player progression.

GOG is a game built around collectibility, meaning there is a wide range of Guardians to acquire and many ways to upgrade them. Our merging and crafting systems augment the power of Guardians and squads by improving stats and, in rare cases, transforming their abilities. To succeed in defeating the Dread, players will need to acquire a roster of Guardians to unlock synergies that will turn the tides of battle in their favour.

Powering-up Guardians

Guardians power up in a variety of ways. Firstly, the level of a Guardian can be increased by acquiring XP through Dungeons. This provides minor improvements in stats for each level that a Guardian grows. There are also rare resources that can be found in Dungeons that increase a Guardian's overall power and unlock new skills or abilities. There will come a point where Guardians can only be advanced further by upgrading the star levels of a chosen Guardian.

Enlightening Guardians to Gain Stars

Generally speaking, enlightening Guardian requires a combination of duplicate Guardians (with less stars) along with Faction Ash. Faction Ash is a resource obtained when sacrificing Guardians that belong to a particular Faction (Redeemers, Keepers, & Imperials). For particularly rare Guardians, e.g., Founders Guardians and Legendary Guardians, we will provision that they start with more stars and/or possess less onerous duplicate requirements to account for their strictly limited supply. Enlightening a Guardian increases a Guardian’s level cap, thereby enhancing their potential stats, abilities, and itemisation choices.

As players continue to progress and gain more stars, they may begin to find it tedious to collect Guardians via the Gacha system. It is at this point that web2 players may wish for a way to exchange their unwanted Guardians for ones that satisfy their requirements. Here, we begin to introduce ‘Radiant Guardians’.

Radiant Guardians

Disclaimer (13/09/23): At Guild of Guardians, we believe in listening and appreciating all community feedback. After careful deliberation, we have decided to revert back to the original design where Chroma utility is cosmetic only and doesn’t provide a stat boost. We believe this outcome will help Guild of Guardians have a more healthy and successful ecosystem in the long-term and we will continue to incorporate community feedback in our development processes

Radiant Guardians are Guardians that have been converted to NFTs via a minting procedure that converts the Guardian’s current characteristics (including stars, but excluding dynamic game attributes such as HP) into a permanent blockchain asset. We intend this to be the optimum progression pathway for players to reach end-game content.

In order to control power inflation, Guardian levels reset upon trade, with the seller recovering a significant fraction of the invested XP and resources, while the buyer receives a fresh Level 1 Guardian. This ensures players are buying, potential, and not just raw power. We believe it’s important for players to level their Guardians through gameplay.

Radiant Guardians have another special trait that is unlockable once a Guardian is converted into an NFT and a process we describe as ‘ascension’. In addition to their stars, Radiant Guardians have access to several tiers of powers that augment their stats and abilities. These powers are fully transferable to other players on the marketplace — and all things equal, a Radiant Guardian is more powerful than the equivalent normal Guardian. In very rare instances, Radiant Guardians, while undergoing enlightenment, may undergo a metamorphosis and become augmented with Chroma gifts which transform their appearance and enhance their versatility further (note: Founder Guardians cannot undergo further metamorphosis).

Radiant Guardians have another special trait that is unlockable once a Guardian is converted into a NFT and a process we describe as ‘ascension’. In addition to their stars, Radiant Guardians have access to several tiers of powers which augment their stats and abilities. These powers are fully transferable to other players on the marketplace — and all things equal a Radiant Guardian is more powerful than the equivalent normal Guardian. In very rare instances, Radiant Guardians while undergoing enlightenment may undergo a metamorphosis and become augmented with Chroma gifts which transform their cosmetic appearance (there will be no effect on Guardian's stats or abilities).

Further ascending a Guardian’s Radiance requires the consumption of Radiant Souls, a valuable and unique resource formed when a Radiant Guardian is sacrificed. This mechanic provides a point of differentiation between Radiant Guardians while simultaneously creating a consistent deflationary sink on the total supply of Guardians. Unlocking Radiant powers is a key factor for going deep into the end game. We anticipate that Player’s and Guild’s competitive drive to win Leaderboards and acquire Legendary loot motivates their desire to mint, burn and trade their way up towards the most powerful and dazzling squads.

As we continue to forge new paths and craft engaging experiences, your insights and engagement remain our guiding star. Together, we’re not just playing a game; we’re pioneering the future of web3 gaming!

Stay tuned for the Economy Showcase Town Hall with Game Director, Chris Clay and Guild of Guardians Economy Designer, Howie Zhang, as they take us through the economy update and answer community questions.

Where: Discord
Date: Wednesday, September 6th
Time: 9am GMT+10.

Until next time, Guardians
LFGOG!

What is up, Guardians?! It’s been a couple of weeks since we kicked off the Beautiful Corner demo, and to say we’re still buzzing is an understatement! Today we’re excited to relive and celebrate the demo’s standout moments, share key results, and dive into invaluable community feedback!

But before we get into it, a massive shoutout to each of you who played, gave constructive feedback and had faith in our vision to evolve the game. We are simply thrilled with the results, and we couldn’t be happier with the strides that Mineloader has made to bring us to where we are today!

TLDR

• The Beautiful Corner Demo: The Beautiful Corner Demo showcased the huge progress we’ve made over the last five months. Handpicked community members dived in, highlighting key features and offering feedback, shaping our ongoing journey to perfect the GOG experience.
• Promising Engagement Results: Shifting GOG to a roguelite squad RPG was a win! In a 3-day demo, 168 members averaged 8 hours of play, with SkyGabriel hitting 45 hours! A staggering 41,000+ activations for Morax’s Ultimate and a whopping 5,567 equipment pieces crafted showed the community’s unwavering dedication.
• Overwhelmingly Positive Feedback: 90% of our playtest respondents agreed they could see themselves playing GOG consistently once launched. Players really enjoyed the new core gameplay loop and its roguelike mechanics. They loved the improved graphics, animation quality and special effects. Many cited that they love the accessibility and convenience of GOG while at the same time being hooked to the gameplay loop and crafting system. Your insights are key to our refinement and future success!
• Community’s Creativity in Inspiring: The entries to our daily routine challenge were legendary! From tending chickens to Netflixing, you showed us how seamlessly GOG fits into your life and routines. And Tayo, your shower-play? Iconic!

The Beautiful Corner

The Guild of Guardians, Beautiful Corner Demo, was a crucial developmental step in our game’s evolution. This significant milestone served as a concentrated and refined version of the game, intended to test and validate the game’s fundamental mechanics, core loops and visuals while showcasing the huge progress our team and Mineloader have made over the last five months.

The demo was rolled out to an exclusive group of community members and partners. Their role? To play, engage, and provide constructive feedback. Like most demos, we took this approach to ensure that the game’s development was in line with our earliest supporter’s expectations, allowing for adjustments and improvements based on real-world feedback.

This demo was much smaller than our previous demos but was ample for players to experience core systems, including features like the endless dungeon and the Throne room for farming Summoning tickets while providing our developers with the data and feedback we need to continue building a gaming experience worthy of the GOG community.

Impressive Playtime Results

Shifting to a roguelite squad, RPG was primarily motivated by our desire to sustain players’ interest and engagement over extended periods of time. The integration of parallel play ensures players can relish the GOG experience while simultaneously engaging in other pursuits, and one of the core objectives of this demo was putting that to the test!

Even with just three hours worth of gameplay content in the demo, across a three-day period, 168 dedicated community members playtested, averaging an astonishing playtime of 8 hours!

In fact, 82% of players delved deep, spending over an hour in the game, with 65% dedicating an expansive 12 hours! But the pinnacle of commitment? SkyGabriel took the cake with an epic playtime of 45 hrs! What a machine!

The Church of Morax continues its reign across Elderym, with Morax’s Ultimate taking centre stage, boasting a remarkable 41,736 activations, making Morax the most levelled-up Guardian in the demo. On the crafting front, our community merged an impressive 27,536 materials and crafted a staggering 5,567 equipment pieces! Absolutely Epic!

Stellar Playtest Feedback

We cannot express enough how grateful we are for the community’s active involvement and feedback following the demo. Your insights are the keystone of our development process. Through your shared experiences and thoughts, we’re able to discern what truly resonates with the community and where we need to focus our energy. Your voice plays a pivotal role in ensuring Guild of Guardians evolves into a game that everyone is proud to be a part of.

First up, we’re simply thrilled to learn that following the Beautiful Corner demo, 90% of playtesters said they could see themselves playing consistently once launched.

Players showed incredible enthusiasm for the demo. They were drawn to the dynamic gameplay mechanics, exploring dungeon runs and getting hands-on with strategic hero leveling. The game’s visuals received much praise, with crisp graphics and refined animations standing out. The adaptability of playing on mobile, coupled with features like auto-battle, resonated with many. Elements like crafting, progression, and the innovative rune system added depth to the experience with the soundtrack also receiving nods of approval.

The positive trajectory of the game’s direction and trust in our developers was evident, though there’s always room for improvement with suggestions for refinement and deeper customisation. We are thrilled with the feedback!

While many of you were vibing with the game’s direction, there were of course a few bumps in the road. Technical hitches, like crashes and freezing, were a pain. A few found gameplay becoming a tad easy or repetitive, and let’s face it, we all want more variety in items and runes!

Some community members felt the UI could be friendlier, especially on those smaller screens, and some felt lost without a solid tutorial. Worries about the star system and its potential pay-to-win vibe popped up too.

All in all, this feedback is gold for us, as we have plans for additional tweaks and changes ahead -

• Developing the FTUE, First-Time User Experience
• UI UX improvements for Crafting, Merging, Upgrading
• Room transition speeds and gameplay speedups
• Ongoing combat and balance improvements
• More and better music
• Proper Sound effects and a more visceral experience

GOG Daily Routine Challenge

Throughout the demo, we kicked off a playful daily routine challenge, asking playtesters to show how Guild of Guardians seamlessly blend into their day-to-day. Whether that was tackling dungeons while tending to their chickens, or plotting hero moves during a steamy shower, our community truly outdid themselves in juggling GOG with their regular tasks.

The entries we received? Utterly brilliant! Players dived into battles while working up a sweat or even during their Netflix chill time. These candid moments not only underscored how captivating and user-friendly GOG is, but also highlighted the parallel play unique to Guild of Guardians.

A massive shoutout to everyone who joined the fun and immortalised their daily GOG moments. And, of course, hats off to the legendary Tayo for his unforgettable, and rather splashy, winning entry of playing GOG in the shower. Absolutely iconic!

The Road Ahead

Through our recent alliance with Mineloader, we’re now poised to execute GOG with unprecedented accuracy and consistency. Our joint efforts over the last few months have borne fruit, evident in the impressive progress we’ve made and the standout success of the Beautiful Corner demo. Both the raving feedback and strong engagement data show that GOG is resonating deeply within our community and with our target demographic. This all underscores our clear and efficient path forward towards launch.

As we close out this chapter, we’re diving deep into preparations for our next big step: the eagerly anticipated Limited Beta set for Q3. Your continued support fuels our journey, and together, we’re crafting something truly remarkable for the world of gaming.

Until next time, Guardians.
LFGOG!!

Here’s the tl;dr for GOG NFT Staking

• The Guild’s treasure Season Two — GOG NFT Staking will run from June 13th 2023 — December 5th 2023 — During this period there will be 1.5 million $GOG rewards available for persons eligible to participate in GOG NFT Staking.
• There will be an additional 0.5 million $GOG available as retroactive surprise rewards for certain eligible GOG NFT holders as further described below.
• To be eligible to participate in GOG NFT Staking, users must actively participate in the Guild of Guardians ecosystem as further described below.
• The first epoch of the GOG NFT Staking program is between June 13th, 2023 — September 5th, 2023 and rewards will be distributed by the end of September.
• GOG NFT Staking reward calculations are based on your GOG NFT holdings at the end of each epoch and the points attributed to those NFTs; each GOG NFT has a set number of points that is equivalent to its original sale price as further described below.

GOG NFT Staking

The highly anticipated GOG NFT Staking program is finally here, continue reading below to find out everything you need to know!

How to be eligible for active GOG NFT staking rewards

1. You must hold at least one GOG NFT in your Immutable X-connected wallet.
2. Only GOG NFTs held in an Immutable-X-connected wallets until the end of the epoch are eligible for GOG NFT Staking rewards ( See “Timing” section below.)
3. You must satisfy at least one of the following criteria every 3 months-

• Trade: Buy or sell any GOG NFT on the secondary market
• Stash: Increase your $GOG balance on held in your Immutable-X-connected wallet by at least 1 $GOG (any $GOG staking rewards received do not count)
• Vote: Cast a governance vote with your $GOG tokens within our ecosystem (Not available yet)

How are the rewards for GOG NFT Staking calculated?

• Reward calculations are made based on your GOG NFT holdings at the end of each epoch.
• Each GOG NFT type has a set number of points that is equivalent to its original sale price.
• Point scores are calculated based on the original sale price of the NFT ($100 original sale price = 100 points)
• Some Hero and Pet NFTs will also receive additional points based on rarity.
• For example, a “Warrior” Chroma receives a 10x multiple vs a normal hero, or a “Rare” pet receives a 2.5x multiple over the original pet score.
• GOG PFPs have been given a $100 original sale price as they were originally rewarded for free.
• A user receives a holding period multiplier depending on how long they have held a particular GOG NFT
• 07/11/2023 Note: Please note, the holding period multiplier resets back to a multiplier of 1x for the beginning of active GOG NFT Staking

The amount of rewards received is calculated from :

• A user’s GOG NFT Staked Points = Quantity of GOG NFTs held (for the entire epoch) x Type of NFT (Each NFT has a different point value)
• A user’s NFT Staking Share (%) = user’s GOG NFT Staked Points/Total GOG NFT Staked Points
• In short, the amount of rewards a user receives is proportional to their GOG NFT Staked Points as a percentage of Total GOG NFT Staked Points in a single epoch

How to Estimate Rewards
To estimate your rewards for the GOG NFT Staking component, create your own copy of the following document below where you can provide inputs in yellow to estimate your reward:

GOG NFT Staking Calculator Reward Estimate

Timing

• The first epoch of the GOG NFT Staking program is between June 13th, 2023 — September 5th, 2023 and the rewards will be distributed by the end of September.
• NOTE : Although this article has been published and announced after June 13th, 2023, calculations will be made from that date based off your GOG NFT holdings at the time.
• The second epoch of the GOG NFT Staking program is between September 6th, 2023 — December 5th, 2023 and the rewards will be distributed by the end of December.
• All time periods are calculated based off UTC time.

GOG NFT Surprise Retroactive Rewards

To be eligible for the GOG NFT surprise retroactive rewards you must have fulfilled both of the following :

1. Held : Held any GOG NFT in in your Immutable-X-connected wallet between January 1st, 2021 and 12th June, 2023 AND
2. Traded : Have bought or sold any GOG NFT on the secondary market at least twice between January 1st, 2021 and 12th June, 2023

How are the rewards for GOG NFT Surprise Retroactive rewards calculated?
Rewards for the surprise rewards are calculated the same way as GOG NFT staking rewards.

Timing

• GOG NFT surprise retroactive rewards will be distributed to eligible users (as described above) by the end of September.
• All time periods are calculated based off UTC time.
• Note: $GOG tokens are issued by Guardians Guild Limited. $GOG is the utility and governance token of the Guild of Guardians game.

FAQs

Why should I be involved in GOG NFT staking?

This is a limited opportunity to get involved in a new staking program for Season 2 of The Guild’s Treasure, with a total of 2M $GOG to be rewarded to our loyal community. This opportunity comes as we gear up for the game’s launch and is specifically designed to reward those who have been actively engaged with the Guild of Guardians ecosystem and been a long-term supporter of the project.

How do I stake my GOG NFTs?
To stake your GOG NFT, the only actions you are required to do is to complete at least 1 of the eligibility requirements.

I transferred my GOG NFTs from my hot wallet into my cold wallet, what will happen to my GOG NFT staking rewards?
For a NFT you hold to qualify and contribute towards your overall rewards in a particular wallet, it must be held until the end of the epoch. If a user had Wallet A (Hot wallet) and transferred their GOG NFTs into Wallet B (Cold Wallet) , this will result in the NFTs moved from Wallet A no longer being eligible for rewards from those NFTs as they no longer hold them.

Wallet B will then qualify for rewards from those NFTs transferred from Wallet A, as long as it fulfils the stash or trading eligibility criteria. The holding duration multiplier will be based on Wallet B’s holding duration and not include the time held from Wallet A.

Is there a minimum amount to stake?
The minimum amount to stake is 1 GOG NFT. There is no action required to ‘stake’ your NFT besides fulfilling the eligibility criteria for a given epoch.

Which GOG NFTs qualify for the eligibility trade criteria?
To satisfy the Trade criteria in any given epoch, you must buy or sell any Guild of Guardians NFT on the secondary market. This includes the following NFT collections:

• Heroes (TokenTrove | Immutable)
• Avatars (TokenTrove | Immutable)
• Pets (TokenTrove | Immutable)
• Other (TokenTrove | Immutable)

How do I stake $GOG?
We have a full guide for this here!

We hope this article has armed you with the details and information to fully understand how The Guild’s Treasure Season Two — GOG NFT Staking Program works! Thank you for taking the time to read and participate in the program. We are grateful to each and every one of you and are thrilled to be able to reward our loyal community members. 💖

Until next time, Guardian.

LFGOG!! 🚀

Guardians, in our latest Dev Diary, we revealed the exciting launch of GOG NFT Staking for The Guild’s Treasure — Season Two, in collaboration with Guardians Guild Limited. A sum of 6 million $GOG has been set aside for season two rewards, divided between the new GOG NFT staking initiative and the continuous $GOG active staking. In this article, we’ll delve into the essentials of The Guild’s Treasure, Season Two— $GOG Active Staking. Let’s GO! 👇

TLDR

• The Guild’s Treasure Season Two— $GOG Active Staking will run from the 5th of June 2023, spanning a six-month period until December 2023 — During this period, 4 million $GOG rewards await our steadfast community members who participate.
• Active stakers who hold $GOG in Immutable X over a continuous streak will receive higher rewards, AND, holding streak bonuses from Season one will carry over to Season two!
• The first payment for The Guild’s Treasure Season Two— $GOG Active Staking will be made by the end of July 2023
• Out of the 6 million $GOG designated for The Guild’s Treasure Season Two rewards, 4 million is set aside specifically for $GOG Active Staking.

$GOG Active Staking

Given the success of The Guild’s Treasure, Season One— we will be continuing $GOG staking in its current form.

How to be eligible for active staking rewards

1. Your $GOG must be deposited on Immutable X
2. You must own a Rare or higher-valued Guild of Guardians NFT Hero
3. You must satisfy at least one of the following criteria for each week -

• Trade: Buy or sell any Guild of Guardians NFT on the secondary market
• Stash: Increase your $GOG balance on ImmutableX by at least 1 $GOG (any $GOG rewards received do not count) from the start of the week to the end of the week
• Vote: Cast a governance vote with your $GOG tokens within our ecosystem (Not available yet)

How rewards are calculated

The calculation methodology for $GOG active staking is consistent with that of Season One— the amount in rewards you receive will be proportional to your total % share of all $GOG staked in a single reward period (weekly).

Here’s what you need to know…
4m $GOG will be distributed over 30 weeks until the end of December, with the final epoch on the 25th of December. This means roughly 133,333 $GOG will be distributed to active stakers each week of The Guild’s Treasure. This will be in addition to the GOG NFT Staking program — which will be an addition to The Guild’s Treasure Season Two. (More details to come on this soon!)

Based on current network conditions (these may no longer be up to date depending on when you read this)

• ~32m $GOG is held on Immutable
• ~50% of $GOG is eligible for active staking rewards (e.g. fulfil the eligibility criteria)
• The average user holding streak is ~1.8x

How to estimate rewards

Based on example network conditions (these may no longer be up to date depending on when you read this)

• ~25m $GOG is held on ImmutableX
• ~30% of $GOG is eligible for active staking rewards (e.g. fulfil the eligibility criteria)
• The average user holding streak is ~1.9x

Assuming a 2x holding streak bonus on 1,000 $GOG eligible for active staking, the estimated rewards can be calculated as follows:

• The entire network has effectively staked 14.25m $GOG = 25m x 30% x 1.9
• You have effectively staked 2,000 $GOG = 1000 x 2
• Your contribution to the staked network is 0.014% = 2,000 / 14,250,000 x 100%
• Your weekly rewards are 23.4 $GOG = 0.014% x 166,666.666666

The annualised reward rate (rewards calculated weekly, distributed monthly, and assumes rewards are then staked) is 220% = [(1 + 166,666.666666/14,250,000 x 2 x (365/7/12))12–1] x 100%

Timing

• Rewards are calculated weekly, starting at 00:00 on Monday and ending at 11:59 pm on Sunday UTC.
• Rewards are based on your minimum $GOG balance during that week.
• Any weighting bonus applied during Season One of $GOG active staking will carry over to Season Two for $GOG Active Staking.

Rewards Distribution

• The length of The Guild’s Treasure is 30 weeks, with the first week starting on 5th June, 2023 to the final week starting on 25th December 2023
• Rewards are distributed monthly in the 4th week of the month, batching all complete weeks up until that date — please note that any $GOG rewards received (from staking or otherwise) do not count towards the Stash criteria for active weekly participation

$GOG Active Staking Season 2 Distribution Table

What is the holding streak bonus?

• A holding streak bonus multiplier is applied to $GOG held on Immutable, based on how long it has been continuously held
• The multiplier grows logarithmically with every extra week it is held, up to a maximum of 2x at ~12 months held, and a minimum of 1x at 0 weeks held, i.e. the first week it is staked. The formula for the multiplier is: log(N+1)/log(52) + 1
• Having $GOG on Immutable maintains the holding streak, even if active staking criteria are missed in any week
• Holding streaks are calculated for every cohort of $GOG added to a wallet — for example, if 100 $GOG is added to the wallet every week, the first 100 $GOG will have a higher holding streak bonus multiplier than the second 100 $GOG
• When $GOG is withdrawn from a wallet, it is removed from the cohort with the shortest holding streak first
• This multiplier is applied to each cohort, and the sum of all cohorts (after applying the multiplier) is treated as the effectively staked $GOG, provided that all other active staking criteria were met for that week

FAQs

Why should I stake $GOG?
This is a limited opportunity to get involved in the largest rewards to date! A whopping 5 million $GOG will be shared among those who’ve been the pillars of Guild of Guardians from the start. This opportunity comes as we gear up for the game’s launch and is specifically designed for those who passionately believe in Guild of Guardians.

What happens to my holding streak bonus from Season One?
Any weighting bonus applied during Season one of $GOG active staking will carry over to Season two.

When is GOG NFT Staking Launching?
GOG NFT Staking will be launching soon, along with retroactive surprise NFT staking rewards to reward our loyal supporters. Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming article on everything you need to know! 👀

Why did I receive a different reward than what was estimated?
Staking rewards are based on the network conditions for that week. While you have control over the amount you stake, and how long you’ve held your $GOG, staking rewards are shared across the entire network of stakers. If there is higher staking participation or a higher average holding streak than what was used in the calculation in any given week, the rewards will be lower than estimated as it is spread across more staked $GOG. Similarly, if the staking participation or average holding streak is lower than what was used in the calculation, the rewards will be higher than estimated.

Is there a minimum amount to stake?
While there is no minimum amount to stake, as staking rewards will simply be distributed as a percentage of the $GOG you have staked, this will be rounded down to zero if your reward is less than 0.000001 $GOG.

Which Guild of Guardians NFTs qualify for the weekly trade criteria?
To satisfy the Trade criteria in any given week, you must buy or sell any Guild of Guardians NFT on the secondary market. This includes the following NFT collections:

• Heroes (TokenTrove | Immutable)
• Avatars (TokenTrove | Immutable)
• Pets (TokenTrove | Immutable)
• Other (TokenTrove | Immutable)

How do I buy and stake $GOG?
We have a full guide for this here!

We hope this article has armed you with the details and information to fully understand how The Guild’s Treasure Season Two— $GOG Active Staking Program works! Thank you for taking the time to read and participate in the program. We are grateful to each and every one of you and are thrilled to be able to reward our loyal community members. 💖

Until next time, Guardian.

LFGOG!! 🚀

Hey Guardians! It’s been a red-hot minute since our last update, and we can’t thank you enough for your ongoing patience. While things may seem quiet on the surface, we have been hustling non-stop behind the scenes, dedicating our time and energy to some very epic developments.

In this edition of Dev Diaries, we’re beyond excited to give you the lowdown on some major happenings. From our fruitful visit with Mineloader in Shanghai to enhancements in game design, economy, art, and most excitingly, a freshly revamped roadmap, guiding us towards the launch of GOG!

A heartfelt thank you, Guardians. As we forge ahead with these monumental developments, your steadfast support and patience continue to be our guiding light. We couldn’t do this without you ❤️

TLDR:

• New roadmap, who dis?: Let’s cut straight to the chase! The long-awaited roadmap is finally here, with four exciting milestones towards the highly anticipated launch of GOG!
• Evolving Gameplay: Guild of Guardians is evolving its gameplay focus as a Roguelite Squad RPG.
• 10-week progress update: After a productive trip to Shanghai to visit Mineloader, we are thrilled with the progress and changes made after just 10 weeks! Progress leaks incoming!
• NFT Staking: In partnership with Guardians Guild Limited, we’re launching GOG NFT Staking as part of The Guild’s Treasure with 6 million $GOG in total rewards and planning a special airdrop for loyal NFT holders. See deets below!
• Economy Design: We’re enhancing strategic gameplay with new features, including match & merge mechanics, a tiered hero system, more content for free players, expanded crafting components, and broader item crafting opportunities.

THE ROAD AHEAD

We want to acknowledge the patience and dedication that this amazing community has shown during these past few months. We understand that waiting for updates can be challenging, and we appreciate your understanding as we’ve been diligently working behind the scenes to deliver a gaming experience worthy of the Guild of Guardians community.

But without further ado, we’re thrilled to unveil the highly anticipated Guild of Guardians roadmap! Crafted with precision, this roadmap zeroes in on our chief objective — the launch of Guild of Guardians. Although we have a myriad of community events in the pipeline, this roadmap is designed to highlight the key milestones we’re aiming to reach as we journey towards the much-awaited launch of GOG. But stay tuned, as this is an evolving roadmap, and we have some exciting things in the works on the community side!

MILESTONE ONE: Mineloader Partnership

You may recall our recent move to join forces with the esteemed game development studio, Mineloader? Well, after an intense and productive ten weeks of joint game development, and the creation of innovative game loops, topped off with an incredibly productive visit to Shanghai, we’re ecstatic to share that we’re surpassing our first roadmap milestone objective!

We have never been more assured of this partnership and are thrilled with the exceptional progress Mineloader has achieved thus far. Mineloader has brought a blend of passion, expertise, and creativity to this project that has truly exceeded our expectations. Their commitment to bringing our shared vision to life is evident in every aspect of the game’s development.

MILESTONE TWO: The Beautiful Corner

In this phase, our team will be laser-focused on bringing to life innovative game loops, engaging battle mechanics, immersive dungeon systems, and captivating equipment crafting through merge. To make sure everything is just right, we’ll be extending an exclusive invitation to a very select group of playtesters to test the game and provide valuable feedback. Stay tuned for more details!

NFT STAKING

We want to recognise the unwavering support of our dedicated community. Thus we’re thrilled to announce — in association with Guardians Guild Limited, the launch of GOG NFT Staking for The Guild’s Treasure, Season 2! This marks a new chapter in our journey, one that brings exciting rewards and opportunities for our ardent supporters.

Guardians Guild Limited has earmarked a substantial total of 6 million $GOG for Season 2 rewards of The Guild’s Treasure. This $GOG allocation will fuel both the newly introduced GOG NFT Staking and the continued $GOG Active Staking, intertwining the two in a synergistic reward system.

Over the course of six months, these rewards will become available. A major portion, 4 million $GOG, will be allocated to Active Staking, while the remaining 2 million $GOG will fuel the NFT Staking.

As a special nod to our longstanding supporters who have been interacting with the GOG ecosystem, we’re planning a retroactive reward airdrop for all NFT holders who meet the set criteria. This is our way of showing appreciation for your continued loyalty and to commemorate the launch of NFT Staking.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming Medium article which will provide more in-depth information about the airdrop and the exciting new season of The Guild’s Treasure.

MILESTONE THREE: Limited Beta

Following the Beautiful Corner, we’ll charge ahead towards the Limited Beta phase, where we’ll implement the valuable learnings and feedback from the Beautiful Corner and begin the development and implementation of new game features, including:

• Auto-battler mechanics
• Hero equipment and NFT integration
• Merge Crafting
• Summoning system and Story mode
• Web3 integrations

MILESTONE FOUR: Open Beta Launch

The pivotal Open Beta Launch will see the launch of Guild of Guardians on mobile, where players will experience the integration of all core game features, including an in-game storefront, leaderboards, gem rewards, and key NFT integrations. But that’s not all — expect further refinements to elevate your user experience, alongside crucial improvements such as device compatibility.

The launch of Guild of Guardians is on the horizon, and we’re thrilled to have you join us on this journey!

VISITING MINELOADER IN SHANGHAI

A few weeks ago, members of the Guild of Guardians game design team visited the Mineloader studio in Shanghai, China. The goal of this trip was to establish a unified vision for Guild of Guardians, while strengthening our relationship with the talented Mineloader team we’ve been working with for the past 10 weeks.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, we worked closely with the team, familiarising them with the existing art, style guides, and sharing our vision for how we wanted to push the visuals even further, and we are thrilled with the progress we have made!

Working directly with Mineloader’s Art Director, Darwin and Game Director Li Wei, we honed in and aligned on the overall look and feel of the game and iterated on art, animation, lighting and visual effects.

Another major focus was the redesign of the new core loop of Guild of Guardians, where we iterated on the roguelike aspects and merge crafting. When it comes to the web2 game meta systems, we left with a clear path to what we’re calling the beautiful corner of Guild of Guardians. An initial playable demo offering a full moment-to-moment gameplay experience, including -

• Exploring dungeons in the roguelike
• Advancing your Guardians
• Upgrading their equipment via merge and crafting.

The trip concluded with an in-depth exploration of web3 integration for core gameplay systems. As there’s still more work to be done in this area, we’re planning a follow-up trip with our economy team in early July to finalise details and ensure a seamless implementation.

The Evolution from Action RPG to Roguelite Squad RPG

Deciding to overhaul a project is neither a simple nor a casual choice! After thoughtful deliberation with some of the industry’s foremost game developers, we’ve determined that the optimal path forward for our community and the ultimate triumph of the game lies in transforming Guild of Guardians into a Roguelite Squad RPG. This significant resolution is grounded in three fundamental reasons:

Prioritising Long-term Sustained Engagement: For a game to be successful in the long run, it needs more than just a solid economy. When it comes to mobile games, in particular, it’s important to keep players interested and engaged over time. Action RPGs can be tricky as they often demand a lot of attention, and the gameplay doesn’t change much. In most games, the bulk of the player base loses interest and quits the game after a month or so.

As a Roguelite Squad RPG, GOG is poised to captivate players for the long haul, thanks to the introduction of parallel play. The revamped GOG experience will enable players to seamlessly adapt their engagement level, allowing them to enjoy the game while simultaneously partaking in other activities. Whether it’s playing GOG during a Netflix binge, sneaking in a session during a work video call, or indulging in the game over a meal, the innovative core loops make it all possible — something the previous playstyle didn’t accommodate.

Larger Player Base, Higher Chance at Success: While the mobile APRG market is large, the Squad RPG and Roguelite genres are experiencing high growth, and attract hundreds of millions of players. By focusing on a genre with a larger player base, we increase GOG’s chances of success and broaden its appeal to a more extensive audience.

Strong Development Expertise, On Track for Launch: We want to stress that a timely and reliable delivery of Guild of Guardians is paramount. Leveraging our new partnership with Mineloader, a studio with proven expertise in developing this specific genre of game and a seasoned familiarity with the game engine, we can deliver GOG with greater precision and predictability than ever before. The past 10 weeks of collaboration with Mineloader have yielded remarkable progress, a testament to our streamlined direction. As we share this progress with you, we believe you’ll gain a clear understanding of the robustness and dependability we now operate with.

10-WEEK PROGRESS UPDATE

We’re eager to share a glimpse of the significant strides we’ve made in collaboration with Mineloader over the past 10 weeks. Your patience has been invaluable as the team has been ardently dedicated to ensuring Mineloader’s seamless integration and momentum.

Economy Part 1: Increasing Economic Depth

As mentioned above, GOG is doubling down on the strategy elements of the game. As such, we have been reworking parts of the economy to increase its depth and strategy.

Below are some of the changes that have been planned. Please note that these are not exhaustive and are all subject to change. The intent of sharing this is to try to give the community concrete examples of what to expect, but as things evolve, we will keep you updated.

• Adding a match & merge crafting systems to GOG. This allows us to provide players with more rewards and choices in merging and crafting as they play. It also connects naturally to the web3 marketplace, where players can create items that are required by other players and trade them for the items they specifically need to progress.
• Adding a hero star system so that there are tiers of upgrades for heroes in addition to just their level. This star system will require players to burn heroes (a mixture of web2/web3, and duplicate or of the same faction) in order to “star up” the heroes, and create deeper progression vectors. See below for an early example

• Expanding content to free-to-play players so that they can play with heroes of all rarities. This is done by allowing some heroes to start as web2, with the option to spend gems to convert into an NFT and gain unique bonuses.
  Note: Founders heroes by default, start with more stars (and god power) than non-founders heroes.
• Adding many more components, consumables and recipes for crafting, so that there are more tiers of upgrading to go from dungeon reward to final equipment crafted. For example, instead of going from Cubelets to Equipment, equipment will require materials, advanced materials, blueprints and potentially other equipment in order to be created. Some of these components will be NFTs, while others will be web2 resources. This will allow us to create a rich possibility space in GOG’s meta economy.

• Expanding item crafting to be available to individuals to increase production and trading of the economy. Guilds will still be able to craft exclusive items, which we’re currently picturing to be “Heirlooms” (items which have power that scales with hero level, and thus are always relevant for progression), and guilds will be the exclusive producers of Heirloom equipment.

Overall the goal of the above changes is to enhance the depth and accessibility of the economy, so that it’s thriving even more than before. A summary of the changes to expect:

Economy Part 2: Improving web3 onboarding & trading experience

The second major update on the economy front is that Immutable has been solving tough technical challenges that are required to improve the web3 onboarding and trading experience. The overall plan is for a two-track economy system: Both web2 and web3 progression are viable, however, the web3 progression is optimal. Web2 players will naturally and organically find that web3 provides solutions to their resource constraint problems and feel motivated, but not forced to engage with the web3 economy.

Some of the things we are designing together with the Immutable Passport team:

Obfuscation of transaction signing, so players do not get ‘turned off’ by too many clicks, and can easily do web3 actions

• Pre-approvals or in-app signing rather than browser pop-ups, so that players can still have the security of their assets but also have the option to enable simplified processes for certain actions to create a better experience
• Easy on-ramps of crypto for web2 players, which is particularly important for mainstream gamers who will have a hard time getting $GOG or ETH to participate in the economy
• Ensuring all user flows are compliant with applicable requirements

There is a lot of complexity here — and Immutable is doing a LOT of user journey mapping to craft a great game experience:

As we forge ahead with Guild of Guardians, our mission stays unswerving — we’re set to introduce millions of players to the exciting world of web3 games. We’ve mapped out a clear route to tackle the hurdles that stand in our way, streamlining the web3 experience until it seamlessly dovetails with the needs and expectations of gamers. The journey might be challenging, but we’re ready, and we hope you are too.

Stay tuned for our upcoming Discord town hall on Tuesday, 23rd May, 2023 at 9:30AM AEST where we will be joined by:

• Chris Clay — VP of Game Design
• Daniel Stephens — Director of Production & Engineering
• Andrew Friday — Mineloader Representative
• Ryan Tadveen — Community Manager

Unsurprisingly, we expect many questions regarding our exciting game development updates and upcoming milestones as we make our way towards the road ahead.

Thank you for your unwavering support and conviction.

Until next time, Guardians.

Welcome to Edition #17 of the ‘Guardian of The Week’ series!

This initiative serves as a tribute to the dedication, passion, and effort each of you has poured into the Guild of Guardians community. We are grateful for everyone’s contributions and aim to provide a glimpse into the lives of the remarkable individuals who make this community truly special! 🖤

This week, we’re shining the spotlight on a dedicated Guardian who’s been tirelessly serving the community — Jeerow! The mastermind behind the widely used and beloved website and database, gogheroes.com.

Let’s start by introducing yourself to the community…

Hi! My name is Angelo, but my nickname is Jeerow. I was born in the Philippines, but for the past 10 years, I have been living and working in the United States, Minnesota, together with my wife. I’m a Product Owner/Software Engineer at one of the biggest IT and Consulting firms in the world, and our client here in Minnesota is one of the biggest retail/online stores in the United States.

I graduated in Information Technology and started working right after graduation. I’m passionate about creativity, games, technology, and sports. So even after working 9–5 [I indulge in them], if I still have the energy and time.

I like to spend my spare time in the creative arts, playing mobile games (MMORPG), or practising web development. In terms of games, I enjoy strategy and MMORPG. While I grew up on PS1 games, my brother introduced me to the MMROPG and strategy genres, and I got hooked on Starcraft, Warcraft 3, DOTA 1 and DOTA 2. I also enjoy basketball fantasy (currently in middle standing, hehe).

My medium of drawing is digital and watercolour. In terms of web development and technology, I like to research, and I’m more into the old school. I still use HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and SQL. I also love watching anime; I believe I have watched almost all of the top 500 lists on MyAnimeList. Currently, I am enjoying the Chainsaw Man series. I even got my wife hooked on watching anime and GoT/HoTD.

What got you into web development, and how long have you been in the field?

In terms of technology and software product development, I have over eight years of experience, but in web development, I have very minimal experience. Everything I built on gogheroes.com is from stock knowledge that I learned during college along with Google. GOG Heroes was my first time building and hosting a fully dynamic website. It helps, I guess, that my current job is related to product development and UI/UX, where I build my own automation tools for tasks that are tedious and repetitive. I’m passionate about building tools that make things easier!

One challenge in web development is ensuring compatibility across all browsers and making sites as mobile-friendly as possible. Back in college, websites were mainly rendered on desktop computers, but now every mobile device can access the internet, making responsive design crucial. Despite this challenge, I find it enjoyable, and it boosts my productivity.

If I had the time to learn a new programming language, I would love to learn full-stack web development, especially Python and JavaScript. However, my current schedule in real life keeps me very busy.

What inspired GOG Heroes? Was it your first time building in web3?

Yes, this is my first time building and hosting something like gogheroes.com. The idea came when I was browsing the heroes’ details in Tokentrove. I noticed there were limited descriptions for the different NFTs, and realised there are players like me that would want more details before buying. It was the great GOG community that inspired me to build the website and to spread the news of how awesome Guild of Guardians is for future players.

I also researched and read more about Guild of Guardians and fell in love with the social gameplay, the Play-and-Earn aspect and the fact that it’s a web3 mobile game. Also, the idea that you can have your own community/guild, and friends within the GOG universe was enough for me to get hooked. I believe building the gogheroes.com is enough testament to show how deeply I believe in Guild of Guardians and how much I love the GOG community.

You’ve previously spoken about adding additional functionality to GOG Heroes. Do you have plans to continue to add to the site?

Yes, definitely! I plan on adding more tools and pages once further details about the official gameplay have been released. But in the meantime, I am focusing on maintaining and improving the guilds page. The plan is to allow guild leaders to log in and add to their inventory of Heroes, energy boosters and tokens. Along with a guild registry to add guild member information and tracking in a dashboard that summarises all the items.

They’ll also be able to flex their inventory on the recruitment guild page so that when a player is looking for a guild, they’ll be able to make an effective assessment. You can currently do this manually, but I’m hoping in the future, GOG will release a public API to pull guild information for easy guild verification. So far, we have over 70 guilds registered, which is a lot considering the game is yet to be released. Just imagine when the game comes out — there will be a large influx of new members wanting to join a guild.

While I will continue to build the site, hosting a website is costly, so I’m looking to experiment with ads and donations to continue, and am open to community/guild sponsorship. One example I built over the weekend is the gogheroes.com/stake page. It’s a staking tool for tracking and reminding the community of when to stake, while we wait for the official staking UI.

What elements of Guild of Guardians are you the most excited about? What do you want to learn more about?

There are a lot of things I am excited about in Guild of Guardians, but I will list the features that I am currently looking forward to

• Gameplay with the different combos, levelling up, merging and the attributes required to strategise, which adds complexity.
• Conquering different dungeons, defeating bosses, and I heard there would be world bosses.
• Guilds, raids, and crafting are features I’m excited about. Collaborating with guildmates or friends in raids and strategic crafting, as well as competing on guild leaderboards. These are all aspects I’m eager to experience. Additionally, crafting items to sell in the marketplace presents another engaging opportunity.
• GOG being playable on mobile. Imagine being able to play anytime on your mobile device.

I could list many different elements of GOG, but it will take us a while! I believe Guild of Guardians has the potential to be the next big web3 game on mobile. The esports aspect is also kind of interesting to me, in the sense of how the GOG team integrate esports into GOG gameplay. I know it will be big since they have partnered with the biggest esports teams in the world. The future of web3 gaming is looking very bright.

What have you learned throughout this crypto winter?

If there is one thing I have learned about bear markets, it’s that they help identify games and web3 companies capable of persevering and thriving during a crypto winter, by building despite the market conditions.

If I remember, during the bull cycle, there were so many web3 games and NFT guilds that pop up left and right, promising different agendas and earning potential. But look at them now, most are inactive or have been rugged by the development team.

We now know which web3 games can survive after the bear market, though we don’t know how long this will last before a bull market. For me, I am trying to accumulate as much as I can and execute my plan so that I avoid FOMOing again during the Bull. Invest only what you can afford to lose. Plan your trade, trade your plan. NFA.

The amazing thing about Guild Of Guardians is that they continue building, and they are still HERE! Also, the GOG Fam, the Guild of Guardians community like you, Bayrd, Firebolt and other GOG OGs make it amazing. It inspires me to continue to build and add value to the GOG community.

Speaking of other projects, are you involved in other web3 projects or communities? How do you find the crypto space right now?

I’ve joined other web3 games in Discord to check them out, but I’ve never been active. The only project I am fully active in is Guild of Guardians. Considering how busy I am IRL, I want to focus fully on GOG for now, as it’s hard to juggle and play different games at the same time. I just want to be ready for when GOG launches. I keep track of my $GOG and am working towards that staking streak. I believe $GOG will be very important in crafting, merging and other utilities.

So, apart from programming and being an active member of our Discord community, what do you do for fun?

I just recently became a father to our first daughter last week. Her name is Hiraya. But, when I still have energy and time, I play Mobile Legends on mobile with my colleagues or check crypto/sports news, it’s my stress reliever after work. I also compete in NBA basketball fantasy or binge anime with my wife. Over the weekends, we spend time with friends watching movies, eating, and playing board games. We are into different games, including UNO, sequence, Avalon etc. But there’s only so much we can do right now here because it’s winter here in Minnesota.

Congrats on the birth of your daughter! What’s your favourite anime?

Thanks! Oh, there is a lot of anime that I like! If it’s entertaining, and the art and storyline are good, I will binge it. Some of the anime I highly recommended are Attack on Titan, FMA, Demon Slayer, One Piece, Jujutsu, CSM, basically, the top 100 on the MyAnimeList are all good and any Makoto Shinkai and Studio Ghibli film.

Is there anything more you would care to add?

Yeah, I would like to thank the GOG community for supporting GOG Heroes and the tools I have created. I appreciate all the feedback and comments. I’m dedicated to enhancing and refining the site. I’m in the process of migrating parts of the guild dashboard and registry to the guild page on gogheroes.com, while also contemplating other tools that could add value to the community. If you have any questions, feedback, or collaboration ideas, please don’t hesitate to send me a direct message.

Jeerow can be reached on Discord at Jeerow | AxN#4109.

We hope you enjoyed our seventeenth edition of ‘Guardian of the Week’.

A very special thanks to Bayrd and Firebolt, who are the driving force behind this community-run initiative. 🖤

Until next time, Guardians.

Welcome to Edition #16 of the ‘Guardian of The Week’ series!

This is our way of acknowledging and celebrating all the contributions, love and hard work you have all given to this family 🖤

We appreciate every one of you, and we hope this series gives you an insight into the brilliant people that make this community what it is!

Our Guardian of the Week features one of the youngest OGs of GOG, who has been here since day one! Meet Plasma_Bladesxx! Being a full-time student has always been a challenge, but he still manages to publish his own initiative, Plasma’s “What’s New, Guardians”, in discord. An entertaining opinion piece and analysis about the latest Guild of Guardian News, offering the community a fresh perspective and insight.

Let’s start by introducing yourself to the community…

Heya! You probably know me as Plasma or Plasma_Bladesxx online, but in real life, my name is Benjamin 🙂

Born and bred in England, also known as the home of fish and chips and tea (both things I love) and unlike most people in the Guild of Guardians space, I’m actually pretty young, at only 18 years old.

Being part of GenZ when everyone else is older than you and can remember a time when the internet didn’t exist can be quite daunting, but everyone is very supportive and open-minded, which is quite nice for a gaming community. I first got introduced to cryptocurrency through Reddit, and one of the people there introduced me to Guild Of Guardians as he needed referrals at the time. That’s right, I’m one of the OGs, and part of the Glade fraction! I even occasionally write content and articles about the game. Though since I have a job and other boring life responsibilities, I’m definitely not as active as I was last year, but I’ll still try, of course.

As well as writing about GOG, I’ve actually play-tested the game multiple times! I can’t tell any more information since NDAs exist, but trust me — the game is really fun 🙂 I also play other games, mainly multiplayer ones such as Fortnite and Overwatch 2, and am currently playing Pokémon Violet when no one is on. I’m super grateful for the existence of video games as many of my friends are currently studying at university or college, making it hard to meet up, so it’s nice being able to play together online.

Passion for video games aside, I’m still just a regular teenager. I like drawing, watching stuff on my phone and going out when the weather is nice, just like everyone else. So the whole stereotype of some super smart guy with glasses and a suit looking at crypto charts is completely wrong 😛

I think being able to express yourself and truly be who you want to be, is one of the main defining features of GenZ, which is why I’m interested in not only the game, but crypto as a whole for years to come!

So entering the space, especially as a teenager and a student, must be really tough. What kind of games are you looking into in web3, and what kinds of adjustments do you think you have to make, to make it work?

To be honest, Guild Of Guardians is the main one I focus on, although I do keep up to date with news regarding web3, but more on a general / consumer level and not the technical side since it’s really confusing. Ubisoft tried doing NFTs which I found interesting since they are an AAA studio, but they were shut down, so it’s definitely something the dev team should consider. I also briefly played Skyweaver, which is a trading card game that has NFT aspects too.

It is definitely tough being fresh out of school, since I don’t have tons of money, I can’t justify spending it all on heroes or pets for the game when I’d rather go out with my mates, so it’s a disadvantage in that regard. Besides, I don’t think my parents would like it either, lol. The other thing is time and balance, there are only 8–16 hours of the day you effectively have to use, and even now, I’m still figuring out the best way to spend my time, but I think that’s a problem older and more mature me can worry about.

What aspect of Guild of Guardians do you like the most?

That is tough, I really enjoy a lot of aspects of the game, from the dungeon gameplay to collecting and slowly building your ultimate team in a “rags to riches” story. My absolute favourite part, though, are the mini-bosses each stage has at the end. Seeing your heroes you’ve trained having to face off against something you’ve never seen before can make it really interesting and is a nice break from the usual waves of enemies. And they aren’t pushovers either, you really have to use your ultimate skills wisely. It can make the game really intense, and that’s what makes it so fun, the thrill of being able to barely win and escape with tons of loot. I also really like the loot system, in particular the XP system where you can choose who to level up. It reduces a lot of the grind and allows you to experiment with new team comps and strategies.

The thing I’m most excited about is “GOG IRL” as mentioned in the roadmap, there are so many possibilities and cool things the team could do, and with the game being a first of a kind, it can help get the name out there and make it more well known. Also, come on, some of the pets and heroes look way too cuddly, who wouldn’t want a plushie Morax / Selene or a case featuring Lia? The esport organisations could also incorporate Guild of Guardians in their merch lines, so people can support their favourite team, small-scale football in a way 🙂

What other things/hobbies do you enjoy doing in your free time?

When the weather is nice, I like to go out to the park and play some Pokémon GO, it helps clear my head, and it’s nice getting some fresh air too. I also draw occasionally, mainly just doodling in a cutesy style since I really only draw for fun and rather not burn myself out from it. My music taste is the definition of “I’ll listen to anything” — some pop, some rock, some video game music and lots of high-paced night core. Typical stuff 😛 otherwise, I’ll watch some YouTube videos or use social media to see what my mates are doing. In the future, I’d like to travel and go to new places, but it’s a tiny bit too early now. But who knows what the future holds?

You have been here from the beginning — a member since day one. What made you stay with Guild of Guardians?

I love fantasy and role-playing games, I remember playing games like Pokémon Diamond on the DS and watching the anime, too, as a kid. It’s just nice being able to escape the real world and become someone else. Also, one of the first points mentioned in the initial trailer was how we as players don’t actually own any of our cosmetics or items, but with NFTs, we truly do own our items — with the recent Overwatch 2 release straight up deleting items from players and lots of transfer issues at launch it has made the debate much more focused since people don’t want to go through that again.

How big do you think Guild of Guardians is going to be during release and in the coming years?

Guild of Guardians definitely has big potential to become mainstream, being on mobile platforms instead of PC only makes it accessible to many more players. The game also doesn’t require a crypto wallet, it is purely optional (at least based on the wording of the demo), so the game doesn’t risk complicating players or forcing them to go through the hassle of making an account. The biggest reason why I see lots of hope for years to come is that the Devs have already released a roadmap ahead of time with lots of ideas. Obviously, they might not all happen, but the devs are clearly confident in their game to put out future plans this early y’know?

Will we ever see your engaging and fascinating articles in Discord again?

Aww thanks ❤️ yep, I do intend to write up more long-length articles, especially if there’s an update or balance changes when the game launches. I’d want to focus more on the opinion parts, though and have a more balanced take on things to inform people but also to open up a discussion.

If something is bad, why is it bad? How can the Devs improve it, constructive criticism, basically. I think just piling on and hating on the Devs for a change is not only dumb but very counterproductive. They want to make the game good as well, not everything is about money 😛

If anybody wants to reach out to you, where can they find you?

All my main social media accounts can be found here, although I’m most active on Twitter and Discord 🙂

We hope you enjoyed our sixteenth edition of ‘Guardian of the Week’.

A very special thanks to Bayrd and Firebolt, who are the driving force behind this community-run initiative.

Until next time, Guardians.

It’s been a huge few months at the Guild of Guardians Head Quarters! We’re over the moon to have hit 1 million pre-registered players and to have hosted the fun and mischievous Many Gifts of Morax event and, more specifically, the landmark Esports Exclusives Sale.

We value and are humbled by the ongoing feedback we receive from this community and are more aware than ever of the challenge that comes with balancing community feedback while striving to onboard hundreds of millions of gamers into digital ownership.

As we head towards our game launch, we anticipate new and ongoing challenges in 2023, but we’re fully geared up, excited, and ready to deliver a gaming experience that has the potential to revolutionise the industry.

Thank you, Guardians, for your continued feedback, participation, and support. We’re incredibly grateful to have you with us on this journey ❤️

TLDR:

• Mineloader and the 2023 release of Guild of Guardians: We’re thrilled to welcome Mineloader to the GOG fam! A premier game development studio, to handle the web2 portion of game development, with a Q4 2023 release date.
• The Esports Exclusives Sale recap: Regardless of the sale outcome, we know that persistence is key to changing hearts and minds, and repetition is essential in getting our message across. That’s why our partnership with esports teams is a multi-year one, as we work towards our vision of onboarding millions of users into web3. 20% of the sale proceeds will be used for staking rewards. All unsold NFTs will remain unminted.
• Delivering a sustainable web3 economy: The GOG economy is evolving with web3 gaming, but the objective remains the same — A sustainable economy that is engaging for players. The team will be focusing on sinks, trading UX, and iterating numbers for a fun economy.
• Investing in lore to make GOG a leading franchise and IP: We’re hard focused on expanding GOG lore and showcasing the growth of web3 gaming through new and exciting opportunities for players, with a tentpole lore event planned for later this year!
• Marketing and launch plans: Gear up for the launch of GOG! From a captivating cinematic trailer to a global brand campaign and localized marketing, we’re pouring resources into making GOG a success. With a new Growth Lead coming on board soon, we’re ready to take the gaming world by storm. GOG is coming, get ready!
• GDC and NFT.NYC: GOG is participating in the GDC panel with Mineloader and is the title sponsor for NFT.NYC, with exciting on-site activities planned that you don’t want to miss!
• The Guild’s Treasure — $GOG active staking updates: We’re exploring where we can take The Guild’s Treasure next and are determining what treasures are to await the GOG community next following the conclusion of the initial program.

Mineloader and the 2023 release of Guild of Guardians

We are thrilled to share that we are on track for a Q4 2023 release of Guild of Guardians and are excited to welcome our new game development studio, Mineloader, to the GOG fam!

Mineloader is a premier game development studio based in Shanghai, China, with Studios in Tianjin and Dalian, Liaoning Province who have worked on some of the biggest games in the world, including Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy Remake, Biomutant, The Last of Us and many more!

The web2 portion of game development will now be handled by Mineloader. This move is aimed at achieving a higher level of quality and faster game development in the long-term. Immutable has a strategic focus on excelling in web3 gaming and seeks partners to handle the challenging web2 aspects.

To facilitate better experiences, Immutable has undergone a restructuring where organization is now based on function rather than by game. This enables sharing of expertise, processes, and tools across all games. This strategy has resulted in parting ways with some colleagues and Stepico. We want to express our gratitude for their contributions to the GOG journey. We are deeply grateful to our employees, past and present, and to our development partner Stepico — all of who have contributed greatly to the game thus far.

Some of the new leaders that we have brought on include:

Chris Clay — VP of Game Design: to expand his focus on GOG on revising the gameplay loop (former Wizards of the Coast).

Shibu Mathew — VP of Product: to focus on the product roadmap (former EA).

Aakash Mandhar — VP of Engineering: to focus on the engineering contracts and web3 integrations (former EA, Microsoft/Xbox).

Veronica Foo — Director of Marketing: to lead launch planning and marketing (former Illuvium, Ubisoft and Riot Games).

The Esports Exclusives Sale Retro

ICYMI Guild of Guardians entered into a multi-year partnership with Cloud9, Fnatic, NAVI, Ninjas in Pyjamas, NRG, SK Gaming, T1, and Team Liquid — eight of the biggest titans in Esports to bring web3 gaming to millions!

Phase one of this landmark partnership was IP integration, where we collaborated closely with each team, natively integrating their IPs and brands into the Guild of Guardians universe through playable in-game characters that players truly own.

A total of 6,591 NFTs were minted, including 3,905 which were sold and 2686 set aside for giveaways or buy 1 get 1 free airdrops.

Although we’re currently analysing and reviewing the results of our esports campaign, unfortunately, we didn’t quite reach our goal of drawing in new web2 players to GOG.

The web2 community is still hesitant towards web3, especially amid the media controversy and bear market. However, we know that persistence is key to changing hearts and minds, and repetition is essential in getting our message across. That’s why our partnership with esports teams is a multi-year one, as we work towards our vision of onboarding millions of users into web3.

With an engaging live game and committed strategic partners like these esports teams, we’re confident we can demonstrate the value and benefits of web3 to all players and bring them onboard.

Regardless of the sale outcome, we’d like to thank everyone for being part of this major milestone and want to assure you that your contributions, involvement and feedback have been invaluable. As a reminder, all NFTs unsold during the sale will remain unminted. The NFTs that are not eligible to be matched with the 1:1 airdrop promotion from the reserved 5,500 will also remain unminted.

Additionally, 20% of proceeds raised from Esports sale will be converted to $GOG as per whitepaper for Staking Rewards Pool. Further details on how this will feed into the staking programme will be announced in due time.

You have helped to make history by being part of this groundbreaking event, and we are extremely proud to be the leaders in this industry-first partnership.

We appreciate your support, and we look forward to creating new and exciting opportunities for all of us, ensuring we take into account all types of feedback for our future plans.

Delivering a sustainable web3 economy

Since the initial design of the GOG economy, there have been significant developments in web3 gaming. As the industry and game continue to evolve, we plan to update the GOG economy accordingly. However, the core objective remains the same — To establish a sustainable and engaging economy for players. All of the NFTs players are familiar with — such as heroes, equipment, pets, and energy boosters — are critical components of the economy.

Currently, the team is focusing on several key areas -

• Firstly, ensuring that there are adequate sinks in the economy, particularly in relation to equipment and legendary heroes. We have designs in place to address these gaps.
• Secondly, embedding trading into the game experience. Trading is an essential part of the ecosystem, but players often find it confusing. We are working on improving the economy UX, exploring when and how players engage with economy features and what it looks like. Passport will play a significant role in this.
• Finally, numbers and iteration are crucial to making both the game and the economy enjoyable. The team is diving deep into the numbers and planning ways to test them. However, designing repeatable economy playtests is challenging since incentives aren’t perfect if NFTs aren’t real. Therefore, the team is focusing on developing ways to test the economy sustainably.

Investing in lore to make GOG a leading franchise and IP

Our team has been working tirelessly behind closed doors to take Guild of Guardians to new heights by expanding our lore through innovative design systems and frameworks. We believe that to become a leading franchise, we need to put in the same level of hard work and resources that all major franchises in the world have invested.

Our goal is not just to create a compelling storyline but to showcase the true power and growth of web3 gaming through our actions and interoperability. We want to provide players with new and exciting opportunities to play, taking our gameplay to a whole new level across multiple titles.

We are not just building lore, we are creating a new identity for GOG that will prove Immutable’s vision to be clear, viable, and applicable across projects. We are excited to announce that we have a tentpole lore event planned for the latter half of this year.

Our team is continuing to build with passion and excitement, and we cannot wait for you to be part of it. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for hidden teasers and easter eggs leading up to the event!

Marketing and launch plans

Get ready as we gear up for the launch of GOG! Our team is already hard at work on pre-production for our cinematic trailer, which will introduce you to the game’s captivating lore and characters like never before. But that’s just the beginning — we’re also working on an updated roadmap to keep you in the loop on all of our progress in the coming months.

To ensure that GOG reaches gamers around the world, we’re working with marketing agencies around the world to create both a global brand campaign and localized marketing for key markets where mobile gaming reigns supreme. And we’re not stopping there — we have a new Growth Lead joining us in April with a proven track record in game launches and user acquisition, dedicated to making GOG’s launch a success.

We’re pouring significant resources into making sure that GOG takes the gaming world by storm, from our talented team’s hard work to our substantial investment of both manpower and funding. GOG is coming, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

GDC and NFT.NYC

We’re excited to be part of the GDC panel where we’ll be joined by none other than Mineloader! And that’s not all — as the title sponsor for NFT.NYC this year, Immutable is bringing the heat! GOG is proud to be a part of the many on-site activities planned for NFT.NYC, so get ready for wall takeovers, epic art, and other activations that we have in store for you at the event and other side events. You won’t want to miss out on the action!

The Guild’s Treasure — $GOG active staking update

In October, we committed to five million $GOG in rewards to early supporters. Today, we’re exploring where we can take The Guild’s Treasure next and are determining what treasures await the GOG community, following the conclusion of the initial program. Rest assured, though, we’re laser-focused on making sure that there’s treasure to go around until closer to the launch of the game. Stay tuned for more information!

We’re incredibly grateful to have such talented partners like Mineloader and dedicated players like you on this journey. We’re humbled by the support we’ve received so far, and we promise to keep working hard to deliver a game that will define the industry. We can’t wait to share Guild of Guardians with all of you!

Until next time, Guardians.

LFGOG!!

TL;DR: We are on track for a 2023 launch after overhauling the game, bringing on new leadership and onboarding a super awesome new partner. While we weren’t on track before, we are now more confident that we will ship an incredible game on time.

Now that the news is out, I am eager to talk more about our new partnership with Mineloader for the upcoming 2023 release of Guild of Guardians. A premier game development studio, Mineloader has worked on some of the biggest games in the world, including Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy Remake, Biomutant, The Last of Us and many more. The selection process was fierce; we talked to 23 development studios all over the world to find a partner that could help us ship the game at the level of quality our players and community deserve. At the end of our search, Mineloader rose to the top of the list, showing outstanding professionalism, a deep resume of prior experience and won our confidence in their ability to deliver against our timelines.

We are grateful to our employees, past and present, and to our development partner Stepico — all of who have contributed greatly to the game thus far. That said, we had to make certain changes to our team and our development plan to ensure that we could ship the game to players on time, with the user experience required to make the game go mainstream. This has not been quick or easy, and each decision is one that is made with strict evaluation and careful consideration. As Chief Studio Officer, I want to talk a little bit about that process to give our community more transparency on how it has evolved.

I’ve said this many times — shipping games isn’t easy. Shipping great games is even more complicated. Delays and shifts in timelines are commonplace as publishers and developers seek to find the fun. This is even more complex in web3, where we have to make sure that we get things right in both known web2 issues such as art, core gameplay, lore and build quality, while also defining the shape of new problems unique to web3, such as sustainable economy design, interoperability and tokenomics.

When I joined Guild of Guardians in March 2022, I leaned into my experience working at Riot Games and managing and launching many successful titles such as League of Legends, Wild Rift and Valorant to run a deep assessment of the game through multiple reviews of our weekly builds, playtests and user experience. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet my expectations, and it became clear we had to make changes. It was imperative that we made significant changes so that we can deliver a successful game. This meant searching for new partners and making changes to our team and systems. Some of the leaders that we brought on to GOG include:

• Chris Clay, VP of Game Design, to expand his focus on GOG on revising the gameplay loop (former Wizards of the Coast).
• Shibu Mathew, VP of Product, to focus on the product roadmap (former EA).
• Aakash Mandhar, VP of Engineering, to focus on the engineering contracts and web3 integrations (former EA, Microsoft/Xbox).
• Veronica Foo, Director of Marketing, to lead launch planning and marketing (former Illuvium, Ubisoft and Riot Games).

We then began to overhaul all aspects of the game to make it more conducive to our broader vision, quality and timeline expectations. Overall we are continuing to grow our investment in Guild of Guardians:

• We partnered with Mineloader to make sure that the game is delightful and able to scale while shipping on time.
• We focused our team on ensuring the web3 economy and metagame are best-in-class experiences that are fun and also sustainable — setting the foundation for realizing the promise of web3 gaming.
• We revamped our lore and our magical systems to make the world of Elderym something that can be used as the foundation of a global franchise and IP.
• We decided to launch with Immutable Passport to allow GOG to have a seamless onboarding experience for the mainstream RPG audience we are targeting.

In fact, overall investment into Immutable Games Studio has increased since 2022, with plans to increase another 5% overall by the end of 2024.

Together, with our new leadership additions and world-class development partner Mineloader, we are more confident than ever that we can build Guild of Guardians into a game that can truly delight players and grow mainstream.

We are hosting a Town Hall for the community on March 8 AEDT with Chris Clay to share more about our plans and reveal what’s coming next. I am looking forward to the future. LFGOG!!

Thanks,
Justin