In-depth Analysis of the 3A Blockchain Game Big Time: Is a New Wave of Gold Farming Upon Us?

On October 11th, the 3A blockchain game Big Time officially launched a three-month preseason. In addition to players who previously obtained a pass, new users can now experience the game through an invitation code.

This work, led by a well-known game developer, emphasizes game quality and playability, with gameplay similar to "Diablo." Like the previously popular blockchain game Axie Infinity, Big Time has also established a gold-making mechanism, allowing players to earn the game token BIGTIME by clearing dungeons and defeating monsters.

Recently, multiple trading platforms have successively launched the BIGTIME token, with its price soaring from $0.01 to over $0.15 within 24 hours. This wealth effect is attracting more and more new players to enter the market, and a new gold rush seems to be brewing.

Game Overview

Big Time was established in April 2021 and is a multiplayer action role-playing game for PC. The game style is similar to World of Warcraft and Diablo, combining fast-paced action combat, NFT collectibles and decorations, as well as time-traveling adventure elements. Big Time is one of the earliest blockchain games to focus on the AAA concept.

The game is deployed on the Ethereum chain, using a "on-chain assets, off-chain games" dual-layer architecture to ensure a smooth gaming experience.

A major highlight of the project is the use of patented Vault technology to address the high Gas fees for on-chain asset transactions, creating an official open market. In short, the team has built a high-security off-chain data custody system through Vault, storing records of created or purchased items in its own database and maintaining real-time synchronization with the on-chain asset circulation status. Therefore, players can not only trade assets on-chain by themselves but also use various payment methods for Gas-free transactions in the public market.

In April 2022, Big Time launched its testing phase, allowing users with a pass to experience it early. After more than a year of upgrades and iterations, Big Time opened its preseason on October 11, 2023. The preseason has an entry threshold; new users need to obtain an invitation code from early players or purchase a designated SPACE NFT in the game to enter. Currently, it is "hard to find a code" on the market, and it is expected that the game will be open to all users without restriction only after the preseason ends.

Team Background

The team lineup of Big Time is considered luxurious in the field of blockchain games. The founder and CEO was a former co-founder and CEO of a well-known metaverse project, and has experience in Silicon Valley venture capital and big data companies.

The CTO has 18 years of experience in the gaming industry, having held key positions at several well-known gaming companies and co-founded a gaming company.

The chief engineer is also a veteran in the gaming industry, with over 20 years of experience in game development.

The team's chief animator and creative director has over 31 years of experience in special animations, television animations, and games, and has participated in several well-known film and game projects.

In addition, other members of the Big Time team come from top game companies and have participated in the production of several well-known games.

Financing Situation

Big Time completed two rounds of financing in May 2021, raising a total of $21 million. Among them, $10.3 million was led by a well-known investment institution, with many renowned investors from the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors participating.

In addition to primary market financing, Big Time has sold virtual assets such as game pass NFTs in the testing phase, mystery boxes, and SPACE NFTs through multiple platforms from July 2021 to January 2023, with total sales exceeding $70 million.

Game Mechanics

The game’s storyline revolves around players traveling through time to defend history. Players can form teams of up to 6 people to battle monsters and bosses, clearing dungeons to collect legendary items. Throughout the game, players will encounter various historical figures and collect armor and clothing NFTs from different historical periods as loot. In the preseason, players can earn BIGTIME tokens as rewards through ranking points.

The game has set up 4 major classes: Time Warrior, Space-Time Sorcerer, Shadow Blade, and Quantum Repairer, corresponding to Warrior, Mage, Assassin, and Support (Healing) roles, respectively. The game also features a job change mechanism, allowing players to change their class using specific items.

The virtual items in the game include decorative NFTs and functional NFTs. Decorative NFTs are mainly used for character customization and do not affect combat power. Functional NFTs include SPACE, Time Guardian, Forge, Armory, and Hourglass, among others, which play an important role in the game economy.

SPACE NFT is similar to a personal metaverse in games, with a total of 600,000, divided into different rarities and sizes. Many NFTs required in games need to be produced by building equipment from SPACE. SPACE holders can also craft weapons and armor through specific NFTs.

Almost all NFTs have rarity distinctions, usually including multiple tiers, with special classifications for rarer item tiers. Items of unique tiers typically have additional skills.

By introducing SPACE, Big Time has created a game creator economy that allows players to freely produce game items and circulate them freely in the market. In addition, the game has set up a rental market where SPACE holders can rent out their items to earn income.

Economic Model

Unlike the common dual-token model in blockchain games, Big Time has only one token, BIGTIME, with a total supply of 5 billion, all generated through the game, with no reserved or financing distribution. In addition, "skin" NFTs are another core asset in the game, where rare NFTs can showcase status and uniqueness, and allow players to enter limited areas or exclusive dungeons.

BIGTIME is primarily used for crafting equipment and paying for dungeon entry fees in the game. During the testing phase, a certain amount of BIGTIME has been generated in the game, but the market circulation is limited.

In the upcoming preseason, the official will airdrop 97.5 million BIGTIME over three months, with the amount of the airdrop based on the real-time leaderboard of points in user accounts. Points are positively correlated with user levels, the use of functional NFTs, participation in instances, inviting friends, and other factors.

Overall, BIGTIME is generated through the game and has multiple consumption values within the game, which helps to achieve a sustainable economic cycle system. However, as the output of BIGTIME increases, the market selling pressure also rises, and it remains to be seen whether the internal economic system can operate healthily.

Highlights and Risks

Highlights of Big Time include:

1. Significantly enhanced the playability and quality of the game, presenting AAA quality.
2. Lowered the entry barrier, allowing casual players to experience the game for free.
3. Fair token distribution, no pre-mining.
4. Establishing cooperative relationships with multiple gaming guilds helps to initiate early stages.

However, the project also faces some risks:

1. Centralized Risk: The game operates on off-chain servers, and if the team abandons operations, on-chain assets may face a risk of becoming worthless.
2. Development has uncertainties: Game development is still in the early stages, and there is significant uncertainty regarding the quality and completeness of subsequent content.
3. Industry Development Risks: The entire blockchain gaming industry is still in the exploratory stage, lacking successful models.
4. The sustainability of the economic model remains to be verified.

Summary

Big Time represents the development direction of the new generation of blockchain games, with significant improvements in production quality and playability. As traditional gaming talent enters the Web3 space, the blockchain game ecosystem is expected to achieve continuous progress. Currently, there are several other AAA blockchain games in the market, all hoping to leverage Web3 technology to transform the gaming economy, allowing players to participate in game creation and derive value from it.

However, due to the performance limitations of blockchain, current chain games generally adopt the "on-chain assets, off-chain games" mechanism, which can only serve as a transitional solution. This kind of on-chain game, similar to "Web2.5", has issues such as insufficient decentralization and potential risks, which are difficult to completely resolve in the short term.

Nevertheless, the arrival of the great sailing era of blockchain games has opened a new chapter for the development of GameFi. With the continuous advancement of blockchain technology, we have reason to expect that more mature and complete large-scale full-chain games will emerge in the future.