sludgefeed.com
Blockchain project World Asset eXchange (WAX) announced this week that it has partnered with NantG to release customized skins for the relaunched version of H1Z1, a battle royale game that pre-dated both Fortnite and PUBG and is now known as Z1 Battle Royale (Z1BR).
Z1BR and WAX are teaming up to give away thousands of exclusive, limited-editions skins! These brand new skins can be unboxed on your favorite @GO_vIRL site, then either redeemed in @z1battleroyale, traded on WAX ExpressTrade, or sold on @opskinsgo. Enter: https://t.co/ASn58tfoNi pic.twitter.com/X4qtzKoitU
— WAX.io (@wax_io) March 6, 2019
According to a press release shared with us, Z1BR’s relaunch brings the game’s third season, adding new game modes, updated mechanics and more rewards. As part of new developer NantG’s effort to differentiate the game from other popular battle royale titles, the team has partnered with WAX to give away thousands of exclusive, limited-edition skins.
These skins can be used in-game, traded between players or sold on the OPSkins Marketplace, driving an internal economy that expands beyond the one-way microtransaction system seen on other titles. This marks one of the first major games to adopt such a system.
“We built the WAX E-Commerce Blockchain Platform from the ground up to enable these kinds of innovative, new e-commerce and gaming experiences,” said Evan Vandenberg, WAX’s senior manager of business development. “We’re excited to team up such a ground-breaking game on this new release. We’re sponsoring this exclusive skin drop where these one of a kind items can only be acquired for a limited time through WAX enabled platforms.”
According to The Verge, H1Z1’s daily average player numbers dropped from around 85,000 this time last year to around 1,000 at the beginning of 2019. Thus far, the relaunch appears to have brought new life to the game, with peak player numbers back over 10,000.
WAX has rapidly been gaining ground in the gaming and esports industries, recently partnering with Fnatic, a London-based professional esports organization that fields teams in multiple games including Fortnite, League of Legends and Rocket League, to release collectibles and merchandise using WAX’s blockchain e-commerce platform.