neonewstoday.com
Defina Finance is an anime-styled NFT metaverse game, utilizing a play-to-earn model which allows players to monetize their gameplay. The project is expanding to Neo N3 following recent acceptance into the Early Adoption Program. The team’s vision is for millions of users to experience a new form of gaming through integration with blockchain technology.
The Early Adoption Program is Neo Global Development’s US $10 million initiative to encourage development and collaboration on Neo N3. The Defina Finance team will receive grant funds, incubation opportunities, and technical support intended to enable their growth and success within the Neo ecosystem.
Background
Released in the beta state on Nov. 29 2021, the Defina game is a blockchain-based RPG consisting of playable characters called “heroes” and different gameplay modes. It is available on Mac, Windows, Android, and is awaiting iOS release.
Taking note of the successes of other blockchain games, the team envisions play-to-earn models to be the future of gaming, empowering players to transform from consumers into ecosystem participants. With blockchain gaming, the Defina team states that players can obtain true ownership of in-game assets, embrace decentralized decision-making, and earn real-life income while enjoying a game.
Beyond the play-to-earn model, the team emphasizes a desire for the Defina metaverse to be shaped by the community and be a place where everyone can participate in creating-to-earn. In line with this vision, the game lore, worldview, and heroes’ backstories were all crafted entirely by Defina community members in various creation contests. Contest winners received various rewards for their contributions.
Since its conception, Defina has amassed a sizable following. Its Twitter and Discord accounts have reached over 57,000 and 40,000 members, respectively. Total NFT sales have surpassed 33,000 units, with more than $100M in total trading volume on the official Defina marketplace. However, according to the Defina team, only ~1% of playable NFTs are available on secondary marketplaces. The rest are being utilized in-game, where 92% of game accounts are active daily.
The Defina Finance Ecosystem
FINA Token
Defina has its own token, FINA, designed for in-game currency, governance, and DeFi and community contribution rewards. FINA is a Binance Smart Chain-based token, and among other uses is required in order to play Defina games, level up heroes, and buy items from the in-game shop.
The Defina team believes that the game and the token together serve as a gateway to allow traditional gamers to gain exposure to DeFi and decentralized organizations. The token is used to incentivize players to play the game. Additionally, with Defina’s DAO, FINA token holders have direct voting power over how the game will develop.
Heroes
Defina features playable characters called heroes, which are represented by NFTs. Heroes are needed in order to participate in the gameplay modes described below. Most modes require a team of four heroes.
There are different grades of heroes, which vary in rarity according to the table below. In addition, each is minted with a unique combination of characteristics, skills, and capabilities. Players can enhance their heroes via numerous gameplay scenarios.
Various grades of heroes and their rarity (source)
Players can acquire heroes through one of three ways: a mystery box, a mystic chest, or via a secondary marketplace. Mystery boxes can be purchased for a fixed price during Mystery Box Sales, which only occur when a new partnership is made. These boxes contain a random Hero NFT. The second way is via a mystic chest, and is generally the cheapest way of acquiring a hero. Mystic chests are an in-game feature which can be purchased or earned by staking FINA tokens. Lastly, Heroes can always be purchased through secondary NFT marketplaces.
Game modes
At present, there are two modes of play: Player-vs-Environment and Player-vs-Player . Each mode has its own subset of games. The PVE games consist of Adventure and Vrykos Tower, whereas the PVP games are Arena and Mining Pool.
In the adventure mode, players must form a team of four heroes to combat computer-controlled monsters, in order to unlock different chapters. Winning Adventure levels earns a player Hero Experience points and FINA. There is also a probability of earning potions and shields, and a lower probability of receiving a treasure chest, which contains hero enhancement items. There are no rewards for losing in Adventure mode.
A snippet of Adventure mode gameplay (source)
When playing Vrykos Tower, players must assign and dispatch heroes to complete bounty quests and earn rewards. A team of heroes and a certain amount of non-refundable FINA tokens are required to enter into bounty quests. Each quest varies in difficulty, time for completion, and rewards offered. Players who successfully complete a quest can claim the reward, however those who fail the bounty will not receive any reward and will lose their entry fee.
Details of an example quest in Vrykos Tower (source)
Arena mode is one of two PVP games currently available. Two players battle each other in this game in order to win PVP Arena Matches and level up their score. This game operates according to seven-day seasons. Each player’s score is reset at the start of a new season. The system automatically pairs players with an opponent of a similar score. Each player must assemble an attack and a defense team using different heroes and positions according to their strategy. Winning matches increases a player’s score and their position on the leaderboard. At the end of each season, a pool of accumulated FINA tokens is paid out to the top 300 players.
The Arena leaderboard (source)
Mining mode is a PVP yield farming game in which players compete to conquer mining pools in order to earn FINA. The types of mining pools that a player can enter depends on the grade of the highest rated hero on their team. The rate of token generation varies between different mining pools, and staking FINA tokens boosts the mining rate of an occupied mine. Players who successfully beat an opponent to conquer a mine are automatically granted a four-hour long shield, to guarantee some rewarded tokens.
Details of a mining pool’s reward structure (source)
An in-depth summary of all game modes can be found at Defina’s Complete Gameplay Guide.
Defina Finance on N3
The Defina team has described Neo as the most feature-complete platform for building decentralized applications. Shortly after the launch of Neo N3, the Defina team connected with Neo Global Development, desiring to build on Neo’s powerful native features such as decentralized storage, domain name service, and oracles. According to Defina’s team, they believe that together, these capabilities provide a foundation for Defina to build out the platform and become a giant in game finance.
As part of the acceptance into the Early Adoption Program, the Defina team plans to release Neo-based NFT Heroes, launch a Neo-exclusive script, and develop gaming modes on N3. The team has also stated it will later implement a system for staking rewards and governance.
From Neo’s end, the NGD leadership team believes that Defina is well positioned to enhance the Neo ecosystem. John Wang, head of Neo Eco-Growth stated:
As a blockchain-based game that combines the areas of DeFi and NFT so well, the new Defina project is an excellent fit for the N3 Early Adoption Program. Defina’s characteristic play-to-earn experience, innovative game format, and inspiring vision of opening the blockchain experience to millions of players through GameFi align well with the Neo N3 mission to break the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. We are confident that the new partnership with Defina will greatly accelerate the realization of our mission.