Blockchain gaming isn’t just about the gaming. Or the money.
What is it?
Ionomy studios make games which are designed to be fun, rewarding, and competitive for all, and which are fuelled with ION digital currency. The tokens power the games, and boost investments.
It offers PWRGRD, a suite of developer tools to help game creators get started with what might be new territory for them. This includes:
- Lightning – to enable cash-type tournaments
- Thunder – to enable developers to monetise games to make them premium
- Jumpstart – to enable game developers to connect with investors and gamers
- Alchemy – to enable the provision of digital asset solutions
- Spark – to enable fast payouts and low fees
- Swarm – to enable synchronised gameplay and logical multiplayer matching
What is it for?
For players, there is up to a 50% discount when purchasing in-game items with ION, and as for cashing out, the exchange is multicurrency. As they state themselves, it’s about “more than money”. For developers, it makes it easy to add financial incentives to both free and premium gameplay.
As of April 2018, Ion ranked 166th on the global coin ranking list, taking it far below the top 100 cryptocurrencies. However, climbing to the very top of those rankings isn’t necessarily on Ion’s agenda; the primary purpose is to enable gamers to be rewarded for winning. Beyond that, the Ionomy encompasses the Ion and turns the platform into an economy all of its own.
The overall goal is to make it easier for users – any user – to find out about digital currency, and to learn about how it works by using Ion on the Ionomy.com platform. Users can even deposit Ion in their digital wallets and receive Ion in interest, at a fixed rate of return. There’s even a live exchange enabling pair-trading between Bitcoin and Ion, and instant conversion between other cryptocurrencies.
What is the background?
The Ionomy is the brainchild of Adam Matlack and Michael Pfeiffer. Matlack has a background as a blockchain consultant, and his LinkedIn summary mentions his interest in solving basic problems through decentralisation.
The initial coin supply was nearly 11 million tokens, generated in a genesis block, and held in trust by ionomy.com. Five million were available through the ICO in exchange for other cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. A further 3.4 million were allocated to Ionomy itself, in order to engage users in the social and gaming side of the platform, and to provide incentives to grow the user base. The final 2.5 million are held in reserve for coin development bounties.
What will it bring to the gaming industry?
Ionomy.com is all about opportunities, and within that, the opportunities for users to use the gaming platform to learn about digital currencies and how they work in a safe environment. Developers can interact with gamers through the social side of the platform in a way that is unique to the online gaming industry. In short, Matlack saw a knowledge problem, and presented a solution.
