CryptoCountries Exclusive Interview!
Recently, you may have heard a lot of people say that cryptocurrencies are conquering the world. After all, the value of the entire market was $835 billion at the start of the year. And that’s a big number. But they’re not literally taking over the world though, are they? It’s not as if entire countries are really being bought with Ethereum (available on Coinbase). Well, actually, yes they are.
Enter CryptoCountries, a new Ethereum (available on Coinbase)-based game which takes place in a simulated world where entire countries can be bought and sold with the cryptocurrency. Here’s how it works:
Before you start, it’s important to know that the game will not work on a standard browser. You will have to install the MetaMask browser extension onto your Chrome or Firefox browser in order to play. This will also give you a MetaMask elecTron (available on Binance)ic wallet to store all the ETHer you’ll need to play. Once you’ve downloaded that, you can purchase some ETHer and begin playing. The idea is that each country in CryptoCountries has a token you can buy with an ETHer – called a ‘Smart Contract’ in the game. The country is then yours and is given a special color so you can identify it on an interactive map. But another user can buy the country from you, and you can’t do anything to stop it. Sounds annoying right? What if you got double the amount you paid in return? Similarly, if you want to buy the country back, you’ll need to pay double the amount they paid. Now it’s getting interesting!
We spoke to a CryptoCountries developer, whose username is ‘King’, to get some more info on the game.
Hi, King. First of all, is that your real name?
My real name is Simon. “King” is my conqueror name within our game.
What is your background in game development and cryptocurrency?
My background is in software development where I have been working in multiple SaaS companies in both the B2B and B2C segments. When it comes to Cryptocurrency, I have been following the space for many years and was an early investor into Ethereum (available on Coinbase).
What gave you the inspiration for CryptoCountries and how long did it take to develop?
We had been working on another crypto game for a few months and saw this opportunity when CryptoCelebs launched. I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn how the market works and show what we are capable of. From idea to release was no longer than two weeks, but this is only our MVP. We have put our other game on hold and are working 100% on CryptoCountries now.
It all started with an idea of a completely different concept of a game that we started working with for a few months. However, when CryptCelebrities launched, we thought the concept was interesting and saw an opportunity to bring a concept to market quicker. We decided to put the other project on hold since we wanted to learn from the players and the dynamics of the market.
Since CryptoCountries is a tremendous success, we have now put the other project on hold and are focusing 100% on taking CryptoCountries out of the MVP stage into a solid game that can stand on its legs where the market and dynamics can be decided by the players more flexible.
How large is your team, and where is it based?
Our core team consists of 5 people that are based in Europe and Asia. I’m based in London (UK).
Are there any fees involved in playing, apart from the ETHer you use to buy countries with?
There are no fees, but we take a small cut of every transaction. However, that cut is significantly smaller than any other game out there. We are here to create a cool collectible game, not to make a quick buck and exit.
Is there a limit to how expensive a country in the game can get?
No there are No Limits in place. The price is solely up to the players and the market.
If a player decides they’ve earned enough in the game, how can they turn their reward back into fiat currency?
We never hold any funds ourselves. All the rewards are instantly sent to the player’s wallet. However, as it is with these games if you are the last player holding a country you are not able to sell that asset unless another player buys it from you.
But since we developed all countries in the game to be ERC721 tokens, we will unlock the possibility to trade the countries outside of our platform.
Do you anticipate any country, in particular, being fought hard over?
The popularity of countries are based on the players so it’s hard to anticipate. If I would guess I think that sTron (available on Binance)ger nations like USA, Russia, and China will be more popular. I think some of our upcoming features will affect popularity as well.
Where do you think the game will go, financially speaking?
We do not have any financial goal in mind. I do think CryptoCountries will surpass most other games out there since the sentimental value of owning a country is far greater and we’re very transparent with our community of what and when we are doing things.
As stated earlier, we are working hard on finding a financial model that will benefit players holding countries, so that they are not just sitting with a country and nothing to gain from it.
Do you have an end-goal in mind?
Yes, but I can’t share any details yet. What I can say is that our ambition is for the game to continue evolving and countries changing ownership long after each country in the world have been released.
What can players learn from the experience?
Since the crypto-gaming-space is so new, I believe it’s a learning experience for both us and the players.
Every day we learn new things about the demand, the market and how the blockchain can be used for new gaming experiences. I hope that the players learn about the countries they are conquering in the game and also the risks and benefits of trading collectibles on the Blockchain.
Finally, are you concerned about where the cryptocurrency market is going?
I do not have any bigger concerns about the crypto market. When somETHing is growing as rapidly as this space is at the moment, you have to expect some growing pains.
You will always have people looking to make a quick buck out of anything new and emerging, but that is just how the world works, and you need to see past that and look at the exciting opportunities instead.
Furthermore, if we leave the currency part of it, I am extremely excited about what future technologies will let us as developers do when we develop bigger and greater things. A favorite technology I am personally watching is Hashgraph which I see a lot more interesting use cases for than a currency.
It will be interesting to see where CryptoCountries goes, and whETHer we’ll see some countries go for surprising amounts in the future. Similarly, the release of more crypto-based games in the future will inevitably produce more and more exciting ways to deal in digital currency. If you are 18 or over and want to get involved in CryptoCountries and see it happen for yourself.
Big thank you to Simon Powell for answering our questions here at CyrptoCurrencyNews.com We’re super excited to see what happens next for CryptoCountries.
Featured Image: cryptocountries.io
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Ed Browne is a content writer currently living in Vancouver, CanADA. He currently writes on the subject of business and finance but has previous experience in human interest articles as well as music reporting. Ed is originally from the UK and spent most of his time working in pubs and bars before graduating and entering a journalistic field.