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A few years back, NFTs were somewhat of a hype cycle, but finally, they’re finding real-world use cases. On this episode of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream, Brett Banfe and Miles Malec talked about their pioneering trading card game, Champions TCG, and how it’s using blockchain technology to revolutionize the industry.
A bright future for Champions TCG
Banfe begins by telling us that Generation 5 of the game has just launched, and it includes elemental warfare. He sees a bright future for the game, noting steady growth and an explosion in interest in the cards as collectibles.
Malec says we’re about a year in. There have been 365 days of tournaments with lots of trading and secondary volume. There’s now more than $2 million worth of assets on-chain, and the card industry is on fire. There are even retail websites popping up and selling boxes of cards, and the collectibles element is much, much bigger than the player side of things.
Banfe sees them as digital manufacturers, a new concept. The competition is Magic The Gathering, Disney (NASDAQ: DIS), and other huge firms, but they don’t allow people to trade the cards digitally on the blockchain or to resell them that way, so Champions has an edge for now.
Could they provide the technology to these bigger competitors as a sort of service? Malec says they can plug and play. Data can be attached to the cards to enhance their value, too. Everything is ready to go should any bigger competitor ask for assistance.
Are the cards interoperable across blockchains? Yes, they are, Malec says. They can be imported and exported across all the blockchains on which the cards are available. He says the experience on BSV is much better, but they offer them on other chains like Infinity, too.
What is the plan going forward?
Given the success of Champions TCG, Wuckert asks what the business development process they use is. Malec cautions that some ideas we think are great aren’t in reality—the deciding factor is whether customers will pay for them. The BSV ecosystem has plenty of examples of cool tools that flopped, so he recommends entrepreneurs and startups to test the market before going all in.
In the more immediate term, the focus is on getting gift cards into physical stores. It’s all about the slow wins and continuing to disassociate from ‘crypto’ and focus on the game itself with the blockchain working in the background. The game is already number 15 out of hundreds of options on the Infinity blockchain, and that’s all organic growth. Getting into physical stores will boost that further.
The collectibles market is worth $450 billion, and gaming items like skins are worth another $50 billion. This is a huge opportunity, and with the blockchain giving them an edge by enabling players to buy, sell, and trade cards easily, Champions TCG aims to take full advantage.
Are they looking for investors and VCs or to IPO if the growth continues? It’s possible that they might need to raise funds at some point, but right now, they’re private and would prefer to keep it that way. In any case, they’re in a great starting position in the industry.
To hear more about Champions TCG, how blockchain can change the trading card game industry, and how this game works, check out the livestream here.
Watch: BSV blockchain turns developers’ vision into reality
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
