16 October 2020: Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (“Animoca Brands” or the “Company”) and its social casual gaming subsidiary GAMEE announce that they will launch the Gamee Token, an ERC-20 utility token that will drive engagement on the GAMEE platform, provide skill-based rewards for players of GAMEE’s hyper-casual game titles, and, in the longer term, assist game creators to publish their games on GAMEE. As a pre-launch promotion, holders of the REVV Token now have the opportunity to earn Gamee Tokens by adding liquidity to the REVV-ETH pair on Uniswap (see details here).
GAMEE is a high-engagement social casual gaming platform launched in 2015 and acquired by Animoca Brands earlier this year (refer to the announcement of 2 July 2020). GAMEE provides over 80 proprietary games via its website and its mobile apps on the App Store and Google Play, offering an extensive HTML5 game library. Users can enjoy casual game sessions or take part in gaming tournaments and compete for cash prizes.
In addition to original games, GAMEE also develops games in collaboration with internationally famous brands including NASA, Guinness World Records, Manchester City Football Club, and Cartoon Network.
GAMEE has over 20 million registered GAMEE users, 40 million monthly gameplays, more than 4 billion gameplay sessions to date. On average, each user plays GAMEE’s games for 25 minutes a day. Approximately half of GAMEE users play via the GAMEE website, and half play via its mobile apps.
Market dominance of hyper-casual gaming
Hyper casual games are a growing market segment that already dominates the gaming market, with 78% of the 20 most downloaded new mobile games of 2019 classified as hyper-casual (source: Sensor Tower, 26 March 2020). The hyper-casual segment is characterized by easy and accessible games that can be played for brief sessions at any time. Unlike other gaming segments, the emphasis of hyper-casual games is on delivering entertainment and satisfaction to players in a short amount of time, instead of requiring complex strategy and long commitment.
Over the course of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the growth of gaming, with consumers spending over US$19 billion just on mobile games in Q2 2020 – the highest result ever for a quarter. In the first half of 2020, the casual gaming segment saw growth in global downloads of 45% year-on-year.
Background, utility, and issue of Gamee Token for hyper casual gaming
The Gamee Token is a fungible ERC-20 utility token built on Ethereum. It is designed to recognize and reward the skill, effort, and loyalty of players on GAMEE’s social casual gaming platform, and to drive engagement.
Gamee Tokens will be provided to players as prizes that are earned in GAMEE titles played on the platform. Gamee Tokens will be used to pay for entry fees in special tournaments, and will have governance functions including allowing token holders to vote on GAMEE games roadmaps and deployment, and the distribution of prize and rewards pools.
In addition, GAMEE is developing a non-fungible token (NFT) system, to be integrated with its games platform, that will enable GAMEE players to obtain reward boosts, access to special game missions and tournaments, and other benefits to be detailed at a later date. These GAMEE NFTs will be purchasable and upgradeable using Gamee Tokens.
Initially, Gamee Tokens will be acquired via a promotional airdrop to existing users of GAMEE. After launch, the Gamee Token will be obtainable as a skill-based reward for playing GAMEE games and tournaments, or purchased/traded on a decentralized exchange. Additionally, Animoca Brands is offering users of its REVV motorsport ecosystem a one-time opportunity to earn Gamee Tokens via a special event requiring them to add liquidity to the REVV-ETH pair on Uniswap.
Finally, GAMEE is developing a content creator program that will allow third party game creators to publish their casual games on the GAMEE platform, and the Gamee Token will provide essential utility to the platform’s creator program. More details will be made available as soon as practicable.
The Company intends to launch and list the Gamee Token before the end of 2020. Before the end of October 2020, 254,400,000 Gamee Tokens will be sold in a private presale to investors and strategic partners, subject to extensive lockup periods. 30,528,000 tokens have been allocated for activities benefiting the GAMEE community, including distribution to GAMEE users who play on GAMEE before the listing (these tokens will be redeemable before the listing).