DISCLAIMER: THIS CONTENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION TO PURCHASE TOKENS OR ANY OTHER ASSETS. ANY INVESTMENTS MADE IN THE PROJECTS OR ASSETS MENTIONED BELOW ARE DONE SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.

Project Highlights

• Ev.io is a quick ’load and play’ blockchain-based FPS running on the Solana network. The game emphasizes mobility and gunplay with abilities like teleportation and triple jump. Ev.io is also free to play, but if players want to earn rewards, creating an account and using NFTs is required.
• Ev.io is creating the first advertisement engine in the gaming space to run their game economy. Ev.io has an off-chain virtual currency called “e,” which is used as a medium of exchange to avoid network fees and congestion. Ev.io uses a unique scoring system to calculate the value of e and the earning rate per session. The higher a user’s score, the more e they can earn.
• Ev.io has 9.2K Twitter followers and 11.2K Discord members.
• The brand behind ev.io is Addicting Games Inc. The development and publishing studio is home to many classic and original IO games and online gaming portals like Little Big Snake, Tactics Core, Mope.io, Devast.io, etc. Addicting Games is led by Bill Karamouzis (CEO) who also co-founded the Hall pass Media game network (acquired by JamCity).
• Partners of ev.io include esports and content creator brands Luminosity Gaming and Enthusiast Gaming, as well as Y8, Hut8 Crazy Games, Miniclip, iogames.spcace and Snokido. Additionally, the game has been heavily supported and sponsored by Fractal.is, which is now the main marketplace to buy and sell ev.io NFTs.
• Ev.io minted a total of 3,866 skins in their first weapons and characters collection. The total volume of characters is 4.6K $SOL with a floor price of 4.45 $SOL, while weapons are priced at 2 $SOL with a total volume of 3.5K $SOL. Players can acquire these NFTs from the following marketplaces – Fractal, Magic Eden, and OpenSea.
• Ev.io Beta was launched in January, 2021 and already has over 400,000 registered users.
• As a browser game, ev.io is designed to be highly accessible on all desktop devices and requires no download. Players can play it directly within their browser of choice.

Overview

• Ev.io is a first-person shooter developed by Addicting Games. It takes inspiration from "Bungie-style" shooters like Halo and Destiny. Experience “the Halo of web3,” with PvP, PvE, 10+ maps, 20+ weapons, 5 game modes, private games, parties and earn Solana for every kill. The game emphasizes mobility and gunplay with abilities like teleportation and triple jump. There are also utility abilities like impulse, smoke, flash, and sticky grenades for the full tactical feel.
• Ev.io is free-to-play, and players can play-and-earn with an NFT. Every minute a player spends in the game is worth something in the form of advertising opportunities. Sponsors who benefit from these advertising opportunities pool money for NFT-owning players to earn. Ev.io was built with a gameplay first mentality that will continue while the game transitions to Web3.

Ev.io gameplay trailer

Gameplay

• In ev.io, players can play solo or with teammates and friends. There’s no deep logic as of now, but players can already create and join games as a party. Each player in ev.io has access to multiple upgrades for their characters, including ability upgrades and level upgrades.
• Abilities are sets of smaller enhancements that can be leveled up to provide players’ champions better movement options, reduced gun down time, and ammunition. Most abilities are passive, but players can discover and upgrade 2 active abilities per character.
• When the game starts, players are teleported to a sci-fi map where they can fight. Maps are randomized, and players can quickly enter another game after each session.
• Players make money by playing the shooter and earning ‘e’ tokens from kills and winning goals during the fight. The tokens can be exchanged at a flat and guaranteed rate of $5 per 10,000e.

Figure 1: Character NFTs in ev.io

1. Game modes

• Deathmatch: Face up to 8 players on a map and try to eliminate as many opponents as possible. The player with the most kills at the end of the game wins.
• Team deathmatch: Players are divided into groups of 4 and spawn randomly on the map. The goal is the same as the deathmatch but the eliminations of each team member are accumulated and the team with the best score at the end of the time limit wins the game.
• Mayhem: This is also similar to the deathmatch but has larger scale maps and more destructive weapons.
• Battle Royal and Survival: Players will fight to be the last one or the last team surviving.
• Capture the flag: This is mostly enjoyed in teams, and is the best mode for players to start climbing the ladders.

????Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch mode has become requisite in most popular shooters. Countless titles have incorporated this feature into their online component. Some of the big names are Call of Duty’s Search and Destroy, Battlefield’s Conquest, or Halo’s Headhunter. Ev.io also aims to pull off the best of Team Deathmatch to position itself simply on the gameplay rather than pushing the Web3 side as a selling point. Currently, the game is climbing through the Twitch ranks with a 7 day average of 2,070 hours watched. The game may suffer from cynical views towards the Web3 aspects but as a solid shooter with high accessibility and character personalization through NFTs and the ability to upgrade, the potential of ev.io is vast.

2. Clan

• The clan system in ev.io is designed to allow players to work together towards shared interests and goals. Clans compete for points which determines their placement on the clan leaderboard which allows them to earn rewards.
• Not all clans need to be competitive. Players can make a clan with members that play just for fun. In any case, being a member of a clan allows players to show off their custom clan insignia, which displays in-game above their head and on the scoreboard.
• To create a clan, players must log in with a registered account. Once they are logged in, they can submit a clan via this link. After completing the form, an admin will review the submission.
• The current clan roles in ev.io are as follows:
  • Commander: This role is automatically assigned to the creator of the clan but can be reassigned by the commander. Clan Commanders can do everything: invite members, assign roles, remove members, edit clan info, deploy members, view all invitations, etc.
  • Lieutenant: This role can edit the clan info and deploy members and should only be given to the most trusted clan members. Besides those two things, there is nothing else a lieutenant can do more than a normal member.
  • Recruit: This role has no special privileges. It is not automatically assigned when joining a clan. So it's up to the Commander whether it is assigned to new members.

???? There is a limit of 20 “deployed” members (members that can earn points) per clan. This is to prevent clan competition from becoming a popularity contest based on total number of members. Another purpose of the deployment system is to prevent burnout. An effectively managed clan can rotate members in and out of deployment, and still compete in the leaderboards without forcing members to play 24/7.

NFTs

• Currently, the available supply includes 1,463 Weapon NFTs and 2,403 Character NFTs. Players can acquire NFTs on Fractal, Magic Eden, and OpenSea marketplaces.
• NFTs have a power level separate from rarity. Power levels range from 0 to 100, and changes to the look of the NFT are visible once players hit higher levels. Players power up NFTs by participating in special events, daily quests, clan wars, grind and rank up in PVP.
• NFTs in Ev.io don’t affect any in-game stats, instead giving boosts to in-game rewards giving players the potential to earn more SOL. The higher the NFT rarity and power level, the more rewards they earn for achievements in the game.

1. Characters

• Factions: Primus, Elites, Outlanders, Invaders, HUT 8, Heroes, Ninjas and Ronin
• Tier: Common, Epic, Rare and Legendary

Figure 2: Character NFTs on OpenSea

2. Weapons

• There are four weapon archetypes for players choose from: Hand rifle (medium damage and rate of fire), Automatic rifle (fast rate of fire but low damage) Laser rifle (low rate of fire but heavy damage), and Burn rifle.
• Faction: Invaders, Primus, Elites, Outlanders, HUT 8, Sinisters, Ninjas and None
• Tier: Common, Epic, Rare and Legendary
• Melee weapons are also available if players want to go that route. They can also use a variety of grenades and traps that include trip mines and mines. Players can adjust their loadout in-game to fit their playstyle. In addition to the weapons in the loadout, special weapons can be picked up on the game map, adding more firepower.

????Weapons give players more chances to earn SOL from achievements in the game, depending on the rarity and power level of the NFTs. This could lead to a pay-to-win dynamic that favors players who can afford to buy rare weapon NFTs. However, tactics and twitch gameplay are as important as weaponry. An ability to double jump and upgrade movement even further breaks the game wide open as players seek out areas to gain a foothold over the competition. Therefore, even players who acquire advanced weapons could end up earning less than highly skilled players with normal weapon NFTs.

Figure 3: Weapon NFTs

???? View this document for a complete accounting of ev.io’s first edition NFT supply counts.

Game Economy

• Ev.io’s in-game token is called “e.” It is the off-chain virtual currency used as a medium of exchange to prevent network fees and congestion. The team has guaranteed a $5 per 10,000e exchange rate. Normally, one kill rewards players anywhere from 1 to 5e, and other objectives could yield players up to 10. Players need to buy NFTs in order to earn e.
• Players acquire e by increasing their Score count. The player’s kills in each game session will contribute to their final score, with a score of 100 per kill. Players can also receive bonuses or multipliers for completing in-game milestones such as headshots, sword or melee kills, and grenade kills. Winning a match also boosts their score, which means more e earnings.
• The conversion for e to $SOL will ebb and flow based on the number of active sponsors, and the conversion rate of USD to $SOL. The sponsors flow money into the game economy.
• There is an indefinite total supply of e. The supply of e will be determined, in part, by the number of sponsors. These sponsors put up digital billboards and other in-game ads. Ev.io serves over 30 million impressions per month from these billboards and most of the money from these sponsorships will go straight into players wallets via in-game crypto rewards. The more sponsors that partner with ev.io, the bigger the overall prize pot and the more earning potential for players. Everyone will be subjected to ads, regardless of NFT ownership, but only NFT owners in the current game will split the reward generated by the pool.
• Advertisers are charged on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis for ad placement, and their budget will go towards the rewards pool distributed to NFT owning players in each game.
• Loop: Ev.io profits by selling NFTs which the players need to earn ⇒ Players profit by playing the game to earn from a p2e pot supplied by sponsors ⇒ Sponsors profit from brand exposure through in-game advertising.

Figure 4: Example of advertisement in ev.io

???? Ev.io in game economy is quite unique compared to other blockchain-based games. Rather than depending exclusively upon new players coming in to prop up the earning rewards, ev.io depends on the support of their sponsors and partners. If there are no sponsors or only a few, the reward pool will shrink, which may discourage new users from joining the game. But users shouldn’t worry much— Addicting Games has built a sustainable business model based entirely on advertising in web games for the last 20 years, so they are well-equipped to secure sponsorships. Initially, the primary sponsors will be DAOs, NFT projects and cryptocurrency exchanges.

For the time being, regardless of the players’ team and skill level, it will take a lot to earn a significant amount of income from ev.io. This could change once the team is able to attract more advertisers and increase the revenue pool.

Roadmap

Some key milestones in the near future include:

• Leveling – Power level mechanic enabled. Increase NFT power level to increase earning potential and in-game character and weapon skin glow.
• Sword Mint – First edition swords on Magic Eden will be minted on August 19th. The price will be 2 SOL for a whitelist and 2.5 SOL for the public.
• Pickup Weapon Mint – Pickup weapons such as the shotgun, sniper, deagle and rocket launcher will have their own p2e utility which is different from the utility on primary weapons.
• Creator Codes – Players will be able to choose which content creators (on Twitch and YouTube) they want to award a bonus amount of their earnings to. Only people who stream ev.io consistently or produce content consistently will qualify for the program.
• Mini Games – Details to be announced.
• Land Sale – Details to be announced

Investors & Partners

Some of the partners of the game are Esports and content creator brands Luminosity Gaming and Enthusiast Gaming. Luminosity Gaming is a well-established brand in esports and houses teams that play professional Call of Duty, Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege, and others. Ev.io also partnered with Y8, Hut8 Crazy Games, Miniclip, iogames.spcace and Snokido. Additionally, the game has been heavily supported and sponsored by Fractal.is, which is now the main marketplace to buy and sell ev.io NFTs.

Figure 5: Ev.io partners and investors

Team

Addicting Games Inc is the brand behind ev.io. The development and publishing studio is home to many classic and original IO games and online gaming portals. Addicting Games is led by Bill Karamouzis, CEO, who also co-founded the Hall pass Media game network (acquired by JamCity).

Chris Scott - Team Lead / Game Director

• A “browser game ideologue”. He solo deved several web games, including Strike Tactics and Feudal Wars, both RTS browser-based games.
• In 2017 he made and sold Tactics Core (a MOBA game), his first commercially successful web game, before joining Addicting Games.

Johannes Bonitz (JBS) - Game Developer / Designer

• He got his start in gaming as a solo dev working on a browser RTS called Little War Game.
• JBS’ second game was a top-down shooter called slay.one.

David Kawecki - Map Designer

• David began making maps as a hobby using the Forge mode in Halo 3 and continued throughout the sequels.
• He is responsible for handcrafting most of the maps in ev.io.

Sani Aga - Character Artist

• An animator and artist, Sani created most of the NFT art on explorer.ev.io.

Isaac Gurillo - Web3 Engineer

• He has been involved in several successful web3 projects. Isaac is also a veteran web game developer, having created many self-published io games, like Tank Royale.

David Thien Ho - Partnerships / Crypto strategy

• Founder of GGS, a play-to-earn guild formed to create opportunities for players, and helped contribute to the growth and evolution of web3 gaming through investing and participating in various web3 communities and projects.

Community

• Despite being developed for nearly 4 years, ev.io’s community is quite small with 9.2K Twitter followers and 11.2K Discord members.
• The Discord channel is organized well but is not very active. Most discussions are new members asking for information. Ev.io’s Twitter is frequently updated with in-game assets and giveaways events or tournaments. These have had a decent level of interaction from the community.
• Currently, the clan rewards program is still in the works. The goal is for clans to function as DAOs with play to earn reward systems that center around group activities. These activities can include clan wars and tournaments. If players are part of a DAO, they will be able to earn not just for themselves but also for their DAO.
• Additionally, the team aims to launch mini-games and social areas in the coming months. A “Hall of Champions” is also in the works. This will be a weekly activity that offers players’ access to a VIP area with NFT loot.

???? The team developing ev.io did a great job at developing and launching a game that is fun to play and accessible to anyone. This game-first approach has already attracted a lot of players to the game. The team doesn’t rely on NFT nor token sales to fund their project which is quite refreshing in the blockchain gaming space. The easy onboarding experience is great for attracting new players and follows the same model as Mini Royale. The ev.io team believes focusing on creating fun, engaging gameplay that is highly accessible (even on Chromebooks!) will set them apart from other NFT projects.