Published on: 20/07/2022
TenthPlanet Reveals Two New Blockchain Games
TenthPlanet has announced two new blockchain games scheduled to be released in early 2023. They are Mech Angel, a 3D massively multiplayer action role-playing game and Alien Meow, a life simulation game.
Mech Angel will be a Unity-based MMOARPG that supports both mobile and PC clients. The mobile version has already completed its beta tests and is slated to have hundreds of hours of content by the time it launches. The game uses a 3D anime style similar to Genshin Impact but has a top-down point of view rather than an over-the-shoulder camera. Planned features include player-versus-environment battles against rogue machines, excellent new player onboarding and player-versus-player arena fights.
The company has placed more than $6.5 million into the game’s development so far. Features such as in-game wallets and the NFT marketplace are to be completed in the second half of 2022. The PC demo will be developed in the fourth quarter, and the PC beta will be launched in early 2023.
Meanwhile, Alien Meow will be a digital life simulation metaverse that focuses on cats. The game will use Unreal Engine to realize its virtual playground where players can collect, train and breed pets and have them partake in mini-games, competing against other players. Players can generate value by breeding more desirable pets, similar to CryptoKitties. The game renders highly detailed models of the pets with potentially 500,000 individual strands of hair being simulated.
The company has invested over $2.5 million into developing the game. A video demo is expected by the third quarter of 2022 and a playable demo in the fourth quarter. The game’s beta version is planned for the first quarter of 2023, launching with multiple mini-games.
About TenthPlanet
TenthPlanet is a game studio founded by William Wei Chen and Kevin Yeung, formerly of TikTok’s games development section. Chen previously started a company called Mokun Technology and sold it to Bytedance, the owner of TikTok, for more than $250 million in 2019. As the head of production, Chen and his company’s games have generated over $600 thus far. One of Mokun Technology’s most successful projects was the One Piece mobile game, launched in April 2021. The game generated over $200 million for TikTok.
Using the money from selling Mokun Technology, Chen started TenthPlanet to make blockchain games using Web3 technology. The company employs over 100 game developers and uses the Unreal Engine and Unity to deliver triple A level games to the market.
TenthPlanet places its focus on blockchain technology because it believes that mobile users do not have good options available when it comes to trading of in-game items. It also believes that blockchain technology will allow players to trade items with ease and transparency, adding an economic angle into the entertainment experience.
The company has stated its desire to focus on creating enjoyable games first, with blockchain being a feature that players can opt into. It has also voiced awareness in concerns about blockchain technology in games, monetization models and scams being the main issues, and is planning to develop groundbreaking solutions to handle these concerns.
