Overview

MATR1X positions itself as a foundational infrastructure and distribution system for Web3 cultural entertainment, combining Web3 gaming, artificial intelligence, esports, and blockchain infrastructure into an innovative cultural platform. Its mission is to revolutionize the global gaming and digital content industry through blockchain and AI technologies, accelerating the arrival of the Web3 era.

In terms of team and funding, the core members of the MATR1X team have over a decade of experience working together, with a background in developing top Web2 FPS games and operating high-DAU products. The project is well-funded, having raised over $20 million in public funding and recently securing investment from the top North American fund, Makers Fund, on July 26.

Structurally, the MATR1X platform already features four Web3-native games: the classic shooter MATR1X FIRE, the battle royale MATR1X BATTLE, the RPG+Roguelike AAA game Castile, and the Web3 MOBA Evermoon. MATR1X FIRE has achieved over 2.5 million global downloads. The platform also includes its esports platform GEDA and the game chain M1-Chain based on OP-stack, which aligns with the platform’s overall positioning. All four games fall into the top 5 categories of Web2 user scale.

From a project development perspective, MATR1X is in its early stages and employs a blockbuster operation strategy. The flagship product, MATR1X FIRE, is nearing its gold testing phase, having received positive market feedback and user data for its quality and engagement. The community is highly active. Castile recently concluded its first test with a retention rate exceeding 90%, while MATR1X BATTLE and Evermoon are expected to enter testing by the end of the year or next year.

Regarding token economics, MAX is the governance token for the MATR1X platform, with no public fundraising. It supports applications and services within the ecosystem, with value captured through allocations from the MATR1X platform treasury, participation in MATR1X Launchpool, and receiving airdrops from other projects. Holding MAX tokens provides access to future returns from the MATR1X platform. Given the project’s blockbuster strategy, MATR1X FIRE currently holds significant weight within the MATR1X ecosystem. However, as the platform evolves, its impression as a platform will strengthen, making comparisons with Ronin and Immutable more appropriate. MATR1X’s major advantages over Ronin and Immutable include its strong game development and Web2 operational capabilities, as well as its demonstrated Web3 operational skills, making comparisons like $MAX = $Ron + $AXS or $MAX = $IMX + $ILV more fitting.

From an industry perspective, since the GameFi Summer of 2021, the Web3 gaming sector has experienced a long period of dormancy. The current games have significantly improved in gameplay and quality but also face longer development and operational cycles. “P2E” remains the main theme of Web3 games. MATR1X stands out as one of the most notable projects within this framework. It differs significantly from previous game chains or distribution platforms. Firstly, it has independent R&D capabilities, with MATR1X FIRE and MATR1X BATTLE developed by the MATR1X team itself. Secondly, it employs a product-first strategy to create blockbuster hits, proving its ability to develop successful Web3 games. Lastly, compared to chains/platforms like Ronin, Immutable, and Gala, MATR1X offers deeper support and incubation for ecosystem products, including technology, operations, and asset issuance support, making it highly attractive to third-party projects.

In summary, MATR1X is poised to become a leading project in the current Web3 gaming sector.

Note: Eureka’s research report is based on the situation at the time of writing. The overall evaluation of the project may change with future developments. The market carries risks, and investments should be made with caution. This article does not constitute investment advice, and users should consider whether the opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions align with their specific circumstances. Investing based on this information is at your own risk.

Price Estimation for MAX (For Entertainment Purposes Only)

The table below lists several tokens that I personally believe are highly similar to MAX based on project positioning, fundamentals, and tokenomics. The first table shows opening price data, which corresponds to the data from these tokens on their respective listing days. The second table presents long-term price projections, reflecting the anticipated platform development and increasing platformization impression of MATR1X, with reference to current data of the three comparable game chains.

Conclusion

In the table, $Pixel, $Ace, and $Portal are all positioned as gaming or gaming platforms. Based on their opening performance and current market conditions, the estimated opening price for $MAX is $1.2 - $2 (this is not investment advice). Currently, MAX tokens in the market come from two main sources: airdrops to YATC and KUKU holders (linear release) and the Apollo Program, where the cost to acquire a MAX token through opening a box is between $0.6 and $1.5.

$MAX represents multiple blockbuster games, a game chain, a Web3 gaming distribution platform, and a Web3 esports platform—features that the project has already implemented. Due to the project’s blockbuster strategy, its first FPS mobile game, MATR1X FIRE, currently holds significant weight in the MATR1X ecosystem. However, as the platform evolves, MATR1X’s impression as a platform will strengthen, making comparisons with Ronin and Immutable more fitting. MATR1X’s major advantage over Ronin and Immutable is its team’s strong game development, Web2 operational capabilities, and demonstrated Web3 operational skills. Therefore, $MAX = $RON + $AXS or $MAX = $IMX + $ILV might be a more accurate comparison.

1. Current State of the Web3 Gaming Sector—Increasing Challenges

First, with the end of the previous GameFi 1.0 era led by phenomena like Axie and Stepn, the GameFi sector has failed to solve the death spiral problem, to some extent proving its limitations. Although VCs continued to invest heavily in the Web3 gaming sector during the subsequent bear market, no standout product has emerged from the sector so far.

This issue is not unique to Web3 gaming; there have been no groundbreaking innovative products across the board in this current cycle, which is a major reason for the ongoing market downturn.

Web3 gaming, being a sector requiring heavy upfront investment, often needs more time, manpower, and funding compared to other sectors to build a high-quality product that surpasses Web2 standards (especially for mid-to-large scale games). The development cycle for such a product can be 2-3 years, with investment ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. These conditions alone eliminate most teams. Thus, teams with successful existing products are truly commendable.

Operational and Economic Model Challenges

However, developing a product in Web3 is not enough. Integration with Web3 elements, community management, and market operations are all critical and challenging aspects that can determine a project’s success or failure. Many current teams fall short in this regard. Those deeply involved in the Web3 gaming sector will resonate with this. Most game project teams focus solely on product development, outsourcing marketing and operations to third-party teams, and relying on VCs or consultants for economic model design. This team structure is fundamentally flawed. A core team with insufficient Web3 understanding and handing off crucial aspects to others while tying their interests can create a fragile situation.

Survival Issues

The financing situation of projects is accessible for review. Many projects may find themselves with dwindling funds after deducting product development, monthly personnel costs, and marketing expenses. The reality is that many projects are running low on funds, making subsequent financing increasingly difficult, exacerbating the situation. Lack of funds means difficulties in continued operations, marketing, and user acquisition. It’s anticipated that several projects will be eliminated in the near future.

Listing Difficulties

Token listings are an unavoidable challenge for all projects and often the endpoint for most teams. Exchanges have clear demands: - Traffic - Money. Traffic refers to whether the project can bring in a large number of new users (especially from overseas); Money refers to the tokens and trading volume that the project can offer to the exchange. Simply providing money is insufficient for a good exchange because reputation matters too.

Currently, BN holds a dominant position and, with the ongoing ETF bull market, is moving towards greater compliance, making token listings more rigorous. Thus, listing on secondary exchanges like OK and Bybit is even more challenging than on BN. Projects aware of this reality aim to list on these secondary exchanges if they cannot secure BN. This aligns with recent information suggesting that OK has over 200 projects in queue for listing, and three known game projects have been rejected, indicating that the situation may become more severe in the future (subject to verification).

This is the harsh reality of the Web3 gaming sector. Projects relying solely on narratives and PPTs without actual products are being phased out, while those with high-quality products, sufficient funding, and strong team capabilities continue to attempt to create new Web3 gaming paradigms. MATR1X is among the leading projects in this category.

2. Basic overview

2.1 Project Introduction

MATR1X is an innovative cultural entertainment platform that integrates Web3 gaming, artificial intelligence, esports, and blockchain infrastructure. It aims to transform the global gaming and digital content industry through blockchain and AI technologies, accelerating the arrival of the Web3 era.

Currently, the MATR1X platform features four native Web3 games: the classic shooter game MATR1X FIRE, the battle royale game MATR1X BATTLE, the RPG+Roguelike 3A game Castile, and the Web3 MOBA Evermoon. It also includes the esports platform GEDA and the game chain M1-Chain based on the OP-stack. MATR1X FIRE has already surpassed 2.5 million global downloads.

2.2 Basic information

3. Project details

3.1 Team

The founding team of MATR1X is extremely passionate about Web3 and gaming. Core members have worked together for over 10 years and collectively have more than 10 years of gaming experience and over 5 years of blockchain experience. Their cumulative game development and operations have attracted over 400 million users and generated over $5 billion in revenue. Their products include Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Cross Fire mobile, and WeChat Pay, making them one of the few teams globally capable of developing large-scale mobile products.

3.2 Funds

3.2.1 Funding outside the game

As of July 26, 2024, MATR1X has completed four rounds of financing outside the gaming sector, with a total of over $20 million raised. Investors include Hana Financial Investment, HashKey, Amber Group, Folius Ventures, SevenX, Find Satoshi Lab, Jambo Ventures, and the latest addition, the top North American gaming fund Makers Fund. The most recent round of financing was completed on July 26, 2024, indicating that the team currently has sufficient funding.

3.2.2 NFT asset sales

YATC

The highest-tier NFT on the MATR1X platform, symbolizing the highest honor within the MATR1X ecosystem. Holders enjoy priority and continuous benefits from the entire MATR1X ecosystem. Currently realized benefits include whitelist access to 2061 and KUKU, test passes, staking rewards in Fire tokens, and MAX token airdrops. An additional 250 NFTs are locked in the treasury and will be distributed as prizes to champions of esports events in the future.

Matr1x KUKU

One of the two platform-level NFTs in the MATR1X ecosystem. Holders receive ongoing benefits within the MATR1X ecosystem, serving the creator economy. Currently, 2,000 KUKU NFTs are locked by the official team and will be distributed to outstanding creators in the future. Realized benefits include staking rewards with exclusive KUKU boxes and MAX token airdrops. The official NFT sale for MATR1X KUKU generated a total of 1,857 ETH.

Matr1x 2061

An avatar-style NFT within the MATR1X ecosystem, primarily serving the first blockbuster FPS game MATR1X FIRE. As the highest-tier NFT for this game, holders receive ongoing membership benefits for MATR1X FIRE. Realized benefits include staking rewards in Fire tokens, KUKU whitelist access, accelerated unlocking of Fire tokens, and future airdrops of Genesis gold farming characters. The official NFT sale for MATR1X 2061 generated a total of 666.6 ETH.

3.2.3 Unboxing data

As of August 2, 2024, the total trading volume for the two series of boxes has reached approximately 11 million MATIC, while the total trading volume for weapon skins has reached about 20 million MATIC. Among these, the rarest weapon skin, Judgment-AWP, was sold for nearly $100,000. With the upcoming public beta of the game and the integration of weapon skins into the game, it is anticipated that liquidity will increase to a higher level.

3.3 Products and technologies

3.3.1 Public Chain

The MATR1X ecosystem’s public chain, M1-Chain, has been fully developed. Based on OP-Stack-ZK, it aims to provide enhanced infrastructure support for the MATR1X ecosystem, improve interaction experiences, and attract more high-quality games to the ecosystem. The testnet has been released.

3.3.2 Game Ecosystem

1-Matr1xFire

The first Web3 shooter mobile game, currently undergoing global testing with over 2.5 million downloads. The goal is to become the first Web3 non-trading application to reach 10 million users post-launch. Recently, it achieved over 60,000 DAU without any rewards, mostly from overseas users, and is about to enter the gold mining test phase.

2-Matr1xBattle

The first Web3 cyberpunk battle royale mobile game. Currently, only a promotional video has been released. From the video, it appears that some characters and weapon skins might be shared with Matr1xFire, as revealed in a previous AMA by the project team. The game is expected to begin testing by the end of this year or early next year.

3-Castile

A next-generation 3A idle RPG+Roguelike game. The first test involved 5,000 core players, with a 14-day retention rate exceeding 90%.

4-Evermoon

A 5v5 MOBA game developed by a Thai team, with over 100,000 downloads. It has recently announced its official entry into the MATR1X ecosystem.

3.3.3 Web3 Esports Platform

GEDA

GEDA is a Web3 esports game ecosystem that has launched the world’s first Web3 esports professional championship and a decentralized esports platform. It aims to attract billions of esports enthusiasts and gamers. GEDA is also the Web3 extension of Cyber Games Arena (CGA), known for hosting over 500 global esports events, including “Hero Returns” and “ZOTAC Cup Masters,” drawing over 66 million viewers worldwide. In the past six months, GEDA, in collaboration with MATR1X, has organized over 50 online and offline esports events globally, with a total viewership exceeding 10 million.

Summary

From an overall architectural perspective, MATR1X aims to create a flywheel effect with multiple hit games, a game public chain, and esports events. The initial four games include FPS, Battle Royale, RPG idle card game, and MOBA, all representing global top-5 game categories in Web2. Notably, shooting games are the largest genre, with over 2 billion players worldwide, including users of CS2, Call of Duty, PUBG, and Freefire, who are potential users for MATR1X. This shows that the project has significant goals and ambition from the outset. Based on the data obtained from Matr1xFire, the project has demonstrated its ability to build hit products from scratch in Web3. However, while one game has shown promise, whether the project can consistently create successful games remains to be further validated.

4. Project development

4.1 History

4.2 Current

As of July 27, 2024, the MATR1X ecosystem matrix (Matr1x, Matr1xFire, Matr1xBattle, Castile, Evermoon, Geda) has accumulated over 1.3 million fans. During the MAX points event, UAW ranked first across the Web3 space and first in Polygon Dapp rankings. Recently, without any rewards, the Matr1xFire game has achieved over 60,000 DAU and will soon enter its gold testing phase.

4.3 Future

According to the roadmap released by Matr1x, in 2024, the focus will be on expanding the testing of announced games and esports. In Q3 and Q4, Matr1xFire will become the core, progressing from gold testing to final public testing. Castile will also enter its second testing phase. In Q4, major announcements will include a professional esports league and Watch to Earn functionality. In 2025, Matr1x will shift more towards testing new products and building infrastructure for the ecosystem.

Summary

Overall, Matr1x is still in the early stages of platform development. As a project focused on multiple hit games, a blockchain, and a Web3 game publishing platform, it currently has four known games: Matr1xFire and Castile are still in testing phases, while Matr1xBattle and EverMoon are some distance from testing. However, the quality of Matr1xFire and Castile has already received high market recognition. Particularly, Matr1xFire achieved significant popularity and positive feedback during its testing phase. As Matr1xFire becomes officially available on app stores, and with the subsequent release of other games and global esports events organized by the team, more new traffic is expected to join the Matr1x ecosystem.

5. Economic Model

Matr1x currently has two publicly available tokens: $Fire and $Max. $Fire is a utility token used within the games, with a total supply of 1 billion. It is primarily generated through staking 2061/YATC NFTs and in-game earnings from Matr1xFire’s public test. $Fire is consumed for upgrading game assets and opening boxes (all burned), and its issuance process will be a dynamic balancing act. It may also find use in other products within the ecosystem. $Max, on the other hand, is the platform governance token for Matr1x and is the main focus of this analysis.

5.1 $MAX Token Distribution

In terms of distribution strategy, the team aligns itself with investors, applying the same unlocking rules to both, effectively placing investors on the same side. 276 million MAX tokens are allocated as rewards to partners or contributors supporting the maintenance and development of the Matr1x platform. The specific allocation will be based on the contributions of ecosystem projects to the platform, including metrics like effective transaction volume, real user numbers, and content creation. Final decision-making authority will be vested in the Matr1x DAO. Additionally, early bird users who participated in the initial testing and Apollo program will receive 55 million MAX. NFT holders (YATC and KUKU) will receive 94 million MAX.

5.2 $MAX Utility

$MAX is the governance token of the Matr1x platform, with no public fundraising, designed to support applications and services within the ecosystem.

Community Governance: Participate in MATR1X community governance through proposal and voting.

Ecosystem Value Capture: Includes allocation from the platform treasury, participation in MATR1X Launchpool, and receiving airdrops from other projects.

Exclusive Privileges: Enjoy exclusive privileges such as publishing games on the MATR1X platform and competing for club positions.

Staking and Rewards: Stake $MAX to become a MATR1X ecosystem node, earn rewards, and participate in governance decisions of the MATR1X blockchain, including profit distribution.

Article Summary

From a broader perspective, this cycle is undoubtedly characterized by the ETF bull market. Unlike the previous bull market, this cycle has yet to see the emergence of groundbreaking products across various sectors. The infrastructure space is currently oversaturated with few viable applications, and the industry still needs a sustainable application that can attract a large number of real users.

Since the Gamefi Summer of 2021, the Web3 gaming sector has experienced a prolonged period of stagnation. While current games have significantly improved in gameplay and quality, they come with longer development and operational cycles. “P2E” (Play-to-Earn) remains the dominant theme in Web3 games.

Matr1x differs considerably from previous gaming chains or publishing platforms. Firstly, it has in-house development capabilities, with Matr1xFire and Matr1xBattle being developed by the Matr1x team. Secondly, the team employs a product-first strategy by creating a hit product to demonstrate its ability to develop successful Web3 games. Lastly, unlike chains/platforms like Ronin, Immutable, and Gala, Matr1x offers in-depth support and incubation for products entering its ecosystem. This includes technical, operational, and asset issuance support, which is a significant attraction for third-party projects.

Currently, most Web3 users, having experienced previous market cycles, are accustomed to chasing short-term, high-return projects. However, with the industry’s development towards compliance and infrastructure, there may emerge super applications that transcend market cycles, offering more stable, gradual, and sustained returns. The Matr1x platform has the potential to bring a new paradigm to the industry.

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