In 2017, there were more than 2.2 billion gamers worldwide, and gaming industry revenue exceeded USD $108 billion. However, the gaming industry is very centralized, and the bulk of revenues go to just a few large companies, making it difficult for small to medium-sized game developers to acquire users. Furthermore, gaming companies have begun to take advantage of players with monetization strategies such as loot boxes, where users need to spend money to win a randomized item.

2017 also witnessed exponential growth in blockchain technology. CryptoKitties, which went live at the end of 2017, inspired many people working in the gaming industry to address these pain points.

Decentralized mechanisms enabled by blockchain have the ability to disrupt the business model of the conventional game industry. For example, players could have real ownership of in-game assets, meaning the issuance and circulation will no longer be controlled by developers. Players could also be incentivized with token rewards for trying new games or inviting friends to play, allowing small and medium-sized game developers to acquire users more easily.

In order to develop a NEO-based gaming ecosystem, NEL have announced the incubation of a gaming community platform built on the NEO blockchain. The founding team consists of Chen Xi and Xiao Xiao, both of whom have more than ten years of experience in the gaming industry.

Chen Xi has led the development of many online and social games, including the development of 3D and Web3D engines. He started his own business in 2009 and worked on the R&D of games such as “Miracle Comes”, “Fairland Story” and “The Blood River”, each of which has generated more than 10 million CNY in revenue.

Xiao Xiao has worked at Shanda, Lianzhong, Moliyo, and iQiyi PPS. In 2008, he joined PPS (acquired by iQiyi) and served as the general manager of the iQiyi PPS Game Division. He set up the game division from scratch which became one of the top game platforms in China.

The first game to be launched on the gaming community platform will be Mad Gladiator – a card game with a battle system. The community platform will establish a standard for NEO blockchain games, which will allow game developers to build games faster, focusing on content and social networking. The gaming community platform will also provide NEO developers with resources such as SDKs, smart contracts, development engines and so on.

NEL’s goal is to foster a gaming community platform with group autonomy, zero advertising, promoted by word of mouth and supplemented by economic incentives that benefit gamers and game developers.

Liu Yongxin, founder of NEL, believes that games are an important application of blockchain:

“Blockchain will change the business model of the gaming industry, allowing users to truly own game assets and facilitate transactions. Gamers not only reap the joy of the game, but also can share the value of the game together. The TPS of NEO platform is ahead of the existing basic blockchain and is very suitable for the underlying development of blockchain games.”

NEL co-founder and NEO core developer, Li Jianying, also worked in game development for many years and is a well-known game engine developer. He has a deep understanding of blockchain technology and games, and will provide the NEO game community platform with valuable technical support.

Through building the first gaming community platform on NEO, NEL hopes to promote the revolution of the entire game industry and push the blockchain game industry to new heights.

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What is Mad Gladiator?

Mad Gladiator is a HTML5 game where players can collect gladiators with unique appearance and abilities through market transactions and cloning. Gladiators with excellent abilities can be taken to the arena to participate in competitions to win prizes.