In the year 2016, games generated revenue worth $91 bln worldwide according to a market report released by SuperData Research. This industry now holds a diverse audience with 46 percent of the American players being women.

It is expected that by the year 2020, players will spend $4.5 bln on “immersive gaming” according to the same report. Given the scenario, there is a huge potential for innovation but also means available today to reward players as to encourage more participation.

Prospectors is creating a Massive Multiplayer Online Real Time Economic Strategy, which would combine all the fun of gaming online in an immersive environment but also have a game digital currency based on the Blockchain technology.

They are creating a game which has an economic model, unlike other games. Prospectors will give the players the possibility of earning real money for the time that they spend on the game.

Engaging players in the game

The prospector’s initial coin offer (ICO) which is due to begin on Aug. 10, 2017 and end on Sept. 10, 2017.

Participants in the ICO will receive Gold Tokens, which can be used in the game and thus they will have a significant advantage in the multiplayer game when it will be launched over the other players.

The plans are to create a total of 220,000,000 (220 mln) such tokens, which equals the amount of real extracted and unextracted gold present on the planet. The creators of the game will generate these Gold tokens and send them to a ‘Fund of New Lots’ which will store the gold used in the game play.

As the players engage in the game, they can uncover the gold in ‘lots.’ We talked with the people behind Prospectors about the roadmap they want to take post the ICO and the plan is:

October 2017 - Getting started on developing a project

Q1-Q2 2018 - Alpha Release and closed testing of the game and the economic model

Q2-Q3 2018 - Beta Release, they are planning an open beta test with rewards for all participants in the PGL Tokens

Q3-Q4 2018 - Release

Fund raising will have a bearing on development activity

In terms how and when the development of this game will begin will directly be proportional to the amount of funds successfully raised.

The developers tell us that if they raise 2,000 to 4,000 ETH, they will develop only the basic web version of the game with minimum detailing, an economic model and perfect server path.

Should they raise 4,000 to 15,000 ETH, then they would develop the full web version, mobile platforms, have maximum detailing, quality graphics, audio accompaniment, partial 3D representation of game moments, perfect server part.

In case the ICO results in gathering of 15,000 or more ETH, they would consider development of a desktop client under both Windows and iOS.

Additionally, they plan to use 10 to 40 percent of the proceeds of the ICO towards a marketing campaign which will involve both players and the public.

Mixing gaming with real world economy

What is perhaps the most unique aspect of the Prospectors game is the combination of the real and the gaming worlds. It replicates a kind of a real world gold rush in an imaginary setting, but the choices that players make can be rewarding for real.

As the developers point out, “our game is based on the real economic relations: during the game development, we required the consultations of the leading experts in economics. Players, who will be involved in Prospectors, will be able to pass through all stages of the industrial society development, starting from the epoch of the initial capital accumulation.”

They add:

“Also, as well as the real world, the gold reserves in the game are limited, so the first Prospectors will have bigger chances to become rich, than others. Those, who enter the game later, will be able to show their business acumen and trading skills. One should mention one more essential point – the game gold will be available on the outer trading platforms, i.e. it will have a real price. This is how the real economics penetrates the virtual world.”

The community will be at the center

Gamers are a passionate lot and feel strongly about the outcomes of the decisions that game developers take.

In this respect, Prospectors have incorporated real democracy. The server part of the game would be a decentralized platform and the community would be able to exercise decision making with their gold holdings.

The developers tell us:

“Our goal is to make all necessary arrangements so that participants of the system with the right to vote have the opportunity to control the developments in the game on the basis of DAO.”