The gaming startup B2Expand has added a store to Nexarium, their gaming ecosystem. Players can now buy and sell virtual assets using the native token, Nexium (NXC), as a currency.
Manon Burgel, B2Expand’s head of communication and marketing, has stated that players can use the store to acquire newly created assets such as skins and avatars. The store also serves as a second-hand marketplace where players can trade assets among themselves.
Manon:
“The store is one of the critical features we are building in our wider blockchain-based gaming ecosystem, which will foster true ownership of players’ gaming assets.”
For the last two years, B2Expand has been building Nexarium using blockchain, the technology best known as the foundation for Bitcoin. When complete, Nexarium will include the Nexium token, the store, native and partner games, and game assets.
B2Expand created 100 million Nexium tokens on the Ethereum blockchain in November 2016, selling around 28 million to the public through an initial coin offering (ICO) that generated over US$300,000 as development capital for Nexarium.
In November 2017, B2Expand released the beta version of Beyond the Void (BTV), a space Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game. BTV is the first native game for Nexarium, with over 10,000 players in beta at the time of writing.
Acquiring and holding game assets
The Nexarium game shop is compatible with all ERC20 blockchain assets, Ethereum’s blockchain standard. Nexium is an ERC20 token and can be managed using Ethereum’s infrastructure. Manon:
“While you can create a Nexium wallet with tools built-in on the Beyond the Void platform and link it to the game store account, you have the option of using Ethereum wallets. In particular, Nexiums can be received, stored and sent using the Metamask, Mist and Toshi wallets.”
Nexium takes on the critical role of currency for players to trade game assets in the game store. Gamers and investors who missed the opportunity to acquire tokens during the ICO can purchase them on exchanges such as Poloniex, Bittrex, HitBTC, Openledger and Etherdelta.
True asset ownership
B2Expand’s choice to enable external hosting and management of assets such as skins and avatars makes them 100% portable and independent of the Nexarium platform. Players can create or buy assets to use in any game in the ecosystem, collect them, or sell them to other players as Ethereum-based entities. ERC20 compatibility means traders can even sell assets through independent third-party shops.
Once more gaming platforms adopt blockchain, B2Expand Game Designer Remi Burgel believes that cross-game trading will become part of the player experience. Gamers will be able to move common assets across platforms. Remi:
“For example, a player could move their unique mothership from Beyond the Void to any other space-based game.”
In November 2017, video game publisher Ubisoft, in conjunction with leading business incubator Station F, took B2Expand into their startup accelerator program. More than a dozen experts from the program are helping B2Expand implement its business plan, create appropriate designs and observe regulatory requirements.
The development team continues to work with beta players to perfect the Nexarium ecosystem. Remi expects the beta game shop to have glitches, but anticipates that all important bugs will be fixed before general release and will not significantly affect the overall player experience.
Company name: B2Expand
Company site: https://www.beyond-the-void.
Company contacts: Manon Burgel - COO
Email: manon.burgel@b2expand.com