Members-Only Geist Created to Solve Industrial Farming

Pixelcraft Studios, the developer of the crypto game Aavegotchi, is introducing Geist, an Ethereum layer-3 gaming network, for members only.

Leveraging the scaling technologies of Arbitrum and Base, Geist aims to address the issue of "industrial farming" that hinders genuine player experiences in crypto gaming.

The pseudonymous CEO and founder of Pixelcraft Studios, Coder Dan, lamented:

“A lot of crypto games are farms [and] there’s nothing wrong with a farmer. But the problem is that they're industrial farmers. These are not your mom-and-pop farms. These are industrial compound combine farms that are there for one purpose, and that is to extract as much value from the protocol as they can.”

This year, numerous games have incentivised players with the promise of future airdrops, notably tap-to-earn games like Hamster Kombat, which have proliferated on messaging app Telegram.

These games often embrace farmers, encouraging players to engage from multiple angles, including watching YouTube videos for secret codes.

However, this premise predates Telegram gaming.

Coder Dan explained:

“It didn't start with that, it started with play-to-earn. Over time, since the inception of GameFi in 2021, I think farmers have just gotten more and more skilled at this game.”

Play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity gained popularity during the 2021 bull cycle, generating billions in NFT sales.

Yet, Axie's economy infamously crashed as the hype waned.

The model has since been tweaked and rebranded as play-to-airdrop campaigns, but critics like Coder Dan argue that farmers have simply become more adept at exploiting the system.

He said:

“If you're just trying to do a big event and get a lot of attention and get your numbers high, it can work. We have a different game we're trying to play. We're trying to make a sustainable GameFi ecosystem.”

Geist to Have a Monthly Membership Fee

Pixelcraft Studios' new gaming network, Geist, is set to introduce a monthly membership fee for players to claim rewards, although anyone can play games on the network for free.

The fee, which has not been finalised, is expected to range between $9 and $19, according to Coder Dan.

Members will have the opportunity to earn badges, level up their player profiles, open loot boxes, earn a portion of marketplace fees through staking, and participate in airdrop campaigns.

Coder Dan noted:

“I think play-to-airdrop is a fun mechanic. The issue is that it just gets botted so hard that it's become a joke almost. With this new primitive, if you will, of the members-only blockchain, I think we might be able to breathe some new life into the play-to-airdrop mechanic.”

The members-only network is designed not only to benefit the game studio but also to reduce fake activity, thereby increasing potential rewards for legitimate gamers, as Coder Dan believes.

Coder Dan stated:

“I think that you can boil it down to: There will be more rewards given to a smaller group of users.”

Geist Network Will Only Grant Invites for Aavegotchi NFT Holders

Initially, only Aavegotchi NFT holders will be granted an invite and a plus-one to join the network as members.

Additionally, Pixelcraft Studios will extend a select number of invites to partnered communities, games, and influencers, with the incentive that they will receive more invites if they onboard paying members.

All games on the network will incorporate the Aavegotchi IP in some way, even those developed by third-party developers.

This approach aims to make Geist one of the first platforms to achieve true interoperability.

Coder Dan expressed of the game's existing NFTs:

“With Aavegotchi, a lot of people own the assets—and these developers are creating games around the assets. We're kind of the tip of the spear in this movement of being able to share your assets across different games, and trying to reinvigorate that movement.”

Geist is aiming for a launch towards the end of September or October, with four games created by Pixelcraft Studios available at launch.

Another four games are planned for launch or "very soon" after.