Ikigai | open-source eSports Sponsorship and Payouts Protocol

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Michael Yagi

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

3

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Inspired by proven models such as Formula 1, our protocol will allow brands to directly connect to events and players automatically distributing payouts with options for multiple royalties.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Contracts will be open source in the ikigai github under the MIT open license.

[METADATA] Horizons

Business Services

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Competitive ESports players may share their winnings with backers who fund their competitive climb. The player may then share a percentage of their winnings with their backers as a way of reciprocating the support. The proposed solution would formalize that shared percentage by leveraging Cardano blockchain. A competitive player would be issued a token using CIP-68 and CIP-102 standard. The token would represent their registration in a season or tournament for their competition.

The royalty token will be stored at a validator for the season or tournament. The player can user their ownership token to set a price to buy a percentage of the royalties. The player can also set a maximum royalty percentage.

A backer may buy a percentage of the royalties by submitting a transaction to update the royalty metadata for a player.

Ascent will look at the royalties when distributing winnings to the winner and backer according to the royalty percentages.

We host Race Nights (public testing) in Discord regularly!

Below is additional info how this proposal also pushes the ecosystem forward with our vision.

Integrating sponsorships via cardano's smart contracts have been designed since day 1 towards Ascent: Rival's vision:

Reimaging Formula 1 glamor, competition, and wealth in cinematic combat racer. While you’ve never raced at the blistering speeds in a race to the death, the skill of these young and upcoming racers can be seen through every turn and shot, keeping you at the edge of your seat as your favorite underdog takes a shot at knocking out the top sponsored racer. As you imagine your logos flashing for every spectator as the final lap nears, eyes widen as you notice another spectator inject a cash prize to whatever racer can take out your sponsee —

Cardano has been the perfect solution for Ascent as a solution for our passion and design in Social Gamification - Connecting Sponsors, Spectators, Players

Attention is the new currency in today's digital landscape. With the surge of video content, particularly in gaming, a new breed of players emerges—spectators. As content creators gain prominence, the hunger for fresh engagement avenues intensifies. Ascent introduces spectator interaction.

Imagine being able to not just watch but actively influence and participate in the cinematic, combat racer. Retail marketers hosting tournaments, offering cash prizes, sponsoring players, and enabling spectators to sway the odds in favor of their favorite racers. A deeper level of immersion, investment, and involvement.

Ascent has crafted a model that encourages calculated breaks for strategic adaptation, data analysis, and live commentary. Our platform's deep customization and high skill ceiling set the stage for an immersive cinematic experience. Pair that with the ability to sponsor and interact directly with players as a spectator, and you've got an endless well of discussion and anticipation surrounding the rising stars in gaming.

It’s no longer just about watching—it's about shaping the game, influencing outcomes, and being part of the narrative. Ascent redefines the role of spectators, making them active players in the gaming world. In return, players take pride as all eyes are on them and their skills.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Reaching Consumer Audience:

A successful game that is fun, engaging, and widely accessible can attract a new demographic to the Cardano ecosystem. Players unfamiliar with blockchain technology will be introduced to Cardano through a compelling gaming experience, which can drive new wallets, transactions, and awareness of Cardano's capabilities.

Boosting Cardano’s Visibility in Gaming:

The success of a game on Cardano would demonstrate the ecosystem's capabilities in handling complex, decentralized applications (dApps) beyond financial use cases. This visibility can position Cardano as a competitive player in blockchain gaming, attracting more developers and projects to the network.

Increased Ecosystem Engagement:

This project would create more opportunities for community members, event organizers, and players to get involved in activities within the Cardano ecosystem. Brands sponsoring events would bring in more attention and participation from both individuals and organizations, thereby boosting engagement and interest in Cardano-related activities.

Empowering Event Organizers and Players:

With an open-source sponsorship protocol, event organizers and players would have a streamlined way to secure financial backing, giving them the resources they need to grow. This lowers the barrier to entry for hosting events or competing in various platforms, encouraging a more active and diverse community. With satisfied player and event organizers, sentiment towards Cardano and the protocol will elevate Cardano.

Community-Led Development & Transparency:

As an open-source protocol, it would allow developers from all over the world to contribute, audit, and improve the codebase. This fosters a culture of transparency and collaboration within the Cardano community. By being open-source, the protocol ensures that the rules and processes governing sponsorships are visible and adaptable by the community, preventing centralization and proprietary control over key functionalities.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

The team has delivered contracts on mainnet for fully on-chain auctions on https://grabbit.market/ and been builders in Cardano since 2021.

Our alpha is currently approved and live on Steam with over 1000 playtesters.

Early Achievements to show capability and public building

1. Showcased the game at PAX West 2024(130k attendees) winning players choice award
2. Won DreamHack Dallas Indie award (60k attendees)
3. PAX Rising winners (120k attendees) out of thousands of game studios
4. Showcased at Rare Evo 2024 (2.5k attendees)
5. Winners of DreamHack Atlanta (35k attendees)
6. Over 4,000 hours of organic playtesting and a player retention rate 30% higher than the industry average
7. Featured on Steam front page with 200 million MAU - twice!
8. Featured by Sony's largest gaming infrastructure provider, Accelbyte

All footage can be found on our youtube channel.

September 2023 - Winner of “Player’s Choice Award” at PAX 2023 (120k attendees)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAnnsbV9X7E

April 2024 - Attended west coast's largest LAN. Over 10% of players played Ascent Rivals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHrqJwKJo_c

March 2024 - Winner of DreamHack Dallas Indie Playground

March 2024 - Featured on Steam store front page with 200 million MAU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMupkx4yg7I

August 2024 - Sponsored by Rare Evo to showcase Ascent Rivals in Las Vegas (2.5k attendees)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2qjXvTX2s

October 2024 - Winner of DreamHack Atlanta Indie Playground (second time)

https://youtu.be/JmQqPHx3iDQ

Highlighting Cardano in Sony's largest gaming infrastructure provider

https://youtu.be/j1InFg5YY5k

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Sponsor Player Design and Protocol Spec

25% cost | 1 month | 25% completion

Deliverables:

• Initial contracts for creating a sponsor token
• UI mocks for in-game flow
• UI mock for sponsoring in webclient for users that don't play the game but want to participate

Acceptance criteria:

• Video showing Contract for sponsor tokens completed and mocks

Sponsor Player & Webclient

25% cost | 1 month | 25% completion

Deliverables:

• Initial contracts for creating a sponsor token
• In-game flow for sponsoring player
• Webclient can sponsor a player

Acceptance criteria:

• demo video of sponsoring a player and working in game

Royalty Tokens and Payouts

25% cost | 1 month | 25% completion

Deliverables:

• Finalized protocol specification
• Smart contracts for player royalty controls and backer buy-in completed
• Tournaments automatically pay out racers and sponsors

Acceptance criteria:

• Sponsored player can enter race and royalties go to sponsor

Tournament Testing!

25% cost | 1 month | 100% completion

Acceptance Criteria: Demo of using user interface to create a tournament, players setting their royalty info, and backers backing a player. Finally the demo will show a winner being declared and distribution of winnings.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Core Developers - and Previous Experience

Steven George - Lead Engineer; Level 11, DigiPen

Stan Hayes - Aesthetic Engineer; Epic Games, Nvidia, DigiPen

Michael Yagi - Creative Director; 2K Games, DigiPen

Ming Chi - Artist; NetEase

Scott Meyers - Audio Engineer; Respawn Entertainment, Riot Games

Jeff Uong - DevOps Engineer; Samsung, DigiPen

Clifford Garvis - Solutions Architect & Smart Contract; Nintendo, Level 11, DigiPen

David Yagi - Project Manager; Cryptochips

Advisors

Lowell Vaughn - Principal Strategist Epic Games

Shoutout! 1+ Year(s) Fulltime contribution

Alejandro Hitti - Technical Project Lead; Rockstar Games, DigiPen

Jason Dempsey - Senior Engineer; Microsoft, DigiPen

Zander Jensen - Gameplay Engineer; Treyarch, DigiPen

Hiago Desena - Senior Engineer; Firewalk, DigiPen

Aleksei Seleznev - Pixel Artist; Indie

Ahn Do - Producer; 343, GEC, DigiPen

Mickey Cushing - Designer; 343, Blizzard, Wizards of the Coast, Rockstar Games

Brian Park - Designer; Riot Games

Anon Developer - Senior Engineer; Respawn Entertainment, DigiPen

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1: Sponsor Player Design and Protocol Spec

• 2 developers, 1 month = $6,000 / ₳17,142.85

Milestone 2: Sponsor Player

• 1.5 developers, 1.5 months = $6,000 / ₳17,142.85

Milestone 3: Royalty Tokens and Payouts

• 1.5 developers, 1.5 months = $6,000 / ₳17,142.85

Milestone 4: Tournament Testing!

• 1 developers, 1 month = $6,000 / ₳17,142.85

Tooling & Reserve: reserve for changes to business requirements resulting to technical pivots necessary to deliver a better product/outcome

• Tooling (aws) = $2,000 / ₳5,555.55
• Reserve = $2,000 / ₳5,555.55

TOTAL AMOUNT

• $28,000 / ₳80,000

We apply a 0.35 USD/ADA exchange rate, which is the average rate over the past few months conservatively adjusted downward to ensure that the project will remain viable despite moderate price shocks that may occur before or during the project timeline.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Long-Term Benefits of Open-Source Infrastructure

By being an open-source protocol, the initial cost of developing the project delivers long-term value. Once deployed, the protocol becomes a permanent asset to the Cardano ecosystem, accessible by the entire community without additional licensing fees or proprietary costs. This means that the investment made upfront continues to yield returns as more developers, event organizers, and brands use and expand on the platform.

Enabling New Revenue Streams

The protocol creates opportunities for new revenue streams by facilitating sponsorships between brands and participants. This benefits both the players and event organizers, who can secure funding for their activities, and brands, who gain exposure to a dedicated audience. The potential growth in event-driven activities adds value to the overall ecosystem by increasing economic transactions and engagement within Cardano.

Scalability and Reusability

The project is designed to be scalable and reusable across various types of events and sponsorship models. As more brands, organizers, and developers adopt and adapt the protocol, the initial development cost spreads across a wide range of use cases. This scalability ensures that the value extends beyond just the immediate project, potentially benefiting multiple sectors and communities within Cardano.