PlayerMint: Web 3.0 Arcade

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

A protocol that integrates with existing games like Fortnite to monetize gameplay performance through play-to-earn functionality. Tokens earned through gaming can be spent across an NFT marketplace.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

PlayerMint’s team of 5 has 12 years of experience in gaming and 11 in blockchain. We were successful in Fund 4, 6 & 8 of Project Catalyst. We have contributed to the Gamers On-Chained challenge that has allocated $750k over 2 funds.

MLabs contributes to our development activity.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

PlayerMint is a protocol that rewards gameplay performance in existing games like Fortnite with a fungible token called PMX. This token is then spendable across an NFT marketplace.

The core thesis behind this protocol is to bring crypto to gamers by integrating with the video games they already play. Fortnite’s hundreds of millions of users make for a great potential user base to onboard into crypto. They are digitally native, meaning they understand how digital economies and commerce works through their voluntary activity in video games. Many of these people also see centralized equivalents to digital assets in the games they play. Fortnite has its own in-game currency, V-Bucks (fungible), that can be used to purchase unique cosmetics (non-fungible). The jump from these centralized assets to decentralized ones is that gamers will invite as long as they see the value proposition.

That’s where PlayerMint comes in. PlayerMint integrates directly into the games these people are already playing and maps earning to the actions they are already completing. Every 5 days, or epoch, a user can claim from a fixed prize pool of PMX. The amount they can claim is based upon their aggregate performance in comparison with every other gamer. Their aggregate performance is called PlayerMint Skill Points, or PSP. 

Once the gamer has claimed all their PMX they have a marketplace to explore full of NFTs. The good news is all of these NFTs are tradeable for PMX. This creates a user experience similar to that of Fortnite with V-Bucks and cosmetics. The biggest difference is the gamer is buying from other gamers, and once they buy an NFT they have the capacity to sell it when they choose. 

A simple way to phrase PlayerMint is as a Web 3.0 Arcade. Instead of going to an arcade and playing the games they have, you can stay at home and play triple-A titles. Instead of tickets you are earning fungible tokens with utility in and out of the arcade. Instead of a prize shop you are exploring a variety of NFTs and their associated communities.

Tooling

In order for the Web 3.0 Arcade to run we have a few tools. These are used to authenticate that a user is who they say they are, to pull the gameplay performance from users, and turn user actions into on-chain transactions. 

Epic Online Services

Epic Online Services provides us with an Oauth system. This means we can enable users to authenticate they own an Epic Games account by logging into a portal hosted by Epic Games but connected to PlayerMint. 

Overwolf

In order to determine the gameplay performance of given users we need to have a quality API to make requests from. Overwolf is an industry standard when it comes to 3rd party apps that integrate with triple-A titles. They work with game studios, such as Epic Games, to develop 3rd party tooling. Once developed Overwolf gets approval from the Game Studio to license out the tooling to 3rd parties like PlayerMint.

Cardano Transaction Library

The Cardano Transaction Library is a tool being developed by MLabs (equivalent to PAB). This tool enables us to translate the actions that a user takes on our application into transactions and smart contracts that are loaded and executed on the Cardano blockchain.

Feature Set

The PlayerMint feature set is built around delivering a quality user experience that is reminiscent of the things gamers are already doing. Below is the full set of our features and their corresponding user journeys.

Onboarding

This is where the user can get an intro to the world of crypto if they are new to it through support based documentation. Once they are comfortable they can set up their PlayerMint account and get ready to start earning and trading.

1. User heads to app.playermint.com
2. User clicks “How it Works” or “What’s a Wallet” if they need more information on crypto
3. User connects their CIP-30 compatible wallet 
4. User authenticates their Epic Games account through Epic Online Services
5. User installs the Overwolf local client for API services 

Profile

Once the user has created their account they will have a profile setup. This is their dashboard to view their NFTs, list them for sale, and edit their profile's appearance.

1. User heads to Profile page
2. User checks their owned NFTs and lists one for sale
3. User edits their profile to display their lifetime PMX earnings and change their username

Leaderboard

The leaderboard is where the user can claim PMX, view their PSP generated, and check out their rank for the epoch in comparison with other users involved.

1. User heads to Leaderboard page
2. User looks over dashboard and claims PMX through a smart contract that ensures user covers min UTxO
3. User looks over other competitors placement and associated PSP generated

Marketplace

The marketplace is where the user can spend all the PMX they have earned on collections of NFTs

1. User heads to Marketplace page 
2. User browses through NFTs and filters by search and price
3. User finds an NFT they like
4. User purchases NFT with PMX
5. PlayerMint will support the CIP-27 metadata royalty standard with PMX

Support

If the user has any issues in their journey through PlayerMint they will have a support button in the top menu bar. At a single click they will be taken to an extensive Gitbook that provides documentation and walkthroughs on each of the actions they can take. If the user needs help from another human they can turn to our Discord support channels.

1. User encounters issue in journey through PlayerMint
2. User clicks “Support” and is taken to Gitbooks
3. User read and watches walkthrough guides on how to resolve their issue
4. If user needs assistance from a PlayerMint team member they can obtain it through the support channels in our Discord
5. 
   

It is highly recommended that you watch this video in order to get a walkthrough of the entire PlayerMint feature set and what the user journey will be like.

Litepaper, Tokenomics, Distribution Model, Budgeting, and Other Associated Docs

Please reference this link to get a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of our project.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

PlayerMint is uniquely positioned to drive adoption to the Cardano blockchain by providing a play-to-earn platform for popular games that people already love. The novel play-to-earn approach can highlight the technological advantages of Cardano and drive new users into the ecosystem, while providing a central gamefi hub for the existing community. PlayerMint is a unique platform that is also enticing to a large audience of crypto native and non-crypto native users which makes it an ideal candidate for F9: Dapps, Products & Integrations.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

We have 1 big risk that we will have to face in order for PlayerMint to be successful. Luckily we have already created a quality plan for how to deal with it.

Game Studio Rejection

It is possible that a game studio that we integrate with doesn't like the PlayerMint service and decides to reject our integration with their game. Luckily we have 2 distinct ways of dealing with this:

1. Crypto Friendly Studios and Platforms

We work to only integrate PlayerMint with games that are being hosted on crypto friendly platforms and are developed by crypto friendly studios. Epic Games has made it very public that they are big supporters of the metaverse and are open to blockchain games being hosted on their Epic Games launcher. By adding multiple games from different studios we also mitigate this risk. 

2. Usage of Overwolf

Overwolf is a tech company that creates APIs for some of the worlds most popular games such as Fortnite. Overwolf then takes these APIs to different game studios to get them approved for usage and licensing. This means that Epic Games gave Overwolf permission to license out the API to parties such as PlayerMint. PlayerMint has established working communications with Overwolf. 

We feel extremely confident in Fortnite being the first game integrated into PlayerMint as we already see other gameplay monetization platforms such as Buff integrate with them. For context Buff is a way to earn points you can redeem for gift cards based off of gameplay performance that also uses Overwolf.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

PlayerMints development was kicked off last year when we began a partnership with the dev consultancy MLabs. MLabs has contributed to notable Cardano projects such as Liqwid, SundaeSwap, Minswap, and SingularityNet. Below are details regarding the current state of PlayerMint followed by our next steps, their associated timeline and milestones.

Current Development Status

We are currently gearing up for the launch of our testnet. We have been steadily building it over the past +8 months and it is possible that at the time of reading this it is live. At the moment we have a functioning web app that enables users to connect a Nami wallet, authenticate their Epic Games accounts, and browse the Leaderboard, Marketplace, and Profile pages. 

Next Steps

Our next steps as a team come in 4 phases:

Phase 1 - Testnet Launch

The first phase is the launch of the testnet of PlayerMint. This means a user experience and set of smart contracts that function as intended. This phase is expected to take 1 month from the date of proposal success. Milestones:

• Launch of testnet
• Number of users on testnet
• Qualitative report of tesnet experience

Phase 2 - Founder Launch

The Founder Launch is an early access portion of PlayerMints launch on Cardano mainnet. This is where holders of PlayerMint Founder NFTs will be able to earn PMX for a few epochs. During this time anyone with a wallet will be able to sell NFTs on the marketplace but will need to obtain PMX if they want to purchase NFTs. This phase is expected to take 2 months. Milestones:

• Launch of Founder Launch
• Number of users
• Amount of PMX being earned by Founder NFT holders
• Qualitative report of Founder Launch experience
• Amount of interest and social mentions across Cardano ecosystem

Phase 3 - Main Launch

The third phase is the main launch of PlayerMint where the floodgates are opened and anyone can earn and trade with PMX. This phase is expected to take 2 months. Milestones:

• Launch of Main Launch
• Number of new users earning PMX
• Volume of NFT trades on marketplace
• Qualitative feedback on Main Launch
• Amount of interest and social mentions across Cardano ecosystem

Phase 4 - Upgrades and Maintenance 

The final phase is the upgrading and maintenance of the PlayerMint application. The goal of this phase is to integrate new features and cleaner smart contracts for a better overall user experience. This is expected to take 3 months. Milestones:

• Launch of new features
• Number of new users earning PMX
• Volume of NFT trades on marketplace
• Amount of interest and social mentions across Cardano ecosystem

The total timeline is set to 8 months. This is a padded estimate based off the potential for bugs and last-minute issues to arise.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The proposed budget for this proposal is $85,000. All of these funds will be utilized in the development of PlayerMint: Web 3.0 Arcade based on the deliverables described in this proposal. All funding raised will go towards assisting in the development costs of utilizing MLabs services.

Phase 1 - Testnet Launch - 1 Month - $10,625

Phase 2 - Founder Launch - 2 Months - $21,250

Phase 3 - Main Launch - 2 Months - $21,250

Phase 4 - Upgrades and Maintenance - 3 Months - $31,875

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

PlayerMint may be the primary group coordinating the project, but we have extensive help from MLabs from a code based development perspective. 

PlayerMint Team working on this project:

• Grant Scholl - Chief Executive Officer. Has 2 years of experience in gaming and 4 years in blockchain. He works to build out the ultimate vision of PlayerMint and how it will evolve over time.
• Aidan Rankin-Williams - Chief Experience Officer. Has 2 years of experience in gaming and 4 years in blockchain. He works to form the user experience from first contact marketing to engagement across the product and customer support.
• Josh Shull - VP of Marketing Services. Has 8 months of experience in gaming and blockchain. He works to rally and strengthen a community of gamers, crypto enthusiasts, and NFT collectors so PlayerMint has a strong user base.
• Jack Rousseau - VP Of NFT Business Development and Sponsorship. Has 6 months of experience in gaming and blockchain. He works to develop strong relationships with esports orgs, gaming content creators, and projects needing help in the world of NFTs, while driving them to the PlayerMint platform.
• Courtney Guthrie - Project Coordinator. Has 5 months of experience in gaming and blockchain. She works to assist Josh, Jack, and Aidan across marketing, NFT development, and user experience design.
• Greg Fox - Strategic Advisor. Has 7 years of experience in gaming and 2 years in blockchain. He works to provide advice and guidance as to how the project should progress and establish quality lines of revenue.

Collectively we have a passion for the gaming industry, blockchains like Cardano, and the assets and experiences we can build on top of them.

The following individuals are the lead developers PlayerMint works with from MLabs:

• Ben Hart - Head of Cardano Operations
• Neil Rutledge - Haskell and Plutus Delivery Manager
• Nathaniel Lane - Software Engineer

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

PlayerMint will work to become as self-sustaining from Project Catalyst as possible. This will be completed through revenue generated from marketplace trading fees and the percentage of newly distributing PMX that the PlayerMint obtains each epoch.

That being said PlayerMint does have intentions to pursue further funding through Project Catalyst to ensure the success of the project. This funding will likely be based around the open sourcing or updating of open sourced tooling and smart contracts.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

The following metrics will be used to determine the projects development cadence and success:

• Total number of users (unique wallets connected)
• Monthly active users (unique wallets connected each month)
• Total PMX earned via gameplay performance (amount of PMX claimed by users)
• Number of PlayerMint Pro accounts
• Amount of USD value earned via gameplay performance (USD valuation of total PMX claimed by users)
• Amount of social media mentions
• Number of gamers on-chained to Cardano (number of new wallets created to earn PMX. Metric would be tracked through number of clicks on a how to create a new wallet guide provided in onboarding process)
• Total volume of NFT sales
• Amount of PMX paid out in royalties
• Number of gaming organizations/content creators worked with

As the project progresses, we will be sure to report the following metrics in our Project Catalyst monthly reports. We will also be sure to add this list as it makes sense to do so.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

The success of PlayerMint can be measured by the number of newly connected active users and the size of the digital asset economy that exists in its ecosystem. 100k weekly active players, 10k weekly pro accounts and $50m+ in total digital asset volume would be a success for PlayerMint and Cardano and is achievable given 100k users is a small fraction of Fortnite’s user base alone. 

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This proposal is a continuation of the development efforts PlayerMint has been making since our Fund4, Fund6, and Fund8 proposals.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG goals:

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

SDG subgoals:

Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors

Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

Average hourly earnings of employees, by sex, age, occupation and persons with disabilities

The following has been copied from the SDG Proposer Tool.