Gamefi is taking a new twist with the Aptos Network’s latest attempt. They recently announced the release of a blockchain game called Free Renfield to promote Renfield, an upcoming horror-comedy film starring Nicholas Cage. 

Developed in partnership with NBC Universal, the game is meant to draw in a casual audience that wants to explore the upcoming movie more with unique rewards scattered across the game for players to earn and trade on the Aptos blockchain.  

Renfield GameFi

Intended to be played by millions, the Free Renfield game offers a variety of prizes that can be earned including collectibles, jewelry, gold, vintage posters, and more. In fact, the announcement states that there are over 8,000 different prizes that vary between NFTs and physical goods.

The game takes a different approach to GameFi which is routinely criticized by hardcore gamers that feel it will ruin the fun because it’s a light-hearted approach to the casual player that acts more as a new variety of advertising than any triple-A game. 

The new direction could signal a shift in marketing that emphasizes interactive experiences that offer a reward. This new method could cause players to be more interested in the product and offer incentives through NFTs for promotional discounts. 

Deal with Universal

Aptos’s partnership with Universal is what makes the game truly unique. Aptos is a fairly new network that only began in October 2022. Since then, they have quickly announced a number of partnerships and deals. 

Not only does this suggests that web3 is becoming a more appealing industry to corporations that have the resources to advance development, but it also shows that Aptos is a network that needs to be taken seriously. 

Once seen as a competitor to Solana, the Aptos Network has succeeded in many ways compared to Solana which appears to be on a downward trend. Alongside their deal with Universal, Aptos has also struck friendly relations with Fandango, a ticket supplier for theaters. 

Corporations aren’t Web3 Friendly 

There are drawbacks to the game, however. In order to play, game players are required to sign up on their website first. Although this is normal in web2 environments, web3 platforms are open protocols that don’t require users to submit anything but a public key to access. 

As good as the deal between Universal and Aptos is for blockchain gaming, there is still a great deal of centralization involved in the process which is something that will not appeal to blockchain enthusiasts. Investors and casual players might not care (or realize) that the game is centralized, but as a working web3 model for advertising, that is where its major flaw exists. 

Gathering Web3 Market Data

If corporations want to truly venture into web3, they will have to do so knowing that corporate entities and decentralized data don’t mix well in the same way that a bank holding bitcoin makes little sense - they’re oxymorons.  

However, market data is important and something necessary when promoting major blockbuster films; but the answer might be right in front of Universal’s eyes. Data on the blockchain is 100% public. Examining a user's activity through their public keys could provide valuable insights into the people interacting with Free Renfield without them compromising their private information. 

Past activities such as buying and selling NFTs, different platforms that they signed their wallets on, blockchain games being played, and how much they follow meme coin trends, could all become valuable web3 data for corporations to analyze.