Despite its macabre name, the blockchain game Undeads is attempting to breathe life back into the metaverse. Its post-apocalyptic virtual world that sees players fending off zombies was developed by a collaboration between Whimsy Games and Unicsoft. 

In a break from most web3 games, the Undeads is centered around traditional gaming, focusing more on interaction, graphics, and sound effects, rather than its virtual economy. This new business model may be what the metaverse needs to pick up steam with players who so far have seen web3 gaming as lackluster at best.

Unique gameplay

Undeads is a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMOPRG) set in 2035. In New Arc City, some citizens are being turned into zombies after a bioweapon virus was released from Rubicon Lab. Players can play as either a zombie or a human as they battle each other for supremacy. 

Undeads is unique primarily because it is the first major response to the criticisms of GameFi; many gamers have disparaged GameFi because it places emphasis on earning money rather than the gaming experience that gamers want. 

Undeads has wisely built a robust game centered around the gamer community by emphasizing teamplay between zombies and humans. The Undeads team is trailblazing a new approach to web3 gaming by using enhanced sounds, and eye-catching graphics, to highlight its virtual world while keeping economic incentives to a minimum,

Gamer-centered tokenomics

Undeads uses its own $UNDEAD token ($0.21 at press time) for governance and utility; the $UNDEAD supply is capped at 250 million and players will have the ability to lock up and stake $UNDEAD. 

Its token allocation and distribution show that only 15% of the token supply goes toward the team while 50% collectively goes toward liquidity, staking rewards, and the ecosystem. This kind of allocation shows gamers that Undeads is truly emphasizing the gaming experience as the incentive to play the game – not earning money and grabbing cash for the team.

Understated marketplace

Its creative characters live and work inside its futuristic setting, collecting weapons and armor, owning buildings, driving vehicles, working in professions, and even owning pets. 

While these elements are directly tied to the game’s marketplace, they are nonetheless placed at the forefront of the Undeads gameplay. They are directly tied to the gameplay, rather than being NFTs that can be taken outside of the game and used in unrelated marketplaces. 

They are described in the game’s whitepaper as “mechanics,” emphasizing the Undeads marketplace and tokenomics as being on the periphery of the game – not at the center. Tokens are used to go deeper into more levels of the game and participate in the game’s DAO. 

Land plots can be purchased as an in-game base of operation or to build buildings or other resources on. Regions can be purchased with UGOLD and receive UGOLD as other players build their own bases and homes in various regions. 

Roadmap and team

The Undeads roadmap describes itself as a “fast-growing project” broken out into three phases. Undeads is currently in the middle of the second phase where it is soon to launch its staking marketing campaign and will mint $UNDEAD starting February 23, 2023.

Undeads’ team is not a small group of coders with little experience. The game has 60 professionals from various industries behind its metaverse. It is led by CEO Leo Khan, a graduate of Stanford with over several years of experience in fintech and DeFi, and CMO Ash Hodgetts, who formerly worked with Anomica’s Phantom Galaxies and GameLoft.

Mission and goal

By emphasizing the gaming experience and incorporating tokenomics in relevant in-game experiences, Undeads could very well be leading the way for revitalizing GameFi which became stuck on the play-and-earn model that gamers rejected.

Undeads success has yet to materialize, but one thing is certain: it started at the beginning of 2022, arguably the hardest year for web3 gaming and crypto. It has survived a whirlwind of perturbed investors and disillusioned gamers through its vulnerable early days.

On the eve of its mint next month, Undeads is signaling to gamers that while gaming may not need all the accouterments of web3, it can definitely benefit greatly from certain aspects of web3 like tokenomics and the distributed ledger. 

What do you think about Undeads Metaverse? Let us know in the comments!