A First Look at The Forge Arena

The number of high quality, blockchain games seems to be growing rapidly. And while most of them are built on Ethereum or Solana or one of the more hyped blockchains, Forge Arena is instead building on WAX, taking advantage of the feeless transactions and established NFT community. In this article we'll take a first look at The Forge Arena, a first person shooter with built-in play to earn mechanics and an upcoming NFT drop!

The Forge Arena is a tactical, FPS game built with the idea of becoming a major eSport. A standard team-based FPS, teams of five players fight each other across a map and try to get the most kills. The action is quick paced and the weapons seem to be modern gear, without anything too wacky (as far as I've seen anyway). However, the player skins and base aesthetics have a more futuristic look.

This game doesn't feature any base building or turret creations. Just aiming, movement, and shooting! At the moment, the game requires a Gen-Zero or Ascendance NFT to play. But there will be an open beta later on and the game is expected to have a free to play option on release. The beta game already features a very playable FPS game.

Tokens and Play to Earn

Offering several play to earn opportunities, The Forge Arena includes several in-game tokens (BOUNTY, SOUL, SPARK, and SCRAP) and use those to craft weapon parts. Assemble the right weapon parts and receive a new weapon skin as a tradeable NFT!

Players gain tokens in different ways. Players earn SCRAP simply for playing, SOUL by kills, BOUNTY from missions and special game objectives, and SPARKS through loot boxes and special giveaways. SPARKS are used to generate new NFTs and purchase skins on the in-game market. SPARKS will also be swappable with GENCOIN, the game's governance token on the WAX blockchain. The function for other tokens is unclear. Presumably, they will feature in the crafting system.

The game launched it's initial, Gen-Zero NFTs in November of 2021. With only 1,111 in existence, these NFTs are founder tokens. Holders receive lifetime awards including first access to betas, the ability to easily create new NFTs, and special airdrops.

Ascendance Capsules

Beginning on March 2nd, the second Forge NFT drop includes both a whitelist and a public drop. Depending on when you read this article, there may still be a chance to join the whitelist. Go to their Discord and link your WAX wallet!

The Ascendance Capsules NFT drop consists of 11,111 capsules, each with 2 NFTs inside -- an Ascendance Themed Weapon NFT (skin) and a Tournament Badge. Everyone with a Gen-zero NFT receives a capsule for free. 3900 Capsules are available during the whitelist sale and another 6000 during the public sale. The team holds 100 Capsules for use in promotions and giveaways. The weapon NFTs come in 10 different varieties, with a 2.5% chance to land one of two legendary skins.

While players can equip the weapons and use them right away in battle, the badge is a pass into a future, Ascendance Series Tournament. With a prize pool seeded from Capsule sales and in-store purchases, this tournament could feature a prize pool for a million dollars! Expected to occur sometime in Q4 of 2022, the tournament includes qualifiers, with the top teams flown in to compete in head to head LAN matchups. The team also promises NFT airdrops to holders during the tournament.

The whitelist sale begins at 11am PST on March 2nd. Public sale starts 24 hours later. Each wallet can purchase up to 5 capsules. the Capsule sale runs as a reverse dutch auction. That means the Capsules increase in price as more are purchased. The prices points are as follows:

First 2,500 Capsules - 150$ USD in WAXP
Next 2,500 Capsules - 250$ USD in WAXP
Next 2,500 Capsules - 350$ USD in WAXP
Final 2,500 Capsules - 500$ USD in WAXP

Capsule contents reveal scheduled for March 10th.