What is Internet Game? Back in 2016, a mobile trivia game show raced from 0 to 2M concurrent players in a matter of 3 months. The app was called HQ Trivia. The premise was simple yet totally novel. Each evening at a set time, players logged in to play a 10 question trivia show.
There was a goofy host being filmed live from a closet-sized studio. If you got 1 question wrong, you were out. If you got all 10 questions correct, you split the $100,000+ prize money with the other winners, which often meant just $20. Nevertheless, people played obsessively.
It was about the thrill of live competition. Being in the hot seat instead of watching someone else there. Being one of the few winners amongst millions. And all from the comfort of your couch. But then… their numbers started dropping.
People got bored of trivia before they were able to pivot to other game types. Today, HQ is still alive, but at 1% of their former audience size. At the time, I wrote an article predicting the future of all our entertainment becoming live and interactive.
Why would you want to watch someone else play a game show when you could be playing it yourself? Yet, very few have attempted something similar to HQ in the last 5 years. TV is still completely lacking in interactivity outside of the occasional “text-to-vote”.
Meanwhile, the most interactive forms of entertainment have exploded: multiplayer video games. Fortnite, Roblox, etc. But these games are too complex for the average person. They lack the accessibility that HQ had where, with a bit of luck, you could win it all on your first time
We found ourselves thinking, what would a 2022 version of HQ look like? Introducing: Internet Game. A 5 day, 5 game, battle-royale with blue-chip NFTs as prizes. Yes, it’s like Squid Game for NFTs :)
Players mint the Game Token NFT in order to play. As people buy-in, 60% of the funds are spent on NFTs for the prize pool, which are voted upon by the community. Each game lasts 12 hours so that players in all time zones have equal opportunities to play.
When time is up, a large swath of the worst performing players is eliminated. After all 5 games, all those who remain win our Metaverse Access Card — a hyper-limited NFT that gives free access to future Internet Games, airdrops, WL spots, and more.
The top players, ranked by points, will each receive an NFT from the prize pool, with the #1 ranked player getting the most valuable NFT, and so on.
Bonus: our Game Token has very interesting economic dynamics built-in. Players must stake their Game Token before each game to play. If you’re eliminated, your Token isn’t given back until the game's end. That means the total supply of Game Tokens decreases as the games go on.
So if you’re still in, you can choose to sell your Game Token between games for a profit, or risk playing onward to win prizes.
Bonus: Internet Game is a Show. We wanted to go the extra mile to make Internet Game an incredible experience for players. So we partnered with FNMeka, Factory New & ZeroSpace Studios to create a 3D animated world that the games live within.
FNMeka is the host of the Internet Game. He’s a virtual influencer with over 10M followers on TikTok. Virtual meaning he’s not a real person. He’s an AI robot rapper who flies around in Lamborghini helicopters. Yeah, this guy. ↓
As Web3 develops, we’re going to see more & more virtual influencers & anonymous celebrities using digital skins. People will be able to choose how they physically represent themselves. We see FNMeka hosting IG from a totally virtual world to be a sneak-peak at the future.
Each game starts with a recap of the previous game results, and an animated sequence featuring FNMeka and Bored Ape #6500 (the first NFT we purchased for the prize pool). These two live together in the Metaverse, along with all other NFTs. That’s all we’ll say for now :)
@ZeroSpaceNYC is the studio that made this all possible. They used motion capture rigs to shoot actors playing FNMeka and the Bored Ape, then placed the characters in Unreal Engine environments. Are you excited yet? ;)
Why are we building this? We loved HQ. We loved Pokemon Go. We love games that delight while inviting us to interact with millions of others. It’s a special combo of joy, belonging, and connection. In the age of isolation, these types of things are more important than ever.
Games like Roblox & Fortnite are on the edge of this combo. Players are spending hours “hanging out” in these games, equally interested in socializing as they are in winning. People who play video games like this are statistically happier than those who don't. Isn’t that crazy?
As mentioned previously, most of those games are not accessible to the average person. My aunt is never going to play WoW. That means a huge swath of the population is missing out on something that could measurably increase their general happiness. That's why we're doing this.
