Can you tell us about yourself, your background and how you got into the web3 space?
Pavel: My background is video games. I’ve worked with Xbox, EA, Activision, Nintendo, Disney, and more. Business development, licensing, M&A – even studio management.
In 2016, I was working full-time in cryptocurrency like most other people at the time. I am fascinated by the Bitcoin white paper. This white paper combines everything I’ve encountered since I was a child.
It’s math. great. I was good at math. It’s money. You always want money. It’s geopolitics. I majored in political science. It’s science fiction. I was a kid who loved science fiction. I dug deeper and deeper and thought, “Okay, this is awesome.” – That’s how I got into cryptocurrency.
How did the idea for MixMob come about?
At that time, I always believed that cryptocurrency and gaming could go together, but I had not yet seen the true value of cryptocurrency. After Axie took off in the summer of 2021 and showed it could be a success, I called Simon (Vieira, MixMob CEO and Game Director) and said, “Check out Axie. Do you think you can do better than that with a talented team?” He said, “I think I can do it.”
I like it. So why not bring your core team together? Come up with a game concept and present it to me as if I were the game publisher.” Just like we did when we worked together at EA and Activision. He said, “Okay.”
It all snowballed from there. Fortunately, I have been building Bluzelle (a decentralized storage solution) in Asia since 2016, so I was able to reach out to angels I knew and raise the necessary funds within two days. So that’s how it came out.
Team Building MixMob includes a ton of AAA talent. Can you tell me more?
With DeFi, we can get every coder, anywhere. music, video games, movies; Everyone needs talent. It’s not the technology that makes something good, it’s the people who have the talent to create great content.
People forget that. A lot of VCs have been fooled by people who have a great pitch deck, pay someone to make a media trailer, and then say, “Oh, now I have to go make this game.” – and VC had no idea how these games were made.
We’ve assembled a talented team that’s played everything from mobile, social, and casual games to titles like Halo, FIFA, Battlefield, and hardcore AAA games. Our team knows how to collaborate with others, can build through anything, and can learn new skills quickly.
MixMob’s founders have worked together for 15 years on FIFA, Halo, Battlefield, Nintendo, Pokerstars and other major brands.
Collectively, their experiences span all genres, from social casual to sports to AAA action-adventure.
Let’s go behind the mask 👇 pic.twitter.com/yCJ6rwwXXm
— MixMob (@MixMobOrigin) February 15, 2023
“Card Strategy Racing Game” is a unique combination! What kind of game is MixMob? What popular titles can it compare to?
It’s Mario Kart, a mix of Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. It is a racing game that also features card strategy, real money games, gambling, and DeFi features.
In MixMob, you earn MixBots through capsules. They are Tamagotchi, R2D2, and Wall-E. Instead of focusing on mastering wheel-to-wheel racing like Gran Turismo or Mario Kart, you’ll take part in races where racing elements are reflected in the strategies you’ll use from your deck of cards.
The card deck contains a variety of attack and defense cards. Each MixBot has its own unique racing characteristics, allowing you to customize your deck to suit your MixBot. For example, I love drifting in Mario Kart. And we know that Donkey Kong and Bowser are terrible at drifting. It cannot be used and you must use another character. This is similar to what we do with MixBot. You’ll need to trade, sell or buy MixBot and deck combos that suit your racing style.
There are three types of players: gamers, gamblers, and degen. Gamers play for races, gamblers bet on who will come out on top, and put stake tokens into a liquidity pool to profit from each race. Degens will be incentivized to bring more players into the racing arena, and since returns scale with the number of racers, he’ll have to use a lot of game theory to decide which arenas to invest in for maximum returns.
We’re not just creating a game, we’re creating a complete economy that keeps the flywheel running.
Your Gen0 pre-sale has just sold out and public sales begin on January 11th. Why should our readers participate in this upcoming drop?
We will be launching MixBot and MXM token packages starting January 11th at 9AM PST/5PM GMT. Each package costs USD 250 and includes MixBots, MXM tokens and select bonuses. A total of 5,000 packages are available.
There are three stages to the drop. Phase 1 is a guaranteed whitelist with 500 packages reserved for the community that has supported us so far. Each participant can purchase 5 packages, and purchasing 3 or more will receive a 10% MXM token bonus.
Phase 2 is the FCFS Whitelist, which includes 1,000 packages, with a maximum of 10 per participant and a 10% MXM token bonus for purchasing 10. Access to this whitelist can be obtained through Discord.
Phase 3 is a public sale, where the remaining 3,500 packages will be released to the public, up to 10 per participant.
Imagine running a toy store as a child. You can see the Optimus Prime robot from Transformers. I thought, “Okay, I’m going to buy this and convince my parents.” great. It’s 50 dollars. But inside the box is a voucher for a $50 token. This is how we position MixBot. Rather than selling tokens or NFTs, it is closer to selling toys using token vouchers.
🚨Public Sale Announcement🚨
🗓️ January 11th
💊 $MXM package
💰 $250 (USDC, USDT, SOL, BONK)
📍 @MagicEdenAfter two years of building, we have reached this point.
Now is the time to save our culture. Now is the time to do it. #FlipWeb2!Like 💚 RT 🔁 Comment 🫡
🕜 TIMESTAMP 1:34 – Intern pic.twitter.com/JXvbKd32Bw
— MixMob (@MixMobOrigin) January 4, 2024
Solana is the blockchain on everyone’s lips right now. Why did you choose Solana as MixMob’s chain?
Solana is the only blockchain that is fast enough to be useful for gaming. As Simon told me, it can’t be Polygon-fast, it can’t be Arbitrum-fast, it can only be Solana-fast. Even when the FTX crash happened and everyone was complaining about Solana, he thought, ‘No, this is where the product should be.’ This is the best technology.
We had several calls throughout the year with Solana’s founders, Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, and they reached out to us to see what help we needed.
Solana also has a unique community. Where ETH is closer to Silicon Valley – a place that is very tech-rich and where people really want to jump in – Solana is closer to Los Angeles. There are more subcultures, and it’s closer to what the community enjoys.
What can we expect from MixMob in 2024 and beyond?
The MXM token drop (January 11th) is the first major milestone. The game has been in alpha and beta for long enough for the community to say, “I really want to make money. I want to make money,” so we’re getting the economy up and running.
Next is mobile. The iOS and Android versions are in beta and pre-approved in the App Store. The full mobile launch is targeted for late January, early February. This game is great on desktop, but it’s even more fun on mobile.
After that, we acquired some top-level licenses to launch with in-game characters that will likely be released in the first quarter.
The MixMob Esports League is where the governance aspect of the MXM token comes into play. If you’re a fan of F1 and can take part in the expansion and growth of the sport, it’d be great. This is exactly what we will do with MXM tokens for the MXM Esports League.
User-generated content will also be launched in 2024. Players can craft in-game items, sell them, and earn MXM tokens, as well as custom arenas and community programs for their crews.
We are working with many communities, including BONK. We plan to launch BONK MixBots and ultimately want to have a BONK Arena where $BONK holders can enjoy special privileges. We want to do the same for many communities where they can represent and compete with each other. Instead of digging up land, the community gets stadiums, players can vote on new stadiums with new game modes, and that’s how big growth happens.
We’ll be announcing more partnerships in the coming weeks.
✨️ Happy New Year ✨️
Tonight we gather together to cherish the moments of hardship and joy we have experienced in 2023.
MixMob Army #FlipWeb2 In 2024.
If you’re along for the ride, please post again. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/417VudMlEx
— MixMob (@MixMobOrigin) January 1, 2024
Do you have any predictions for web3 games and the broader blockchain space in 2024?
Making a good game takes time. 2024 will be good because not only MixMob but other games have learned lessons from games released in the past few years. Mistakes they made, token economics, gameplay, etc. Many games that begin development in 2022 and 2023 will have playable versions in 2024.
Moreover, it is also a game. On mobile, Angry Birds took off and all other games followed suit. You don’t need 5 or 10 games to be the best. You only need one or two things, and everything else will evolve.
Where should the community go to learn more?
Join our Discord and follow us on Twitter. To get on the FCFS whitelist for the January 11th drop, you’ll need to complete a community task on Discord. Alternatively, you can go to the website and start playing. There is a way to get whitelisted there.
Even if you can’t participate in the January 11th sale, you’ll still need MXM tokens to play games and earn more when they drop. If you like poker and Mario Kart, you’ll have a lot of fun with MixMob.