G2 Esports has become the largest western esports organisation to create its own PFP NFT project. G2 is launching a new NFT gaming community, designed to deliver real value to gamers and demonstrate how NFTs can be created for their enjoyment, offering fans access to money-can’t-buy experiences and other benefits.
The G2 NFTs offer immediate and long term value for holders, rather than relying on speculative value as other NFTs do. Through the G2 NFT gaming community, holders can access immediate rewards including exclusive player access and more. Carlos ‘ocelote’ Roriguez, CEO of G2 Esports, comments “We have been working hard for the last 6 months to make sure that we have a project that is worth G2 army’s attention but also fans of web3 space.”
Samurai Army will be a new NFT project from G2 and will be a series of randomly generated NFTs, each with a totally unique samurai for users to own. Each of the NFTs are a ticket to the club to gain access to collaborative content, experiences, and exclusive events. Furthermore, holders will get early access to all future G2 NFTs; NFTs celebrating G2’s major esports achievements, expansions of the G2 brand into new stories and mediums, never-before-seen player moments and more, Samurai Army is designed to give fans access to a social club focused on gaming and gamers interests.
Users won’t just own the samurai, but have the opportunity to be the samurai, creating their own story and shaping the environment around them. Each NFT is made up of five randomly generated variables, including the weapon, helmet, chest, arm piece and background.
Samuary Army can be found here on Discord and Twitter.
As a long-term project, the NFT gaming community and social club has been developed in partnership with Metaplex, a leading NFT platform for creators and brands to build their own non-fungible token (NFT) storefronts on the Solana blockchain. G2’s ambition is to show gamers how NFTs can be used to add value as G2 expands into games, music, comics, manga and other creative mediums.
The Solana blockchain delivers high throughput with average transaction fees of $0.00025. Solana is also energy efficient, meaning that minting G2’s NFTs will use less energy and be more environmentally friendly than if done via other blockchains. A single transaction on Solana takes less energy than two Google searches, and 24 times less energy than charging your phone. Carlos ‘ocelote’ Roriguez, CEO of G2 Esports, comments, “Metaplex and Solana blockchain was an obvious choice for us: it is a proof of stake blockchain which is extremely eco-friendly, a solid network and low gas fees. It is capital for us to make sure this new G2 project is accessible for everyone.”
The G2 NFT gaming community is positioned towards gamers first and foremost, but it is also built to add value for passionate NFT holders, crypto enthusiasts, and a wide diversity of creatives and artists.
Ambitions for the NFT gaming community
The NFT gaming community is designed to create a social club where fans can gather, play together, discuss gaming news and win exclusive perks.Carlos ‘ocelote’ Roriguez, CEO of G2 Esports, comments “We are creating a gamified social club for sweaty gamers, esports, and NFT fans alike.”
From a gaming perspective, fans will also be empowered to develop the backstory of their samurai. G2 will be implementing gamified mechanics such as World Boss events, where people can come together to defeat gigantic bosses and win exclusive rewards.
Community engagement and gamified events
There will be a series of community events within the new, fictional world. At these events, all NFT holders must come together to defeat a World Boss of epic proportions and win rewards.
Carlos ‘ocelote’ Roriguez, CEO of G2 Esports, comments: “We built this project for those that believe in G2 and our commitment to engage with our fans physically and digitally for decades to come, rather than those looking to make a quick buck.”
There will also be a series of unique, exclusive perks and rewards leveraging the G2 brand, including money-can’t-buy experiences such as live chats with official G2 players, games with G2 creators, expenses paid trips to major esports events and more.
Everyone who buys a G2 NFT will also be able to name it. The personalised mark will be left permanently no matter who the NFT is later sold to.
Community rewards
The NFT project is positioned towards gamers first and foremost, but it is also built to add value for passionate NFT holders, crypto enthusiasts, and a wide diversity of creatives and artists.
Within the NFT gaming community, G2 has also launched a Community Reward system, where it will reward the most passionate and active community members who are writing stories, creating art, helping NFT newbies and building the community. The rewards include being whitelisted to guarantee yourself the chance to “mint” your samurai and exclusive discord titles.
Carlos ‘ocelote’ Roriguez, CEO of G2 Esports, comments: “NFTs have the potential to be huge. I can think of no better way to give back to our community than creating our own NFT community for gamers, NFT holders, crypto enthusiasts, creatives and artists. Our fans have been a driving force of G2 so to build this community, offer instant value and rewards, feels really special. Art has driven the NFT world so far, but G2 will lead gaming NFTs.
Metaplex is a leading NFT platform so it felt right to partner with them on this mission. Creating our NFT gaming community on the Solana blockchain will also help our NFTs to be as energy efficient as possible.”
Ben Sparango, Head of Business Development at Solana Labs, added: “I’m thrilled to have G2 building in the Solana ecosystem. G2’s mission with the Samurai Army, creating more meaningful experiences through use of digital assets, is the embodiment of our ecosystem ethos and a huge step forward for decentralized communities. G2 has chosen Solana as the viable solution for their long term company and community ambitions in this space, and I can’t wait for everyone to experience what they’ve built.”
ABOUT G2 ESPORTS
G2 is one of the world’s leading entertainment and esports brands. G2 was co-founded in 2015 by legendary League of Legends player-turned-team owner, Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodriguez, and veteran esports entrepreneur and investor, Jens Hilgers.
In the past five years, G2 has built a global fanbase of over 35 million fans spanning EMEA, North American, Latin America and Asia Pacific. International household name brands are increasingly recognising the opportunities that esports can offer to tap into an engaged youth audience. G2 currently counts the likes of BMW, Logitech G, Philips, Red Bull, Twitch, Pringles and Mastercard amongst its strategic commercial partners.
Boasting an Instagram following of 1,3 million and Twitter followers in excess of 1,2 million G2 has a loyal community that follows every twist and turn of the club’s fortunes along the global esports calendar.
About Solana
Solana is a global state machine, and the world’s most performant blockchain. It gives developers the confidence to build for the long term by delivering predictable scaling without compromising security or composability. Solana’s performance is driven by a single global state, which is capable of processing tens of thousands of smart contracts at once, and by Proof of History, a distributed clock that unlocks low-latency, sub-second finality across the global state. To learn more, please visit https://solana.com
Photo by Ryunosuke Kikuno on Unsplash
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