The streets go dark. The protocol resets. And on May 4th — it all begins again.
It Started as an Idea on Hive
Syndicate Protocol wasn't built in a boardroom. It came out of one question: what does a game look like when it's built natively on Hive — not using HIVE as a cosmetic wrapper, but structured so that the economy is the game?
Most blockchain games slap a token on top of existing mechanics. Remove the token and the game still works. We wanted to build something where that's not true. Where every decision — which zone to push into, which crew to build, how to allocate your stats, when to spend and when to hold — is a real economic decision with real consequences.
That's Syndicate Protocol. Closed beta was the first real test of whether it holds up.
What Kind of Game Is This
Syndicate Protocol is a territory control and crew deployment game. There's no real-time action. You don't click through combat. The game is about decisions and management over time.
Here's the core loop:
You recruit operatives — crew members with different classes, rarities, and stat profiles. You deploy them to zones across the city, each zone with a different risk level and payout tier. Inside each zone you scan territories for jobs, pick the ones worth running, and send your crew through 5-step operations. Each step drains stamina. Step 5 is a boss encounter — your squad power is tested. Win and you bank the full payout plus loot rolls. Lose and you keep only what was accumulated during the run.
On top of that: collectible pieces drop from successful operations. Collect all pieces in a set and you earn a permanent stat bonus. Those stat bonuses compound into your crew's performance. Loot feeds progression. Progression opens higher zones. Higher zones mean better loot and bigger payouts.
The whole thing runs on HIVE. Zone unlocks cost HIVE. Crew recruitment costs in-game tokens. The economy is designed to stay tight — not inflationary, not trivial.
What Closed Beta Tested
When we opened to closed beta testers the game was functional but unproven. The systems existed on paper and in code. We didn't know how players would actually interact with them under real pressure.
Here's what we found out:
The drop rates needed tuning. Early testers ran a lot of operations before seeing their first chest drop. The base rates were too punishing without context — players didn't yet understand that Insight is the primary lever for improving drops. We adjusted the base rates and made the Insight interaction more visible.
The crew economy needed tightening. The dismantle formula — what you recover when you break down a crew — was the most debated mechanic in beta. Too generous and the roster economy collapses. Too punishing and players stop experimenting. We found the right balance after several iterations: 50% shard recovery on dismantle, which rewards thoughtful roster decisions without being brutal about mistakes.
Zone unlock costs in beta were free by design. On launch, Zones 2 through 8 cost HIVE to unlock. That's not a paywall — Iron Row is free, and you can run a complete game loop in the lower zones.
The collectibles system went from skeleton to fully functional during beta. At the start of closed beta, collectibles existed in code but weren't in the UI. Players helped us validate the full cycle — pieces dropping, sets completing, stat bonuses applying, traits unlocking. Ten sets, six pieces each, each set tied to a zone, each one granting a +3 permanent stat bonus and unlocking a craftable crew trait. That system is solid now.
And of course there were multiple iterations on the UI to come up the best suitable user experience for the game.
The Data Wipe — Full and Final
All beta data wipes before May 4th. This was communicated from day one and it's not changing.
What gets wiped:
Every crew you built and levelled
Every item, shard, and chest in your inventory
Every zone you unlocked
Every collectible piece and completed set
Every HIVE spent during beta
Every operation result on record
Why. The beta economy was not calibrated for permanence. Some of it was deliberately unbalanced so we could observe the edges and tune. Carrying forward resources accumulated under those conditions would break launch fairness from day one.
What doesn't wipe is knowledge. If you ran the beta you understand the game's systems at a depth that no new player will have on May 4th. You know what a good op result looks like. You know how the crew levelling curve feels. You know which zones are worth the HIVE to unlock. That's a real advantage and it doesn't disappear.
What Ships on May 4th
The launch build is not the beta build. Every major system was touched.
Zones — 8 zones, Iron Row free, Zones 2–8 gated by HIVE payment. Costs and rewards tuned through the full beta window. Higher zones have better base payouts, higher drop rate ceilings, and harder boss encounters.
Crew system — Five classes: Enforcer, Strategist, Earner, Scout, Specialist. Each with a distinct mechanical role. Common and Uncommon crew have no trait slots. Rare gets one. Epic and Legendary get two. Crew roster starts at 6 slots and grows with player level, capping at 18. Additionally each zone unlocked adds more crew slots.
Stats — Four player stats: Authority (XP gain), Insight (chest drop rate), Logistics (stamina efficiency), Pressure Control (payout multiplier). All start at 10, cap at 40. Every 5 levels you earn a skill point to allocate. Collectible set bonuses stack on top.
Collectibles — 10 sets, 6 pieces each, zone-specific drops. Complete a set: +3 permanent stat bonus, unlock a craftable crew trait. Unbound pieces can be transferred between players or traded (marketplace coming post-launch).
Crew Traits — Crafted onto Rare+ crew. Zone-specific. Only active when that crew is deployed to the matching zone. Each trait requires the relevant unlock set to have been claimed, plus a piece cost to craft.
Economy — In-game token balance starts at ⬡1,000. Crew recruit costs compound with each hire (×1.15 per recruit).
Premium Pass — Daily free crew recruit and access to premium daily and weekly quest. The meaningful long-term roster advantage for consistent players.
Weekly Leaderboard — Ranked by earnings across the week. Prize pool distributed to top players at week end.
Discord integration — Live op results, crew events, zone activity. Fully live on launch.
Roadmap on the horizon — Land sale NFTs (zone + class specific, permanently capped supply), Crew Crafting, Crew Feeding, and eventually PVP with equipment and a counter system. None of that ships May 4th. The core game ships complete.
A Note to the Beta Testers
You spent time on a build that was explicitly temporary. You filed feedback, found edge cases, questioned about mechanics, and came back the next day.
The game that launches May 4th is directly better because of that. This is the acknowledgement.
Official Launch: May 4th
Monday, May 4th. The gates open.
No application, no invite, no priority queue. Iron Row is free — start there, learn the loop, and push deeper when you're ready.
See you in the field.
Syndicate Protocol — Build your crew. Run ops. Control territory.
A browser-based crime syndicate strategy game on the Hive blockchain.
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