Cyberpunk RPG Neon District hits Steam in December

Gamers with a Steam account can now add the cyberpunk role playing game Neon District to their wish list. The blockchain game will launch on December 9th. In addition there will be a pre-sale for its first official season for gamers who own a founder's key on Saturday, October 12th 2019. One week later the pre-sale opens up for everybody.

The pre-sale will add 1200 pieces of armor and weapons, each with procedurally generated stats. Secondly players get extra characters, and get to send characters to their friends. While finally team members can be boosted to level 5 and gear can be upgraded with the CARD leveling system. However, this pre-sale is NOT mentioned on Stream, so be sure to check out the Neon District website.

Founder's Keys were sold earlier by Blockade Games. Gamers interested in getting one, should have a look on OpenSea. Buying a Founder's Key requires an Ethereum wallet and some ethereum in it. The cheapest keys are being sold for 0.1 ETH (~$20), while the most expensive ones are 20 ETH (~$3800).

Even though the game officially launches in December, it won't be the game's first season. Last year Blockade Games did a sale for early investors, giving the studio extra funds to develop their game and receive feedback from the community. For 141 ETH ($22.800 at the time) one investor got to help with the design of a boss character. Blockade Games managed to accumulate around 90 thousand dollars in ETH back at the time.

What is Neon District all about?

Neon District is a blockchain-powered cyberpunk role playing game. The game will be available as a free-to-play game through Steam and probably some other platforms as well. Battles are very tactical, and are one of the core elements of the game. Gamers need to fight through procedural and story-driven missions to collect characters, gear, juice and parts. Collected and earned items can be used in-game, or sold on a marketplace like OpenSea.

The game takes place in Unity City. It's a futuristic world, completely handcrafted. Your aim as part of the “Degens” and “Edits” is to combat a governing entity that has begun to control its citizens with implant technology and mass surveillance.

The current status of blockchain games

There are plenty of blockchain games that are successful based on their revenue, but most of these games don't even qualify as proper video games. Blockade Games is one of many studio's trying to break that boundary. Plenty of slower and turn based games are incorporating blockchain ownership over in-game assets.

For example, trading card games like Gods Unchained and Skyweaver are upcoming hits. On top of that Animoca Brands is doing lots of work with licensing, connecting big brands like Formula 1 and MotoGP with non-fungible tokens and digital ownership.

None of these game productions match the quality of games like The Witcher 3, World of Warcraft, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. On the other hand consumers love cosmetic items, and gamers are used to spending in-game currencies. Even though the initial wave of blockchain games isn't driven by major mainstream brands, it's only a matter of time before players can sell actual digital closets and beds for a blockchain-version of The Sims.