Wildcard moves NFTs from Polygon to Ethereum, shares token strategy
Playful Studios CEO Paul Bettner reveals he’s had to protect Wildcard from “unaligned incentives” that could have hijacked the game
Wildcard modified by Blockworks
This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.
Wildcard has just migrated its Wildpass NFTs to Ethereum mainnet and is planning to launch a token.
Wildcard is an upcoming, crypto-optional PVP battle game I’ve been following for years. You play as a character who can run around a 3D battlefield and throw cards that turn into powerful creatures that autobattle each other. People that spectate Wildcard matches can also be rewarded for watching and engage with the game.
Wildcard is being developed by Playful Studios, whose CEO and co-founder, Paul Bettner, worked on games like Words With Friends, Age of Empires, and Lucky’s Tale.
Why is Wildcard still not out yet after more than two years? Building a fun game is hard, but in Bettner’s view, building a good game with crypto ties-ins makes it even harder.
“I personally think it’s because it’s like building games while wandering through a minefield,” he tells me with a chuckle. “I’ve got two years of doing this under my belt and I’ve lost count of the number of times where unaligned incentives have attempted to hijack the game design and the focus [away from] just trying to create a truly fun game for a mass audience, because of crypto.”
Simply put, Bettner wants to make a game that you’ll choose over anything else in your Steam library because it’s more fun.
“Crypto has this gravity to it, it has this set of forces that are constantly trying to tug the design of a consumer application, or a consumer product, especially like a game, in certain directions,” Bettner added.
Wildcard initially released the Wildpass NFTs on Polygon back in 2023 — which gave up to 4,444 fans early access to the game’s development. Bettner calls these holders, and the game’s Discord server’s members, the “golden cohort.” They’re the core community he wants to make happy with the game.
Wildcard founders Bettner and his wife Katy Bettner previously attended the Game Developer’s Conference in the past as part of the Polygon booth, representing part of the chain’s gaming ecosystem (which then also included the now-cancelled shooter Deadrop, which launched Founders Passes on Polygon).
Now, the Wildpass NFTs are leaving Polygon. The team migrated them to the Ethereum mainnet on Monday and covered the cost of gas for the move for holders.
Bettner tells me they’re not committing to any one EVM chain moving forward, but they see the Ethereum mainnet as a good spot for the genesis NFTs because of the chain’s liquidity. The mainnet has higher transaction fees than Polygon, though.
“The Wildpass is not intended to be an asset that people are trading every five seconds,” Bettner explains. For future Wildcard NFTs or rewards meant to be traded frequently, it’s likely the team will pick another EVM chain with lower fees.
Their WC token, which hasn’t been released yet, is unlike anything we’ve seen recently because this token will be 100% community-owned, with zero team allocation or VC involvement. And it’s not a memecoin, either.
“I’m hoping we can set a new standard here,” Bettner shares. The token won’t have team or VC allocations because he doesn’t want the Wildcard community to feel pitted against the team or investors financially if investors suddenly decide to cash out and send the token nosediving.
The recent favorable regulatory climate with Trump’s election and the shakeup at the SEC has also made the team more comfortable launching a token.
“It’s basically the opposite of a meme token,” Bettner says of the WC token. “It is directly connected to the Wildcard ecosystem and to the value that’s created in the Wildcard ecosystem.”
Bettner’s Playful Studios is also building Thousands, a blockchain-powered streaming platform like Twitch but with more incentives and rewards for both viewers and streamers.
I previously played an early version of Wildcard — and it’s solid. I’m a fan of MOBA- and arena-battler style games like Overwatch, and I love colorful sci-fi games where characters have special powers. So I am absolutely looking forward to the game’s full launch.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
- Empire: Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross.
- Forward Guidance: Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin.
- 0xResearch: Get alpha directly in your inbox — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana, in your inbox, every day from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.
- The Drop: The newsletter for crypto collectors and traders, covering games, tokens, apps, memes and more.
