The introduction of blockchain technology into the gaming world ushered in the advent of the GameFi niche. GameFi refers to an ecosystem where you can earn and trade in-game currency by playing games or performing tasks. This allows users to make money while having fun.

Many games today employ blockchain technology and follow the Play-to-Earn (P2E) concept. Illuvium is one such game.

The Gaming Industry

The global gaming market was estimated to be worth $174 billion in 2020. Blockchain gaming has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry. Play-to-Earn (P2E) is a new gaming framework introduced by blockchain gaming. Users can transfer in-game objects, tokenize them, trade them, and convert them to real-world assets in P2E games.

In-game currencies may be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies such as the US dollar. Similarly, other in-game items, such as characters and inventory, can be traded for NFTs.

The metaverse is constantly evolving. Allowing users to carry tangible items created in a game into other digital experiences also creates a new economy that can be monetized in the real world. Grayscale estimates that the metaverse is worth $1 trillion.

What is Illuvium?

Illuvium is an Ethereum-based blockchain game. The ecosystem uses Layer 2 Scaling technology and the Immutable X blockchain.

Role-playing games (RPGs) allow players to create fully fleshed-out characters and play in real-time in a vast environment. Illuvium users can also earn NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and stake their assets in a decentralized environment (without incurring any fee).

With Zero-Knowledge Rollups, Illuvium employs a highly scalable, privacy-preserving architecture. It uses a decentralized governance structure to make the most of the ILV token and the ecosystem’s Illuvium DAO (decentralized autonomous organization).

Illuvials are creatures that live in the illuvial realm. They can be captured and nursed by players. They are added to the player’s collection and can be used to fight other adventures in the Auto Battler mode of Illuvium.

It is a cross between an open-world adventure and a multiplayer battle royale game. In this game, players can go all over the world and put together their team of powerful animals.

Illuvium has been in development since 2020. Aaron Warwick and Kieran developed the game.

What is the Illuvium Token (ILV)?

Illuvium (ILV) is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token with numerous applications in the game and ecosystem. The ILV price is determined by a combination of staking utility and speculation about the game’s success. The token is available in two versions: ILV and sILV. The rewards of ILV take a year to mature, whereas sILV can be used instantly in the game.

There won’t be more than 7 million ILVs and sILVs in total supply. Three (3) million will be issued as staking incentives, for a total supply of 10 million. Since so many people have already staked their coins, the circulating supply will be reduced.

The three main uses of ILV include the following:

ILV coins are given to players in recognition of their achievements and victories in the game.
Holders can stake ILV in the Illuvium Vault. Stakers are compensated in ILV or sILV.
Holders can participate in the game’s governance through the Illuvium Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The Illuvinati Council lets the community work together on requests to improve the game and other changes to how it is run.

Users who transfer ILV and sILV must pay Ethereum gas fees because they are ERC-20 tokens.

We’re still waiting to see how the development team would properly incorporate ERC-20 transactions into the game while keeping the price reasonable, given how expensive these can be. The current market price and all-time high (ATH) for Illuvium can be found on Coinmarketcap.

How Illuvium Works

In conventional RPGs, players are immersed in a universe where they manage a cast of characters and are in charge of making decisions that affect future events. The more a character is used, the faster they can progress and gain new abilities. Players (also referred to as ‘Hunters’) hunt down Illuvials (deity-like entities). These entities can be kept on Shards.

NFTs represent illuvials in the player’s digital wallet. Illuvials are grouped into multiple classes (i.e., Fighter, Psion, Rogue, Guardian, and Empath) and affinities (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Nature) with varying abilities. If a user captures multiples of the same illuvial type, they can be fused to become more powerful via a burning mechanism that scrapes the old NFT and mints a new one.

Users can earn in-game rewards in the form of ILV tokens by participating in tournaments or completing tasks in the blockchain-based game. Also, users can capture illuvials and gather resources to purchase and sell on Illuvidex, the game’s in-game marketplace.

Illuvium also has a multiplayer battle arena mode where players compete for ILV awards and higher ranks.

Features of the Illuvium Blockchain Gaming Ecosystem

Non-Fungible Tokens

Users can view non-fungible tokens and purchase them on the OpenSea collectible marketplace through the Illuvium website. The Illuvium DAO produces these blockchain game elements in various formats, including Genesis Promo and Cosplay. In addition to the standard NFTs, Illuvium provides “lands” that can be traded and earned in-game.

No Gas Fees and Fast Transactions

Illuvium uses Immutable X’s powerful Layer-2 scalability features to provide fast transactions with no gas fees. Immutable X is a project designed to increase transaction throughput for blockchain gaming systems and Ethereum NFTs.

Zero-Knowledge Rollups (zk-Rollups), a type of privacy-focused Layer-2 scaling, are utilized to accomplish this. In addition, to help keep the Illuvium platform secure, the system employs Zero-Knowledge Proof cryptography to prevent malicious actors from gaining access to users’ private keys.

Staking

Gamers on Illuvium can stake through smart contracts that compensate users for staking. The staking mechanism uses both the conventional (ILV) and synthetic (sILV) versions of the ILV token, core pools, and flash pools. The ILV pool and the ILV/ETH pool are the two major core pool types that allow users to stake their ILV. Users can only stake ILV in the ILV token pool.

Users can, however, provide liquidity (in the form of ILV or ETH) to the ILV/ETH pool in exchange for Sushi Liquidity Provider (SLP) Tokens, which they can then stake.

Pools that hold tokens from partner projects are known as “flash pools.” Examples include the Universe. XYZ NFT protocol’s XYZ token and the Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) token. After staking their tokens, users can choose whether to get their tokens in ILV or sILV. The participants who choose to receive their rewards in ILV will have their rewards locked for 12 months, while those who prefer to receive their tokens as sILV can use them to buy NFTs and other blockchain game products.

Integration and Development of Decentralized Exchanges

Illuvium has partnered with several decentralized exchanges (DEXs), including 1inch and SushiSwap, and plans to partner with more in the future. Once completed, IlluviDEX will allow players to exchange in-game NFTs and will soon include other features.

What Distinguishes Illuvium From Other Games?

Illuvium features a 3D environment comprising more than 100 illuvials scattered over its locations. Professional artists created each illuvial to enhance the game’s visuals.

It also has several features that make it unique and distinguish it from other blockchain-based AAA games and titles. These features include:

Incorporation of Layer 2
IlluviDEX
Yield farming

Incorporation of Layer 2

Illuvium inherits the security of the Ethereum blockchain. The network is also strengthened by Immutable X (IMX), a Layer 2 solution designed to scale apps that utilize NFT features.

Illuvium takes advantage of ImmutableX features to allow players to trade and mint NFTs with near-instantaneous transaction completion and no gas expenses. IMX grants players complete control over their assets.

IlluviDEX

Illuvium comes with its decentralized exchange, the IlluviDEX. Illuvial assets, such as Illuvial NFTs, can be traded on IlluviDEX. Each sale generates a 5% commission that goes into the ILV stakers’ rewards pool.

Yield Farming

The Illuvium ecosystem’s yield farming program is awarded 3 million ILV (or 30 percent of the maximum supply of 10 million ILV). This will be distributed to users that provide liquidity for three years and participate in different reward programs.

How to Buy ILV

The Illuvium token can be purchased on Binance, Gate.io, Crypto.com, KuCoin, AtomicDEX, and SushiSwap, among other major exchange platforms. Because ILV tokens do not yet have fiat trading pairings, you must first purchase a cryptocurrency such as BNB, BUSD, USDT, or BTC.

In Conclusion,

Illuvium has already gained significant traction and trade volume as a result of the launch of its ILV token and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) staking platform.
Illuvium has attracted lots of attention since it is the first AAA blockchain-based video game. According to the team’s road map, they have already completed several key tasks. These include prototype development, the transition to Unreal Engine, the construction of token smart contracts, the first cinematic trailer, and the initial version of yield farm contracts.
The platform will give some other top P2E games a run for their money. The possibilities within the game are nearly limitless now that staking is operational and players are buying up ILV tokens.

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