Whether the crypto game Nyan Heroes will be a long-term success remains to be seen, but its developer, 9 Lives Interactive, believes that the results of the launch of a limited pre-alpha version of the game on the Epic Games Store give a lot of reasons for encouragement.
According to 9 Lives Interactive (formerly Rude Robot Studios), within two weeks of its existence on the popular online game store, Nyan Heroes became one of the 30 most popular games with more than 200,000 downloads.. It also made it to the list of the best upcoming games to be wishlisted on the Epic Games Store.
In some areas of the game there were still freezes and some bugs, said creative director and head of 9 Lives Interactive Max Fu. “But ultimately our goal was to polish the gameplay to the point… to deliver on all the pillars of our core gameplay loops and understand whether people are having fun with the game.
According to the developer, the “run-in” of the pre-alpha version of “Nyan Heroes” lasted from March 26 to April 9.
The video game is based on the Unreal Engine 5 and is a shooter about “furs” controlled by cat characters. While users can already buy, sell, and trade in-game assets, NFTs are not included in the current build of the game.
Scene from the game “Nyan Heroes”. Source: 9 Lives Interactive
“We have plans to provide free trading of assets both on and off the blockchain in a single in-game market,” Fu noted, adding that the corresponding “functionality” should appear after the second major update this year.
9 Lives Interactive plans to release the full game on PC by early next year. Over time, players will be able to customize their gameplay and trade in-game assets on the marketplace. However, according to Fu, players who don't want to interact with NFTs will be able to freely play “Nyan Heroes” without having to delve into the benefits of the blockchain.
Overall, the 9 Lives Interactive team is pleased with the results of the pre-alpha version, highlighting that many users who downloaded the game were not previously familiar with Web3.
Given the popularity of the pre-alpha version, Fu said they plan to relaunch the game on the Epic Games Store in a couple of weeks to give more people the opportunity to download and play “Nyan Heroes.”
Some time ago, the Epic Games Store began providing access to early versions of crypto games like Shrapnel, Illuvium, and Star Atlas, which are still in development.