ASX-Listed mobile entertainment group iCandy Interactive Limited (ASX: ICI) has announced plans to back independent blockchain based cryptocurrency project Nitro to bring change to the video games industry.
iCandy Interactive reported that it is backing the Nitro blockchain-based cryptocurrency project to address some of the inefficiencies it sees in the video-games industry. Based on the blockchain technology and Ethereum network, Nitro is designed to democratise the economy of the video-games industry.
Nitro is largely made up of two parts, a new cryptocurrency called NOX and an online marketplace called Nitro Marketplace. iCandy Interactive’s subsidiary iCandy Ventures Ltd, a British Virgin Island incorporation, is developing and managing NOX while iCandy Interactive is responsible for developing Nitro Marketplace and foster a community around it.
NOX, a cryptocurrency token based on the Ethereum platform will be the centrepiece of Nitro’s activities and enable token-holders globally to participate fully in the video game economy via:
- Voting for the new games they want to receive funding from Nitro.
- Engaging with game producers and promoters in the games marketplace and using NOX tokens for in-game items/currency.
- Game-titles funded by Nitro will share a portion of their revenue with Nitro and NOX holders stand to receive rewards for participation and contribution to the Nitro network from time to time.
ICI says the Nitro Marketplace will empower interaction and transactions between stakeholders across the video-games industry in an efficient manner.
The company said it will allow gamers to discover and play new games promoted by game studios and in turn gamers will be incentivised directly by game studios to try out the new games.
“Currently game studios must market their games by paying high fees to marketing platforms that are usually measured in term of Cost Per Installation (CPI),” ICI stated.
“In laymen’s terms CPI is the cost paid to marketing platforms for each app installed by consumers on their devices. CPI costs for mobile games can be as high as US$3-US$5 per installation eroding the profitability of the smaller game studios.
However, ICI says Nitro, more than anything else, will encourage diversity in a lucrative industry that is more and more dominated by large corporate players.
“Diversity is important in this creative industry that brings joy and entertainment to millions of gamers daily. The Nitro ecosystem is designed to have economics that will sustain itself with a sound business model.
The Nitro project is not just for gamers or game studios but for the average person to partake in a sustainable economy that is built on the foundation of the macro economy of the video-games industry,” the company says.
iCandy Interactive believes that the Nitro project will be an important game-changer to the video-games industry. Nitro will connect the fragmented and disconnected value chain of the industry, envisioning an inclusive and holistic platform, where all parties are able to contribute to and benefit from the growth of the video-games economy.
Besides iCandy Interactive, Nitro is backed by tech and games industry veterans such Fatfish Internet Group CEO, Kin-Wai Lau, iCandy COOs, Gerald Tock and Desmond Lee; Reputable individuals in the venture capital industry such as General Partner of Orange Growth Capital Partner, Hans De Back; And Life.Sreda’s London-based blockchain Fund, BB Fund.
NOX, as a cryptocurrency will be made available to interested purchasers via an online crowdsale. The crowdsale of NOX will be managed by iCandy Ventures in compliance with the business and investment laws of the British Virgin Island, where iCandy Ventures is incorporated. The crowdsale is to begin on 25th October 2017 and ends on the 8th November 2017 and will be conducted via Nitro’s website.
iCandy Ventures will retain 15% of NOX in issuance as the developer of the NOX cryptocurrency. This will allow shareholders of iCandy Interactive to gain direct exposure onto the cryptocurrency.
Despite the huge global interest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and others, purchasing cryptocurrency requires a high level of technical knowledge and competency that most laymen may not have.
The listed equity of iCandy Interactive, available through the public equity market may, for the first time ever, make it available to the investing public, a proxied opportunity to invest into a publicly listed company that has direct beneficial linkage to a cryptocurrency project.
