February 5, 2021

They Said it Couldn’t Be Done. We Didn’t Listen.

Decisions you made in the earlier title carry over into the 3rd installment’s gameplay. But the 100+ hours spent battling and scavenging for the finest gear  —  did you score the Armor of Ysgith?  —  remain forever trapped inside The Witcher 2.

An excellent feature, no doubt. Gamers gain a small token of appreciation for previous efforts. However, the concept doesn’t entirely live up to its potential. Plus, the player may own the game itself, but they have zero control over the items within.

But NFTs, like KOGs  —  short for Keys to Other Games  —  make a quantum leap over that hurdle via seamless travel from title to title. 

Beginning as digital collectibles and now appearing in a blockchain-equipped video game, KOGs are malcontent with serving only one purpose. 

KOGs’ true superpower is acting as gateways and powerups within an expansive gaming ecosystem. 

Although KOGs began life as collectibles, they’re now flipping and spinning and stacking inside their first video game. The emphasis is on first. A multitude of interoperable KOGs-based games is in the pipeline! 

But before arriving here, as peer-to-peer blockchain battles are happening worldwide, we began with an idea of what we wanted to accomplish. If you’re unaware, KOGs is a creation of RedFOX Labs, a Southeast Asian venture builder that always starts with the end in mind …

Early 2019: Ideation

Roughly two years ago, the spark for KOGs was born. Itching to dive into Southeast Asia’s meteorically rising gaming market, RedFOX Labs’ CEO, Ben Fairbank, sought experts to help the idea come alive.

Benny successfully headhunted Arclegger of H1Z1 fame, the game that helped spawn the battle royal gaming genre  —  think Fortnite —  in which combatants are confined to an ever-shrinking map.

Arc and Benny hashed out a plan to create a game that’s easy to play as well as learn. Knowing blockchains may encounter transactional delays, turn-based gameplay was a natural choice.

Once the plans were laid out and RedFOX Labs had a clear vision of what (and why) it wanted to build, the gears of a 100% on-chain game began cranking.

As covered in a blog post from when Arclegger repped RedFOX Labs at E3 2019, the project had early intentions of exploring the NFT space. KOGs didn’t even have a name back then, but the team knew from the beginning that NFTs would help power the ecosystem.

Overlapping with one of the gaming industry’s largest annual conventions, development began on what would later become KOGs …

Mid 2019: Backend Development Begins

To know KOGs history, you must first know a little more about RedFOX Labs. What’s important here is RedFOX’s willingness to flip a venture’s initial business strategy on its head if that means inching closer toward success.

Like other blockchain-powered startups, RedFOX Labs minted cryptoassets during its initial fundraising phase. Although it’s now an ERC20 token trading on Uniswap and more, $RFOX the cryptoasset was once a coin on another network altogether.

KOGs and RedFOX Labs both started out using a different tech stack, but a viable, speedier alternative presented itself. However, that would mean scrapping months of dev work.

But those initial efforts were slow because everything needed to be built from scratch. After all, we’re talking experimental technology here!

To accelerate the chance of becoming pioneers in the NFT industry, RedFOX made the tough decision to switch networks and begin cooperation with an established NFT platform  —  WAX. In other words, the startup focused on what was best for its long-term success. 

NFT history was made shortly thereafter …

August 2020: KOGs 1st Edition NFTs Launch on AtomicHub

More than a year after the initial concept, KOGs became digital collectibles that are now trading on secondary markets at a rapid pace.

In the case of KOGs 1st Edition, the term “launch” is a little too soft. Perhaps “blastoff” is more appropriate because KOGs NFTs shot to the top of the charts in only 4 weeks!

As part of its roadmap, the studio behind KOGs, RFOX Games, aims to build a custom NFT marketplace. The ultimate goal is to have complete control over the KOGs ecosystem, bringing everything in-house so as not to rely on others for future upgrades.

But every journey begins with a single step. For the time being, most KOGs transactions take place on AtomicHub, the de facto exchange for NFTs on the WAX Blockchain.

From buying and selling to trading and opening KOGs Starter and Booster Packs, it’s all on AtomicHub. Which made the marketplace an ideal springboard for the next chapter in the KOGs saga …

December 2020: KOGs 2nd Edition Collector’s Sale

Immediately following August’s release, KOGs collectors went into a set-building frenzy. Then December’s 2E sale threw even more gas on the fire. 

Accounting for roughly half of the 2E sale was a crossover into DeFi. One side of the sale consisted of individual packs purchased on AtomicHub using WAXP tokens.

The other portion of December’s sale took place on Ethereum, where traders swapped RFOX tokens for $2ECT, which are redeemable for KOGs boxes. Coming in well north of U.S. $300k, the 2E sale raised more than double that of 1E.

And as of today, KOGs 1st and 2nd Edition NFTs have eclipsed 28M in $WAXP transactional volume. Converted to USD, $1.2M worth of KOGs have been bought and sold on AtomicHub in just 6 months.

And with such high quality artwork, it’s no wonder that collectors can’t seem to get enough. We proudly present you with exhibit A:

Now, minting collectible NFTs is one thing. But getting them to harmonize with the backend of a blockchain game is a different story …

January 2021: KOGs: SLAM! Enters Closed Beta

After nearly 2 years in the making, a blockchain-powered mobile game has been played 1,000+ times by 100+ testers. In fact, the chances are high that two combatants are slamming KOGs at this very moment!

KOGs: SLAM! is a digital reimagining of Pogs or Milk Caps or Tazos  —  whatever your schoolyard crew called the game back in the late ’80s to early ’90s. But we’re not referring to an ordinary “blockchain game” here. This one is the first of its kind.

You see, while other blockchain games process logic in a central database before recording to a distributed ledger, KOGs: SLAM! processes all of its game logic in real-time, on a blockchain network!

KOGs: SLAM! is the world’s first 100% on-chain video game for mobile devices.

In KOGs: SLAM!, players take turns hurling special game pieces  —  Slammers  —  onto a stack of collectible, tradeable KOGs. And every slam is recorded onto the WAX Blockchain, for anyone to view on the WAX block explorer.

NFTs In Action

Remember, KOGs: SLAM! is more proof-of-concept than AAA blockbuster with a multi-million dollar budget. RedFOX Labs set out to forge a gaming venture to create an all-blockchain game. Mission accomplished!

We’re in practice mode for now, with future updates to include play-to-earn and play-for-keeps models. Yes, depending on your jurisdiction, you can pit your KOGs against other players, with the victor keeping any KOGs that flipped over during the match.

Since games run on NFTs, transfers in play-for-keeps mode are instantaneous upon a game’s conclusion. Winning other players’ NFTs is an exciting and unique method for assembling sets. Best of luck to those who employ that tactic!

Want a preview of what it’s like to slam KOGs in an effort to flip as many as possible? Players are responsible for setting their arm height and strength, as well as the amount of spin and angle of attack.

Here’s raw footage recorded this week, on an Android device. One player is in Malaysia and the other is in the U.S.:

Let’s not forget that this is the beta version  —  you can expect to see additional features and polish before the game's public launch!

The Future is Interoperable 

Minting on WAX provided KOGs with a strong foundation. And through KOGGU, now trading on OpenSea, KOGs have crossed over to the Ethereum network.

Plus, given KOGs’ success, third-party game publishers have reached out to see how we can work together. And who knows? What’s to stop our NFTs from making their way to the Polkadot network or Enjin’s gaming ecosystem? NFTs were born to travel.

Given their innate benefits of self-ownership, publicly verifiable authenticity, plus simple storage and transfer, NFTs are ideal for interoperable video games.

KOGs: SLAM! is a bonafide technological feat. Now that the tech has arrived and, even more importantly has proven itself to work, the future of KOGs keeps shining brighter. On the horizon are stellar games, events, and items that, as a collector or gamer, you won’t want to miss.

Keep in mind that in all of those cases, you’ll be locked out unless you’re holding the right KOG. Which sparks the question, how’s that collection of yours coming along?