In Brief:
- Mythical Games is upgrading its Mythical Marketplace, introducing non-custodial wallets, EVM and Seaport compatibility, and eliminating KYC and withdrawal friction.
- More than 44 million trades have been processed on the platform, with monthly activity exceeding 4 million transactions.
- The changes signal Mythical’s commitment to a player-owned economy as it integrates deeper into the Web3 space.
Major marketplace overhaul
Mythical Games has announced a significant upgrade to its Mythical Marketplace, emphasizing non-custodial wallets, support for EVM protocols, and seamless trading without withdrawal barriers. This marks a bold step into more fluid Web3 trading practices.
This overhaul comes on the heels of impressive engagement metrics, including over 44 million trades and peaks surpassing 4 million monthly transactions. This surge highlights Mythical’s sustained growth, with 12 consecutive quarters of rising inflows and over 8 million downloads across its games, including NFL Rivals, FIFA Rivals, and Blankos Block Party.
Key changes
The most notable shift involves the wallet model. Previously reliant on custodial wallets, the Mythical Marketplace now prioritizes non-custodial options. This allows users greater control over their digital assets while lowering barriers for crypto-savvy traders.
Additionally, the integration of EVM and Seaport will enhance interoperability with Ethereum’s smart contracts, allowing Mythical’s listings and bids to engage directly with the broader NFT ecosystem. The studio’s previous architecture, originally built on its own permissioned chain, was migrated to Polkadot, creating a foundation for this enhanced compatibility.
The removal of KYC requirements, withdrawal limits, and hold periods streamlines the trading process. This redesign aims to align Mythical’s offerings with user expectations for open NFT markets, without sacrificing the existing fraud prevention mechanisms in place.
Economic landscape
The MYTH token remains central to Mythical’s ecosystem, serving as a utility and governance token with a fixed supply of 1 billion. Game interactions can burn MYTH at a rate exceeding 50,000 tokens daily, translating to roughly 1.5 million tokens monthly based on trading activity.
The studio has noted that around 170 million MYTH are currently staked with Bitcoin Suisse, earning a 30 percent APR. Despite the successful trading volume and consistent net inflows, Mythical remains aware of selling pressures tied to earlier fundraising rounds, notably the $150 million raised in 2021.
Built on Polkadot
The Mythical Marketplace operates on Mythos Chain, which transitioned to Polkadot as a parachain. This setup employs Polkadot’s EVM module, allowing for EVM compatibility while maintaining scalability and independence from centralized structures.
This migration brought in 3.6 million new accounts, significantly increasing Mythos‘s user activity. Snowbridge has also enabled cross-chain transfers, enhancing compatibility with Ethereum. Earlier this year, Mythical expanded its offerings with Pulse Market and Pulse Arena, which will now inform improvements to the core marketplace.
Portfolio impact
Mythical has established a diverse portfolio, including NFL Rivals, FIFA Rivals, and Nitro Nation World Tour. This strategic collection of licensed IP titles encapsulates casual Web3 gaming‘s growth over the last two years. NFL Rivals has achieved over 7 million downloads, while FIFA Rivals reached 1 million downloads rapidly.
The new marketplace upgrades are designed to cater to both casual users and crypto-native traders, enhancing accessibility while also integrating lessons learned from the Pulse projects.
Looking ahead
This upgrade is framed as a leap toward a scalable player-owned economy. Mythical Games has underscored its intention to prioritize non-custodial experiences and open Web3 markets with this initiative, a contrast to many in the casual Web3 gaming space.
As the Mythical Marketplace processes millions of yearly trades, the effectiveness of these new features in driving further engagement remains to be seen. The statement from the studio reinforces their ambition: “We are just getting started.”
