Riot Racers could be described as one of the best kept secrets in the NFT and crypto-game worlds. At the same time, the game has become exceedingly popular with a growing and passionate following. For those that know about the game, they are wildly excited about the project. And for those that don’t yet know about the game, that’s all about to change as Riot Racers nears its debut and undoubtedly picks up even more devoted fans along the way.
What is Riot Racers?
Riot Racers is a play-to-earn car racing game with all game assets purchasable as NFTs. Players are able to buy cars and race them for a chance to earn cryptocurrency. This concept has many similarities to Zed Run, except instead of horses, players are able to buy and race a wide variety of cars with PFP-like drivers. The similarities with Zed Run end there, however, as Riot Racers appears to be based more on racing strategy. Plus, all cars are equally capable of winning; there are no “mule” cars in Riot Racers. Nevertheless, one can’t help but notice that the team gained inspiration from other play-to-earn games like Zed Run and Axie Infinity.
Player Driven and Owned
Besides racing cars, players also have the ability to own and earn from other game assets. In Riot Racers, it’s possible to own the racetracks, gas stations, and mechanic shops that support gameplay for all players. And as these “land assets” are used by racers in the game, the virtual land barons earn some of the profits. Some of the game’s land assets are even more valuable than Riot Racers cars. A recent check of OpenSea, for instance, shows only one Gas Station available to purchase, and its price is 25 ETH. The newest collection of assets being released are Riot Racers Drivers, which will be used in the game to drive the cars and will make very cool profile pics as well.
The $RIOT Token
The in-game currency of Riot Racers is the $RIOT token, a fungible ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. Players use RIOT tokens to enter races, upgrade vehicles, earn in-game rewards, and more. The Riot Racers team has also empowered $RIOT token holders to provide influence on the game, by allowing them to vote on certain decisions about the game. While the $RIOT token is currently available to purchase on Uniswap, the Riot Racers team plans to expand the list of coin exchanges where it is available in Q1 of 2022, to coincide with the game’s full release.
A Build-First Approach
Until recently, Riot Racers team has done little promotion. Yet, they’ve still managed to develop a vibrant, growing community around the game. While many projects rely on hype to drive sales early on and then struggle to deliver later, Riot Racers has seemed to take the opposite approach. The Riot Racers team has prioritized building the game first, while relying on organic growth until the game is ready to launch. However, the game is expected to launch soon with a scheduled beta release in December 2021, and a full release in the beginning of 2022.
What’s Behind the Game’s Pre-Launch Success?
The team has a clear development plan and a well written whitepaper that provides transparency and accountability between the developers and the community. The visuals of the game are sharp, as judged by the quality of the NFTs they’ve created. And the gameplay sounds extremely fun! Beyond these important factors, the secret ingredient may just be the team behind the project.
The Riot Racers Team
The team behind Riot Racers are a bit of a mystery, but they are also very approachable and communicative. Seldom appearing on camera, and only known by their first names, the Riot Racers team are what one could call enigmatic. But the partial anonymity comes across less as secretive and more as playfully aloof since the team is accessible and talkative via multiple channels, especially on Discord. What has been seen from the development team is that they continue to deliver quality results with consistency. It’s this track record of success and accountability that has instilled trust in Riot Racers enthusiasts.
Rewarding Early Adopters
What is also endearing fans to the team is the developers’ commitment to rewarding those who are investing in the game early. The team has rolled out the Riot Owners Club, which provides ongoing rewards for Genesis game asset owners. And when announcing the release of a brand-new “Drivers” NFT collection, the team opted to give a free NFT from this collection to everyone who already owns a Riot Racers Genesis car. What’s more, for anyone who purchases a new Genesis Driver during the drop on December 2, they will be added to an early access whitelist for the next car drop, coming in late December 2021.
Coming Up Next for Riot Racers
Leading up the beta release of the game in December 2021, the team is doing a drop of its new Drivers NFT collection. They also plan to start releasing new models of cars from their Apollo collection very late in the year, with the game’s full launch scheduled for early 2022. Beyond the release of the Riot Racers game, the development team also announced their broader vision, including plans to build a larger metaverse beginning sometime in 2022. They also plan on building two new games besides Riot Racers that are all integrated into the same metaverse—and all using the same $RIOT token as the currency. While the plans are ambitious, if what we’ve seen from the Riot Racers developers so far is any indicator, it’s likely they’ll not only deliver but exceed expectations.
Official Links: Website | Twitter | Discord
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
