Axie Infinity: Origin is Coming!
Axie Infinity: Origin is Coming!
We're preparing a new Axie ecosystem experience for a worldwide audience!
Axie Infinity: Origin (Battles V3) is fast approaching! It will have brand new interfaces, game mechanics, art, special effects, storylines, and an expansive onboarding experience. Origin has been built from the ground up to be more approachable for a mainstream audience. The addition of 3 free starter Axies will make it much easier to recruit your friends and family to join our community.
There are still final touches being made and not everything is completely finalized yet, so there might be changes to what we describe here. However, we wanted to share as much as possible while you patiently wait for something to play.
Our goal is to begin the game’s release process by the end of Q1 2022. However, as we've tried to explain, there are a lot of moving parts involved in this game's release which might cause delays. Naturally, we want to get Origin out as quickly as we can!
Release Plan
Alpha
We will start with an initial Alpha launch of Origin, where we plan to make the game available to everyone globally via Mavis Hub and Android APK. During the Alpha launch window, we’re looking for player feedback which will allow us to further refine the game before formal release. There will be no SLP or AXS rewards available in Origin during the Alpha. All Trainer progress and resources earned during the Alpha window will be reset from Trainer accounts before the full formal game launch.
Season 0
After the Alpha Phase, we will launch with Season 0 which will allow us to make more core updates to the game based upon feedback. Depending on how the Alpha goes, we may transition SLP earning from Battles v2 into Origin during the season, at which point Battles v2 will be shut down. Otherwise, Battles v2 will keep running in parallel until we are ready to transition.
Your Axies
You will be able to use the Axies you own now in Origin. Your Axies are a ticket to all future experiences built in the Axie universe!
Infinite games. Infinite experiences. That's why it's called Axie Infinity!
New Game Mechanics
Sequential Turns
In Origin, Axies will now execute their attacks immediately as cards are played. Opposing trainers will take sequential turns using their cards versus choosing them simultaneously at the beginning of a round (as in Battles v2). Trainers will now be in constant action, either playing their cards or carefully observing their opponent’s moves. We believe that this fast-paced new game design is more engaging, and provides a greater feeling of control over your Axies, since they spring into action immediately when a card is played.
Reset Energy & Cards Each Turn
Unused Energy and Cards will no longer accumulate across turns by default during battle, so Trainers will have less incentive to skip turns and not use up their Energy / Cards. There will be many mechanics around retaining and acquiring Energy / Cards that will still provide layers of strategic decision-making within the game.
Card Changes
For those of you familiar with the V2 Battles experience, most of the cards you know and love have carried over to Origin. However, most cards play differently as they now have either an attack or a defense value, rather than carrying both. Some cards that you’re familiar with have newly described abilities. However, we’ve tried to keep the spirit of the card as consistent as possible. We look forward to seeing your thoughts as you get familiar with them all!
Eyes & Ears
There will now also be all new cards that relate to an Axie’s eyes and ears, so the meta combinations have increased significantly. In the V2 Battles experience, Trainers were able to leverage four of Axie’s skills. In Origin, get ready to leverage all six of an Axie’s cards! We look forward to seeing Trainers discover unique and surprising Axie team compositions.
Power-Ups: Runes & Charms
Runes and Charms are new power-ups we’re introducing in Origin. They are equipped by your Axies and will provide various buffs. Where runes give new passive powers to Axies, charms are wearables that enhance an Axie’s inherent abilities! To craft these power-ups, Trainers will need to earn off-chain resources called Moonshards from winning battles. Runes and charms will be rolled out incrementally. Initially, non-NFT Runes and Charms can be crafted using Moonshards, and over time we will introduce more powerful NFT-based Charms and Runes (most likely after the Alpha window). NFT-based Charms and Runes will require both SLP and Moonshards to craft; this will be one of the initial SLP burning mechanisms incorporated into Origin.
Each Season’s Runes and Charms will be removed from gameplay in the subsequent Season, which means that Trainers will need to continuously be on the hunt to upgrade their Axie. However, deprecated Runes and Charms can be disenchanted to harvest back crafting resources. Trainers can also collect legacy Runes and Charms; there will be some very rare and unique ones! Savvy trainers who obtain splendid collections of legacy Runes and Charms may be rewarded in the future. Moonshards will also be reset each season… so remember to use them up before the Season ends!
Critical Hits are no longer the “Rage”
Trainers playing V2 Battles expressed a lot of concern and frustration around critical hits, as this random element often over influences matches. So, we’ve decided to remove random critical hits from Origin gameplay. However, the game will introduce new above-card play mechanics such as “rage,” which Axies accumulate over the course of a battle. We’re excited to see how Trainers create new plans and strategies when they attempt to choose the right timing to unleash their Axie’s rage against opponents!
Simplified Axie Stats
As you can see, Origin is moving towards a strong focus on a fast, turn-based game design. This combined with all of the other additional new mechanics, in many ways makes familiar V2 Axie stats such as speed irrelevant. Therefore in Origin, Axies now simply have hit points (HP).
Onboarding
Starter Axies
You’ve already met Buba. He is one of the numerous “starter” Axies Trainers will be able to play the game with, completely for free! These starter Axies are not NFTs, and players cannot earn SLP from using them (for now at least!). However, Trainers will be able to earn access to even more starter Axies as they progress in the PvE Adventure Mode. Players will be able to use these Axies in PvP as well, but if they want to get a larger variety of Axie team compositions they’ll have to pick-up some NFT-based Axies from the Marketplace!
Tutorials & Unlocks
We know a lot of our dedicated players will have no problem picking up the new Battle system in Origin. However, we want to make sure Origin is not too overwhelming for your friends and other new players as well. Therefore, successful play of the game will progressively unlock different features in the game as Trainers progress through the PvE Adventure. We’ve also provided a plethora of tutorials to better explain different parts of the gameplay. Tutorials will be able to be revisited anytime just in case a Trainer wants to review them later!
We’re so very excited to show you Axie Infinity: Origin, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we continue to work tirelessly on it to put out a high quality game for everyone to play!