DFZ Labs – the creative studio behind the Deadfellaz NFT collection enabled Ethereum and the next one RIP TCG digital card game-comes in Bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem with a gaming collaboration project that it has incubated and will help support.
Bits is a collection of 10,000 Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions that resemble the greenish pixel appearance of Nintendo’s original Game Boy. Owned by each unique character profile picture (PFP) will provide access to what DFZ Labs calls a “supercharged game development incubator.”
The launch will take place on Magical Eden‘s Bitcoin marketplace on February 13. Infrastructure startup OrdinalsBot will help DFZ Labs with the enrollment process for the 10,000 Ordinals assets, while Xverse will be its Bitcoin wallet partner of choice.
Bits is not billed as an internal DFZ initiative led by the pseudonymous married co-founders. Betty and Psych. Instead, they’re calling it an “independent brand” that DFZ Labs has incubated, which will be led by members of the Deadfellaz community and run as “its own flagship Bitcoin IP.” Betty and Psych will act as mentors and advisors.
Sample character illustrations of Bits. Image: DFZ Labs
In a press release, DFZ Labs CEO Betty said that some people “may have expected us to just create some new Deadfellaz on BTC to sell,” but that they “didn’t see any valid reason to do that.”
Instead, they are supporting an effort to create something on Bitcoin that aims to bring Ordinals holders, creators, and players together in a collaborative framework.
“Building a Bitcoin gaming ecosystem around Ordinals offers the potential to leverage Bitcoin’s security, stability and decentralization,” Betty shared. Declutter‘s GG, “which provides indie developers with the financial incentives and opportunities of the Bitcoin ecosystem to create products that gamers actually want to play.”
“This approach promotes innovation, community engagement and audience cross-pollination between independent gaming and Bitcoin communities,” she continued, “turning the play-to-earn model on its head and instead becoming a system embraced that rewards contributors and lets players play.”
The Bits team will work with the contributors to develop a ‘roguelite’ game, a take on the ‘roguelike’ genre of hard-core role-playing games. Roguelites are generally less punishing and can combine elements of several other genres while maintaining a compelling balance of risk and reward.
The goal is to design a game that Bits owners can help shape and contribute to, and to ultimately release a game that potentially everyone can play on PC and consoles.
Artwork by Bits. Image: DFZ Labs
Betty described the framework as a “modular” system that allows Bits holders to create actual gaming content that fits easily into it, while being rewarded for their efforts. After an alpha test build of the game ships, Bits’ core team will work to “flesh out” the experience with “fierce enemies, great combat, mini-games, bosses, NPCs, rich stories, and interesting upgrade systems.”
“There is magic within this modular system,” Betty claimed. “It allows the community to participate by creating individual small components, which, when placed in the game, enrich the game world and allow the contributors to be part of the game and its success – which is rewarded with a variety of prizes, odds, and BTC.”
._. pic.twitter.com/M8gB9zUply
— Bits ._. (@BitsOrdinals) January 29, 2024
Ahead of the launch on February 13, DFZ Labs says a community snapshot has already been taken and 500 of the Bits inscriptions will be dropped from the sky to “top Deadfellaz collectors and community contributors.”
Betty said the “speed at which space is moving” makes her excited about the opportunity to enter the Ordinals ecosystem, after a whirlwind year of growth and innovation around the equivalent of Bitcoin. NFTs.
“The innovation and enthusiasm we have seen from Ordinals over the past year has been nothing short of inspiring,” she explained Declutter‘s GG. “It’s the concept of taking something and turning it into something new – what else is possible?”
“The talented futurists who are continually building out the infrastructure on BTC inspire us endlessly,” she added, “and we’re excited to build Bits with them to bring that same innovation to the indie gaming community.”