You can say it doesn't understand mining, but never say it doesn't understand games.
Written by: Eric, Foresight News
At the beginning of 2021, The9 Limited (referred to as "The9"), a U.S. publicly listed company focused on gaming, began to expand its layout in the Web3 industry by adding cryptocurrency mining operations, covering Bitcoin, FIL (Filecoin), and XCH (Chia). It later launched the NFT platform NFTSTAR and ventured into Web3 gaming. As of now, The9 holds over 500 Bitcoins and has deployed mining equipment in multiple locations overseas.
As the agent for early titles like "Miracle MU" and "World of Warcraft," The9 can be considered a shared memory for both the post-80s and post-90s generations. Although The9 has not abandoned its game agency and development business after entering the Web3 industry, its initial choice to focus on mining rather than developing a blockchain game surprised many.
After being absent from Web3 industry news for two to three years, The9 officially announced the launch of its Web3 gaming platform The9bit in August, a "culmination" that combines decades of gaming resources with token economic design.
The9bit: Activating Players and Communities with Tokens
As the largest game distribution platform, Steam's internal value flow is solely from users to publishers. The9bit aims to establish an economic system where players, creators, and publishers can share profits. According to official data, The9bit currently has over 4 million registered users, with daily active users reaching 300,000 and over 100,000 orders, generating more than $1.5 million in revenue.
According to The9bit's documentation, players can earn points and exchange them for 9BIT tokens or in-game items by purchasing well-known IP AAA games, recharging mobile games, completing tasks in casual games, watching ads, participating in esports competitions, and obtaining rare collectibles. Currently, in terms of AAA games, The9 has obtained distributor authorization from Capcom, allowing players to purchase games from the "Devil May Cry," "Resident Evil," and "Monster Hunter" series. The9bit plans to further expand its licensing in the future, allowing all games listed on Steam to be purchased on The9bit.
Regarding how to recharge mobile games like "Genshin Impact," "PUBG," and "Call of Duty: Mobile" on the platform, The9bit explains that it supports direct recharges through DTU, rather than through pre-paid value sales. DTU can only be achieved through cooperation with game publishers, so users only need to have an account on the platform to recharge using their held cryptocurrencies to earn points.
In addition to games, The9bit has launched a social tool called Spaces, similar to Discord, as a foundation for developing gaming guilds. Players can join Spaces to post or explore content including game clips, blogs, and guides, with The9bit providing AIGC tools for support. Additionally, esports events will be held within the community to earn rewards.
Players can earn point rewards through their actions on the platform, and The9bit will also distribute token rewards daily based on the "performance" of different Spaces, calculated using a weighted formula based on user participation and platform contribution: new users account for 20%, DAU activity accounts for 20%, and store consumption accounts for 60%. Of the tokens distributed daily, 50% are released immediately, while the other 50% will be released after a 12-month lock-up period. The9bit has already established a partnership with the Web3 gaming guild Yield Guild Games, which likely supports the platform's rapid user accumulation and the establishment of numerous Spaces communities within two months.
Such a platform is clearly not designed overnight. I learned that after entering the Web3 industry for a year, from 2022 to 2023, The9 also attempted to invest in and incubate some GameFi and NFT projects but found that the entry barrier for players into Web3 gaming was still relatively high. In June 2024, The9 officially hired former 91 Assistant executive Marrtin Hoon to establish The9's Web3 division. Marrtin Hoon has helped many traditional operators develop game distribution platforms and has released numerous games in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Marrtin also launched the Web3 game distribution platform MetaOne as a founder. The9bit is the result of The9's Web3 division's year-long incubation, combining the team's Web3 industry experience and gaming industry resources.
9BIT Token Economic Design
9BIT will be issued on Solana, with a total supply of 10 billion tokens, of which 35% is allocated to the ecosystem, 15% for market liquidity, 38% for the project treasury, 7% for the team and advisors, and 5% for strategic investors. The9bit states that it plans to officially launch the 9BIT token by the end of the year, but the specific timing has not yet been determined.
Of the 35% allocated to the ecosystem, 13% will be used for incentives for players, communities, and guilds, meaning that points earned from playing games, publishing content, recharging, etc., can be exchanged for token rewards; 8% will be used for daily rewards for Spaces; 2% will be allocated to KOL/KOC programs to support creators in attracting more users; and 12% will be allocated to an ecosystem fund for intellectual property investment, establishing strategic partnerships, and incubating projects aligned with ecosystem goals.
Of the 38% allocated to the project treasury, half will belong to The9, used for establishing future partnerships, expanding game IPs, operating platform growth, and strategic acquisitions.
In addition to serving as an in-platform currency for transactions, incentives, governance, and exclusive content access, the 9BIT token also uniquely supports token holders in purchasing The9's stocks listed on NASDAQ during a specific window each year. The9bit has designed a buyback plan for the 9BIT token, where a portion of the platform's annual net profit will be used to repurchase tokens, with the platform's revenue coming from game distribution, in-game recharges, and ads in casual mini-games. According to the roadmap in the project documentation, the 9BIT token is expected to be listed on at least one exchange by the end of the year.
The roadmap also plans updates to be launched before the first quarter of next year, including peer-to-peer trading of in-game assets, a staking page, and the previously mentioned AIGC creation tools and esports events. Currently, users can choose to pay with cryptocurrencies on the platform, and the platform will also launch fiat-to-crypto exchange channels and fiat payment channels (expected in mid-October). As new features are added and the 9BIT token is launched, we should see more use cases for cryptocurrencies on the platform.
The9 has shown great confidence in the token. Public information indicates that in The9BIT's ecosystem design, The9 is not only the builder and operator of the platform but is also gradually transforming into a digital asset reserve company. With the issuance of the 9BIT token and the growth of platform revenue, The9 will continue to accumulate 9BIT assets through the token buyback mechanism and incorporate them into the company's treasury. This strategy not only enhances The9's voice in the Web3 economic system but also equips it with long-term reserve and management capabilities in the digital asset field. In the future, as the 9BIT token is issued and its market value increases, The9's balance sheet and income statement will benefit from the appreciation of its 19% holding in 9BIT. The9 is expected to become the first company to accumulate its own cryptocurrency. Thus, the stock price and token price will have a mutually beneficial relationship.
Why is the gaming platform still worth looking forward to?
If you are familiar with the Web3 gaming sector, you have likely heard the story of the "Web3 version of Steam" more than once. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, The9's expertise in the gaming field is undeniable. Setting aside whether the combination of the platform and Web3 can achieve the expected success, the credibility of The9bit in listing more and more games is strong, which is a fundamental capability that most projects claiming to be "Web3 versions of Steam" lack.
With the development of the industry and technology, the overall gaming ecosystem is shifting towards UGC and AI, and traditional distribution, publishing, and sales of games will be completely transformed by Web3. The9 firmly believes that The9bit will become one of the leading new ecological models that change gaming. This model truly integrates games, players, and communities, redistributing profits through Web3-related technologies and achieving transparent, unique, accurate, and reliable implementation solutions.
Since entering the Web3 industry in 2021 and undergoing more than four years of exploration, The9 ultimately chose to focus on the gaming field, pouring its decades of accumulated gaming industry resources into it. As perhaps the most knowledgeable company about games in the Web3 industry, we look forward to The9 turning its dreams into reality.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
