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By June Ramli
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Paris, May 4: Cross the Ages (CTA) is a mobile free-to-play game accompanied by a free-to-read book written by thirteen science-fiction expert authors and designed to fuel the collection of collectable trading cards – making it the first blockchain game based on literature.
The game offers a full value-chain-cycle allowing players to access centralised digital cards on mobile phones, own NFTs on a blockchain, maintain physical security of NFTs and ultimately stake assets for long term liquidity through blockchain-based decentralized tokenomics.
With an exclusive concept of transforming cards from the virtual to the real world.
Cross the Ages was founded by serial game developer and entrepreneur Sami Chlagou and the highly successful entrepreneur Christophe de Courson.
Combined, the CTA founding team has more than 30 years of experience in the gaming industry and has worked on more than 50 games on next-generation consoles including Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, Steam, and Android.
The team behind Cross the Ages is composed of more than 160 professionals who are experts in blockchain, NFTs, metaverse, game development, video game production, and artistic direction.
Today’s interview with Chlagou would revolve around his latest game CTA and its expansion plans.
How did the idea for CTA come about?
Since I was young, I’ve always been passionate about trading cards, and collectables and loved traditional gaming. Through meeting Christophe, the possibility of taking that passion and creating something which integrates all of these passions in the Web3 space was realised. Cross the Ages will take the traditional and retro gaming style of collectable trading cards into the future of the gaming industry with blockchain and NFTs, all to make the gaming experience more enjoyable and accessible for everyone. I wanted to develop an inclusive gaming community that was free-to-play and could be built by the players along the way, and that’s exactly what we are doing.
Can you tell us how the CTA game will span into the virtual and physical worlds?
We are planning to launch our Metaverse in 2023 and everything we are building and creating is in support of this vision. However one of our goals in the future is to bring these virtual assets back to our physical worlds. For example, our NFT cards could be transferred into NTC physical cards. This will create a link between collectors and collectables and the people in the crypto industry.
Please explain NFT’s role in today’s gaming world and why do gamers need to purchase these tokens?
Cross the Ages is designed with a valuable in-game economy where players can buy, sell, trade and mint non-fungible tokens. With NFTs, players can track the ownership history of their collectables and choose to keep them safe either in digital form or by converting them to real-world, off-chain assets. CTA also offers tokens called CRYSTALS, which players can use to advance through the game or simply buy, sell and mint NFTs using the CRYSTAL currency. Tokens make the play-to-earn gaming structure possible.
How do gaming companies monetise from these NFT tokens that are embedded alongside the games?
The NFT packs that Cross The Ages are selling at the moment are directly linked to the beta version of the game. People who wish to access the game at the beta launch are supposed to own these NFT packs.
The Cross the Ages universe tells a tale of two very distinct worlds. One world, Arkhante and the other Mantris are both housed on the continent of Artellium, however, each civilization is vastly different. In the east, Arkhantian people harness magic, while to the west is Mantris, an ultra-connected civilization where technology reigns. Separated by the Rift, the two civilizations have a conflicting history where magic and technology have been their superpowers, each with equal strength.
During the first presale sessions, the Cross The Ages community will have the opportunity to acquire an Arkhante edition NFT booster pack. These NFT packs will never be reissued. This sale will end three weeks before the game launch.
By opening the pack, players will be able to discover cards from the Arkhante region. Among them, they can find up to six mythical cards, related to 5 characters from the world of Arkhante.
Can you name some of the books that the CTA game is based on?
Cross the Ages is based on seven free-to-read novels, which will be authored and published over the coming years. The first novel, Cross the Ages: The Chrome Spell Book, is already published and can be read at crosstheages.com. The first book of the Cross the Ages series, The Chrome Spell Book, was written by a team of writers, led by accomplished science-fiction novelist, Arnaud Dollen. Acting narrative conductor for the series is well-known French sci-fi and fantasy writer, Alain Damasio, who has sold more than one million copies of his book, Les Furtifs. Gameplay will evolve as the books’ storylines develop and as the CTA community becomes more involved in building new cities and narratives. Cross The Ages has the full copyrights to the books.
How is your company going to spend the US$12 million seed money it just received?
We are very eager to continue the growth of the Cross the Ages ecosystem and our team of talented artists, developers, designers and writers. To that end, we are planning to use the funds raised to expand our robust development program, retain our current talent and execute go-to-market activities for CTA. We are planning to launch our beta version of the game in June, with the physical and digital cards launching later this year and the funds will aid in the launch of both games.
What are the company’s expansion plans for the year now that you have received some funding?
Currently, we are preparing to give excited players early access to the CTA game early this summer. After the game launches, players will be able to mint NFTs and participate in the CTA marketplace. The physical playing cards will be released later this year, with the second book in the CTA series to follow in 2023.
Are you planning on creating a new series or new game soon?
Cross the Ages is my focus right now. I’m really excited about this series and what’s ahead for the budding CTA community. There are so many moving parts between the books, the game, the NFTs, and physical playing cards, building CTA is proving to be a very fulfilling experience.
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June Ramli is the editor of DailyStraits.com. To stay in touch with June, look her up on Twitter @junesairaramli