Illuvium is an open-world fantasy battle game developed on the Ethereum blockchain. Widely recognized as the first AAA game on Ethereum, Illuvium seeks to offer entertainment to both casual gamers and ardent DeFi enthusiasts through various collecting and trading features. To gain a deeper understanding of this project, explore our comprehensive analysis of Illuvium. The world of Illuvium is populated by creatures known as Illuvials, which players can capture by defeating them in battle and nursing them back to health. Once rehabilitated, these Illuvials become loyal members of the player’s collection and can be utilized in battles against other adventurers as part of Illuvium’s auto battler gameplay. The game seamlessly blends open-world exploration with PVP battle elements. Players can choose to either explore the vast game environment or focus on building a formidable team of powerful creatures. Development of Illuvium commenced in 2020, spearheaded by a global team of over 40 professionals. The core team includes co-founders Kieran Warwick, a serial entrepreneur and early cryptocurrency adopter, and Aaron Warwick, a seasoned game designer, who are brothers. Notably, they are also the siblings of Kain Warwick, co-founder of the DeFi platform Synthetix. Within the Illuvium ecosystem, the ILV token plays several crucial roles. It serves as the primary token for rewarding players for their in-game accomplishments, grants players a share of the Illuvium Vault, and facilitates their participation in game governance through the Illuvium decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

While Illuvium incorporates blockchain-based elements, it closely resembles a comprehensive video game. The game is accessible via a downloadable desktop application and is supported by a suite of DeFi applications, including a yield farm and a decentralized exchange. In Illuvium, players traverse the game landscape, engaging in battles with Illuvials and other players, completing quests and daily challenges, and participating in a communal storyline. Throughout the game, players collect Illuvials that vary in rarity, utility, and desirability, based on several characteristics: * Classes: Empath, Fighter, Guardian, Rogue, and Psion. * Affinities: Air, Earth, Fire, Nature, and Water. Although its class and affinity are the primary attributes, each Illuvial possesses numerous additional attributes influencing its combat strength, such as attack damage, attack speed, and savagery. Illuvials become stronger with victories, can be enhanced using in-game items, and upgraded to a distinctive “ascended” form, which benefits from dual affinities. Each Illuvial is represented as a unique non-fungible token (NFT) and can be freely traded on external exchange platforms and through the gas-free IlluviDEX. They can also be fused into more powerful forms and are available in normal, holographic, and dark holographic variants, with the latter being exceedingly rare. The game includes various revenue streams, primarily from in-game purchases of items, crafting components, cosmetics, and shard curing. All revenue generated is fully distributed as rewards to stakeholders of ILV tokens via an ILV buyback system. For further details on Illuvium, you can refer to Eulerpool.

Unlike most other blockchain-powered games, Illuvium offers a fully 3D environment, featuring over 100 unique Illuvials dispersed throughout its diverse regions. Each Illuvial is crafted by a team of world-class artists, ensuring its appeal to players familiar with high-budget retail games. In addition to this, it possesses several features that differentiate it from both other blockchain-enabled games and AAA titles. These include: * Layer-2 Integration: Although Illuvium is secured by Ethereum, it is built on Immutable X (IMX) — a layer-2 solution designed to enhance the scalability of applications with NFT functionality. By leveraging the capabilities of Immutable X, Illuvium enables players to mint and trade their NFTs without gas fees and with nearly instant transaction finality. Players always maintain custody of their assets while using IMX. * The IlluviDEX: Illuvium incorporates a built-in decentralized exchange (DEX) platform aptly named the IlluviDEX. This platform can be used for trustless exchange of Illuvium assets, including Illuvial NFTs. A 5% fee is deducted from each sale and redirected into the rewards pool for ILV stakers. * Yield Farming: A total of 3 million ILV — representing 30% of the maximum supply (10 million) — is allocated to the Illuvium yield farming program. These rewards will be distributed over three years to users contributing liquidity and through various partner reward schemes.

Illuvium offers an innovative yield farming reward system wherein all ILV rewards earned through yield farming are locked for a duration of one year before they can be withdrawn. Stakers have the option to bypass the unlock period by converting their ILV rewards into a secondary in-game asset known as sILV. By opting to claim rewards as sILV, users receive the USD equivalent in sILV and can utilize their rewards immediately to purchase in-game items. It is important to note that sILV cannot be withdrawn from the game and is not represented by a blockchain-based asset.

While both Illuvium and Axie Infinity feature collectible in-game characters that can be battled, traded, and upgraded, the scope of their respective game worlds differs somewhat. Illuvium presents itself as a 3D role-playing game with an evolving storyline and an expansive, open landscape for exploration. In contrast, Axie Infinity is a highly popular, whimsical 2D game featuring charming creatures known as Axies, reminiscent of Pokemon. These Axies can be bred, battled, and traded, but currently, no story mode is available. Both Illuvium and Axie Infinity incorporate a strong gamified DeFi element, allowing players to put real Ether (ETH) at stake during gameplay, as some Illuvials and Axies can command substantial prices on the open market. Illuvium differentiates itself from Axie Infinity, which uses a random assortment of assets to create each Axie, with its Illuvials being entirely unique. Each Illuvial features custom artwork and rigging to ensure distinctiveness, with characteristics tied to their properties and region. Although the two games share some similarities, Illuvium is primarily aimed at traditional gamers who may or may not have prior experience with cryptocurrencies and NFTs. In contrast, Axie Infinity mainly appeals to those already familiar with the crypto space.