Cross The Ages
An NFT saga born in Marseille
Sami Chlagou is single-minded in his strategy. His project, launched two and a half years ago, has assumed global proportions since this first free and lucrative metaverse gaming platform is now open to the general public.
© Seifer Judith es visuels, conçus par des artistes digitaux emblématiques, affichent déjà des dizaines de milliers de vues sur l’Instagram du projet.
The founder of PixelHeart – an independent Marseille-based video game production studio that has made games for Dreamcast, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation – had the idea of creating a crypto-multidimensional game set in a burgeoning dystopian universe, an NFT saga built on blockchain technology. But the emerging collectible card market is not the main target of Cross The Ages (CTA), which is proving to be a true bridge between several structuring sectors.
The idea is appealing. The Marseille native sees things on a grand scale: he has raised $12 million USD in a private investor seed round and hired a team of top international artists (from developers and writers to designers), including several industry stars who have worked on major heroic fantasy projects such as Avatar, Stars Wars, Game of Thrones and Marvel).
The game is based on a framework energised by an original story told in seven science fiction fantasy novels (translated into several languages), with releases scheduled over the next seven years. The main author is Arnaud Dollen, a renowned scientist, novelist and screenwriter, who is leading a team of seasoned writers. The graphic charter, created by 66 illustrators, aptly completes the writing by transcribing it into a techno-fantasy atmosphere that will guarantee the success of the collectible cards.
The clash of civilisations at the heart of the story allows gamers to compete individually or as part of a team in order to earn valuable NFTs and other prizes. CTA has a very attractive crypto-economic dimension: early-access in October 2022 brought together 17,500 gamers, 5,000 of whom compete daily and have generated $5 million USD in revenue. There have also been several hundred thousand interactions regulated by around thirty moderators, reflecting the gaming world’s interest in CTA.
