Illuvium (ILV): A Decentralized Ethereum RPG

What Are the Illuvium Game and ILV Token?

Along with other notable projects such as Axie Infinity and The Sandbox, Illuvium is a pioneer of the cutting-edge blockchain gaming industry. The project is a decentralized role-playing game (RPG) powered by blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Illuvium’s open digital world allows users to search for in-game items and creatures (Illuvials) in the form of NFTs that can be used for activities such as battling, collecting, and trading. Illuvium incorporates Illuvial NFTs that represent battle items, skins, collectibles, emotes, and more. These NFTs can be acquired and traded on platforms such as OpenSea, as well as in-game or on the IlluvDEX, its associated decentralized marketplace. The Illuvium game is set to launch publicly in 2022.

ILV token is an ERC-20 governance token compliant with the Ethereum network that is used to govern Illuvium’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The token also sees revenue streams from in-game purchases on IlluviDEX. ILV tokens are also used as a reward for locking liquidity within partnering decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to incentivize token liquidity.

How the Illuvium Crypto Gaming Ecosystem Works

In traditional RPGs, gamers are positioned in a world where they control a party of characters and are responsible for choices within the gameplay that can impact future events. The more a character is used, the faster they can advance and acquire new skills and advantages. In Illuvium, in-game characters (called Hunters) capture deity-like creatures called Illuvials, which can be stored on Shards. Illuvials are represented by NFTs stored in the player’s digital wallet. Illuvials are divided into various classes (Fighter, Guardian, Rogue, Psion, and Empath) and affinities (Water, Fire, Earth, Air, and Nature) with different ability types. If a user captures several of the same Illuvial type, they can be fused together to become more powerful via a burning mechanism that scraps the existing NFT to mint a more powerful version.

The blockchain-based game also makes use of a play-to-earn structure wherein users can earn in-game rewards in the form of ILV tokens through participating in competitions or by completing quests. Users can also capture Illuvials and collect resources to buy and sell on the in-game marketplace, Illuvidex.

Illuvium even offers a multiplayer battle arena mode where users battle to earn ILV rewards and acquire a higher rank.

Features of the Illuvium Blockchain Game

Non-fungible tokens: Illuvium allows users to browse non-fungible tokens via the Illuvium website and purchase them on the OpenSea collectable marketplace. These blockchain game items come in various formats including Cosplay and Genesis Promo, both of which are minted by the Illuvium DAO. In addition to the traditional NFTs within Illuvium, the system also introduces “lands,” which are tradable and earnable in-game. Lands are classified into five tiers based on their scarcity and quality.

Zero gas fees and fast transactions: Illuvium makes use of the advanced Layer-2 scaling capabilities provided by Immutable X in order to support fast transactions and zero gas fees. Immutable X is a project that was designed specifically to increase transaction throughput for use with blockchain gaming systems and NFTs on Ethereum. It achieves this via Zero-Knowledge Rollups (zk-Rollups), a form of privacy-focused Layer-2 scaling. Further, to help ensure the robust security of the Illuvium platform, the system leverages Zero-Knowledge Proof cryptography with an eye toward barring malicious actors from accessing users’ private keys.

Incentivized staking: Staking on Illuvium is made possible for players through smart contracts that reward users. The staking system makes use of core pools and flash pools and both the regular (ILV) and synthetic (sILV) versions of the ILV token. There are two main core pool types that allow users to stake their ILV: the ILV pool and the ILV/ETH pool. The ILV token pool only allows users to stake ILV, whereas users can provide liquidity to the ILV/ETH pool (in the form of ILV or ETH) in exchange for Sushi Liquidity Provider (SLP) Tokens, which are then staked by users.

Flash pools, on the other hand, are pools that hold tokens from partner projects. Examples of these include the Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) token and the Universe.XYZ NFT protocol’s XYZ token. After a user stakes their tokens, they have the option to receive their tokens in either ILV or sILV. Those who choose to receive their rewards in ILV are subjected to a 12-month lock-up period, while users who choose to receive their tokens in sILV can use them within the game immediately for purchase of NFTs and other blockchain game items.

Decentralized exchange integration and development: Illuvium has partnerships with several decentralized exchanges (DEXs) including SushiSwap and 1Inch, with more to come soon. IlluviDEX, once completed, will allow users to trade in-game NFTs and eventually will possess additional functionality.

The Illuvium Crypto Network’s DAO Governance

ILV holders govern and maintain the protocol, via the Illuvinati Council. Council members are voted in by ILV token holders. Council members can propose amendments to the ecosystem  via Illuvium Configuration Change Proposals (ICCPs) and Illuvium Improvement Proposals (IIPs).