Logan Paul's CryptoZoo Knockoff Was Created in Just A Few Hours
The game is Free-To-Play and really works, but there are no crypto elements.
Independent game developer Yipy has created a game called RealZoo, which mimics the idea of the famous YouTuber, Logan Paul. The game is completely free but it is not possible to make money while playing, as there are no crypto elements to it.
Yipy said in his video, that he created and released the entire RealZoo game in "a few hours." Users simply log in with a Gmail account and as soon as the game starts, they receive tokens with which they can buy eggs that randomly hatch into animals. Animals can be bred and crossed to create hybrids, or "burned" to get more tokens to buy more eggs.
However, the token-based game is not on any blockchain network and the tokens themselves therefore have no value in the real world. In the RealZoo game, users can passively earn tokens based on how long they keep their animals. The game also offers the possibility to purchase additional tokens with a credit card to expand breeding or hatch eggs more quickly - a classic in-game microtransaction.
The game takes inspiration from a similar game called CryptoZoo. This project was the vision of Logan Paul, who has been trying to make it a reality since early 2021. But unlike RealZoo, Paul's game was based on NFTs and he explicitly promoted it as "a very fun game that will make you money."
Paul found himself caught up in controversy when YouTuber Coffeezilla released a three-part series claiming that CryptoZoo was an elaborate scam. So far, the project has only sold NFT and Zoo tokens to investors and future users, but the game itself has not yet been released.
So, what happened to CryptoZoo, and how is it that as of spring 2022, it's launching social media channels and trying to finish developing a project that's apparently so simple to create? According to Decrypt, who contacted former CryptoZoo engineer, Zach Kelling, they were told that the game has been created but Paul and his team owe a team of 30 engineers $1 million. Once that amount is paid, the game will be handed over.
"So far we've all been cheated," Kelling said of his experience working on CryptoZoo. Paul denies these claims, and in a video response to Coffeezilla earlier this week, he said that he is still developing the CryptoZoo game, and has plans to sue the YouTuber for defamation. He further stated that he believes Kelling employed 3 engineers to create the game’s code, not 30 as he claims.
Bearing all this in mind, even if RealZoo is a working project, would it be possible to turn it into a working NFT game in such a short period of time?
According to an experienced video game developer, who is now developing a game for Web 3.0, it is not feasible.
Developing a game, whether it is classic or blockchain-based, is a complex process that can take months or even years, he says. In the case of Web 3.0 elements such as the wallet connection feature or NFT assets, it "takes a considerable amount of time" to get it right.
Then there are the financial costs, which can vary widely. If it's a AAA shooter, for example, the development costs can easily run into the millions, whereas a 2D card game can be created for much less.
"It's the Wild West and there's a lot of experimentation," the developer said of Web 3.0 game environments. "We're making it up as we go along."
analyst opinion
Jakub Odvářka
Independent game developer Yipy has created a game called RealZoo, which mimics the idea of the famous YouTuber, Logan Paul. The game is completely free but it is not possible to make money while playing, as there are no crypto elements to it.
Yipy said in his video, that he created and released the entire RealZoo game in "a few hours." Users simply log in with a Gmail account and as soon as the game starts, they receive tokens with which they can buy eggs that randomly hatch into animals. Animals can be bred and crossed to create hybrids, or "burned" to get more tokens to buy more eggs.
However, the token-based game is not on any blockchain network and the tokens themselves therefore have no value in the real world. In the RealZoo game, users can passively earn tokens based on how long they keep their animals. The game also offers the possibility to purchase additional tokens with a credit card to expand breeding or hatch eggs more quickly - a classic in-game microtransaction.
The game takes inspiration from a similar game called CryptoZoo. This project was the vision of Logan Paul, who has been trying to make it a reality since early 2021. But unlike RealZoo, Paul's game was based on NFTs and he explicitly promoted it as "a very fun game that will make you money."
Paul found himself caught up in controversy when YouTuber Coffeezilla released a three-part series claiming that CryptoZoo was an elaborate scam. So far, the project has only sold NFT and Zoo tokens to investors and future users, but the game itself has not yet been released.
So, what happened to CryptoZoo, and how is it that as of spring 2022, it's launching social media channels and trying to finish developing a project that's apparently so simple to create? According to Decrypt, who contacted former CryptoZoo engineer, Zach Kelling, they were told that the game has been created but Paul and his team owe a team of 30 engineers $1 million. Once that amount is paid, the game will be handed over.
"So far we've all been cheated," Kelling said of his experience working on CryptoZoo. Paul denies these claims, and in a video response to Coffeezilla earlier this week, he said that he is still developing the CryptoZoo game, and has plans to sue the YouTuber for defamation. He further stated that he believes Kelling employed 3 engineers to create the game’s code, not 30 as he claims.
Bearing all this in mind, even if RealZoo is a working project, would it be possible to turn it into a working NFT game in such a short period of time?
According to an experienced video game developer, who is now developing a game for Web 3.0, it is not feasible.
Developing a game, whether it is classic or blockchain-based, is a complex process that can take months or even years, he says. In the case of Web 3.0 elements such as the wallet connection feature or NFT assets, it "takes a considerable amount of time" to get it right.
Then there are the financial costs, which can vary widely. If it's a AAA shooter, for example, the development costs can easily run into the millions, whereas a 2D card game can be created for much less.
"It's the Wild West and there's a lot of experimentation," the developer said of Web 3.0 game environments. "We're making it up as we go along."
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