"Coin Musume" is an idol character made from crypto assets. We asked Mr. Tsuji, who is in charge of this notable project that also incorporates 2.5-dimensional idol elements, about its appeal and the timing of the game's release.
What prompted you to enter the blockchain gaming field?
Takuya Tsuji (hereafter, Tsuji): The reason I wanted to create a blockchain game was because I thought it would provide a new gaming experience, unlike previous smartphone and online games, in that rewards are obtained as assets. If you use the blockchain to buy and sell in-game assets in the real world, I thought you could create an interesting game.
I myself have been doing business with social games up until now. When social games first came out, the quality was cheap, unlike consumer games, but at the same time, they created a new experience.
Nowadays, social games with quality close to consumer games are being developed, and the market is expanding. It is still unclear whether the blockchain game market will be established, but I personally feel that there is a possibility. At the same time, I am very conscious that it has to be different from previous games.
Please tell us about the concept, features, and points of focus of "Coin Musume."
Tsuji: Coin Musume is conscious of "specializing in experiences unique to blockchain games." We believe that it is not enough to simply use blockchain in smartphone games like we have done up until now; we need to make a game that is possible only because of blockchain, and that would not be possible without blockchain.
Specifically, we place importance on two points: Play to Earn (P2E) and community.
First of all, with P2E, we are planning to specialize in an easy-to-understand experience. Rather than focusing on the content of the game and consuming development costs, we are particularly conscious of designing it with user returns in mind.
Also, due to the game's specifications, the amount of tokens increases and decreases as you play, so we designed it so that it does not depend too much on user skill. We were also conscious of designing it so that beginner's luck could occur as much as possible.
Many consumer games are fighting games or RPGs, and with social games, it's a matter of whether you play for a long time or shorten the time by paying, but Coin Musume is neither of those. Also, I think that Coin Musume is unique in that we are not trying to make a profit from game sales.
The thing I'm most concerned about is, "Do blockchain games need tokens?" I haven't found the answer yet, and it's a topic that's being debated in the streets.
The reason why tokens are issued is, in short, because the issuer makes a profit. If we look only at the result of the issuer making a profit, there are already several examples, so I'm sure there will be quite a few projects that issue tokens after seeing that.
However, looking at the current situation, I think there are many games for which there is no point in issuing tokens. This is not limited to games, but I feel very uncomfortable with projects and other things that issue tokens while operating in a centralized manner and do not link their value. Looking at the world as a whole, there are many projects that issue tokens to encourage purchases through marketing and then sell them off, even though the content is not substantial.
This leads to the second point that Coin Musume emphasizes, but I think the significance of issuing tokens lies in the "existence of a community." Going further, it is to create fans of the in-game token, "Musume Coin (MSM)" itself.
Of course, it is important to increase the number of game players, but increasing the number of holders also leads to increasing the number of fans, so I think that this could be one goal. I think we should place more importance on creating a community experience than on the numerical benefits of using tokens.
In a sense, I think the currently popular meme coins get to the heart of the matter. Even though it is known from the beginning that meme coins themselves have no value, they have gained fans and people who find them interesting have gathered together, and their value has increased. This is an example of value being attached to the community experience, rather than the token.
Coin Musume also has something in common in that it has fans attached to the token, and I think it is important to provide a complex experience, such as the joy of having this token that increases in value beyond the game and the fun of being able to connect with the community. In short, I feel that the significance of using tokens in blockchain games is that this heart part is important.
Coin Musume targets crypto users, so the idea of “giving tokens fans” is also useful here, right?
Tsuji: As the concept is to personify crypto assets, we feel that we must first attract people who like tokens. However, if we only target them, the number of users will be limited, so of course we need to make the game interesting and attract the general public.
So, please tell us what you consider to be important in entertaining crypto users.
Tsuji: With the community experience we talked about earlier as a given, we need to increase the value of tokens in the long term. I think the most important thing is to show results, increase value over the long term, increase holders, and increase liquidity.
What was the trigger and background that led to the creation of Coin Musume?
Tsuji: I thought about the plan in making a blockchain game. Personally, I found it easier to make a game with beautiful girls than one with monsters, and I felt that I could make use of my past experience. Also, I thought that tokens and idols are similar, which was a big factor.
With this background, when the direction of making an idol game was solidified, we decided to maximize user returns and to have a lot of luck as a concept. We also wanted to include gacha. The success or failure of a social game can be determined by whether or not you include gacha.
On the other hand, gacha itself encourages gambling, and some creators want to compete with the content of the game. However, from a business perspective, it is easier to make sales even with a small number of users who put in gacha. Personally, I think gacha is an interesting element, and I thought it would be good to have a game that would release characters.
The planning for the characters that appear in our game starts about three months to six months before the announcement. It takes time to create illustrations and cast voice actors. Creating a rich 3D game would require even more work and costs, so we aimed to make Coin Musume a simple blockchain game with just one illustration.
This is a design that would be impossible in existing social games. Existing social games often involve collecting and training strong characters, defeating enemies, and feeling satisfied. However, this time we felt that we needed to take advantage of the characteristics of blockchain games, and that the game should be enjoyable whether you have good characters or not.
That's why we included an element of luck, including reversals. If only users who pay a lot make too much money, it would be unfair and go against the concept of the game, and it would no longer be fun.
Coin Musume has aspects of a so-called "2.5-dimensional idol," such as the voice actors for each character actually singing on stage, but what was the idea behind linking it to the real world, something that hasn't been seen in Web 3.0 games so far, and what was your purpose?
Tsuji: This is related to the goal of creating fans of the token that I mentioned earlier, but in a word, it started with a strong desire to do something that no one else was doing.
For example, when it comes to recruiting investors, I think many projects make appearances at events or sponsorships to make their presence known in the crypto community. That is important in itself, but we just want to create fans.
No matter how much I say at events that Coin Musume is amazing, I think it's hard to understand or leave an impression. At least if you see Coin Musume's live performance, it will be easier to leave an impression, and honestly, I think it's a win just to have people listen to it. We actually put a lot of effort into making our songs, and when we performed at a Web 3.0 event, I felt that we stood out quite a bit.
Coin Musume uses the Oasys blockchain, but why did you choose Oasys?
Tsuji: To be honest, any blockchain was fine at first. More than that, I was afraid that the game would become platform-dependent. Many existing games are platform dependent, but if you make a wrong choice, you will be dragged down with you if something happens.
You also have to follow the platform's wishes. The best way is to have users yourself. If you have a solid user base, you will naturally receive calls from various places, such as exchanges and projects.
We chose Oasys because it has many Japanese users, is listed on a Japanese exchange, and is easy to communicate with. Another factor was that they had received support.
What do you find most difficult about creating a blockchain game?
Tsuji: It's the issuance of tokens. The difficulty changes greatly depending on whether or not there is a token. Token economics sounds nice, but at present, the significance of issuing tokens is unclear, and there are projects that proceed with development without considering the token holders. In such a situation, it makes you wonder why you are issuing tokens.
Many people, including myself, are worried about developing blockchain games. However, at the very least, I personally don't want to attract speculators when running Coin Musume.
Finally, please tell us about the planned release date, future prospects, goals, etc.
Tsuji: We plan to release it in the second half of this year. We have already finished the NFT sale, so all that is left is to release the game and token. We will continue to work hard until the end in preparation for the release.
Right now, what I am most focused on is getting people who play it once to continue playing. Also, I have an image of being able to reach people in the Web 3.0 field, but we need to be creative in how we reach the general public who have no experience with crypto assets.
There are no outstanding success stories of blockchain games in Japan yet, so I would like to be the number one star there. I want to make it a game that people will think of as "Coin Musume, the Japanese blockchain game."
◉ Takuya Tuji
CEO of Techcross Inc. CEO of Eureka Entertainment Ltd.
Born in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture in 1985, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. In 2009, while still a student, he founded Techcross Inc. (300 employees, 10 billion yen in game sales). While serving as CEO of the company, he also founded Eureka Entertainment Ltd. and is currently developing the blockchain game "Coin Musume."
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