And now, for something completely different!

This month has been a hell of a rollercoaster here at D¢ENT Ventures! Any web3 enthusiast knows the highs and the lows that come with the territory, as well as the neck-snapping velocity with which you can swing from one to the other. We too have had our highs and lows, but now we are looking down the track and devising a way to smooth out the ride until the next bull market emerges.

For nearly a year our team has worked to bring to life our vision of two intertwined yet individually viable web3 brands. Pixel Raffle and 8-Bit Legends.

The Highs

These projects were devised at the tail end of the last bull market, when there was still plenty of hope and optimism abound in the NFT space. As the market slumped even further into bear season we kept that optimism alive because we were so in love with the products we’re building. We are confident that what we have built, and are still building, will be embraced and adopted by the web3 space… When the time is right.

The Lows

We imagined with giddy anticipation, and our heads in the hopium clouds, that when we launched the Pixel Raffle platform on September 18th, we could parlay the interest we cultivated into a successful first RaffleMint in the Gen-0 Series. After all, we were offering a 1 in 555 chance at winning 6.9 ETH and a 100% chance of scoring an 8-Bit DeGen playable PFP. People seemed stoked, and so were we!

We would then build on that success with a quick and enthusiastic 2nd RaffleMint. Then a 3rd, a 4th, and a 5th. Rinse and repeat until we’ve completed all 18 raffles in the series, giving away over 124 ETH in prizes!

This however, did not materialize as planned. What we quickly discovered is that our audience of NFT collectors, degens, and web3-gamers are still licking their wounds and sitting on their wallets. And you know what? We don’t blame them.

For this reason, we are forced to rethink how we continue to build in this bear market.

The Road Ahead

The first step we are taking is to cancel the current RaffleMint and refund the minters. The RaffleMint Series and 8-Bit DeGen PFPs will be put on ice until we feel the market and/or our audience are ready to pounce on the opportunity. When this time does come, the relaunch may see some adjustments to the plan that are optimized for the market at that time.

Pixel Raffle will change course from using the 8-Bit DeGen mint as its proof-of-concept, to focusing on partnerships with existing web3 communities to host raffles that provide value, excitement, and an alternative source of revenue to the projects. If you are a project founder or part of an active community and are interested in running a RaffleMint for your project we would love to hear from you!

Additionally, we will be introducing and experimenting with some quick and affordable raffles (we call ‘em Turbo Raffles) that allow our users to easily try their luck at a quick win while getting some fun and useful digital collectibles that will add value to your Discord community membership.

While we wait for the market to turn around Pixel Raffle will see significant ongoing development, turning it into an all-out SAAS platform designed to offer projects a variety of innovative ways to launch their projects and gamify their mints.

8-Bit Legends is, as mentioned earlier, shelving the 8-Bit DeGen Playable PFP collection for now and instead focusing on bringing our first free-to-play video game to market. The market has spoken and the space is demanding a product-first approach. The days of the NFT collection preceding the product are behind us. And honestly, it’s probably for the best.

Our first game is titled “Fun-drr-Dome!”. It is a retro arena battle platformer where you play as Gio trapped in the FOMOtopia funhouse as you battle waves of enemies and bosses. The demo will be out shortly and will be playable by our community members. This game will receive regular updates to refine the gameplay, add weapons, powerups, and other features, as well as expand to include new stages, mobs, and bosses.

Once the gameplay is dialed in we will be introducing the first web3 features and challenges/tournaments that will reward players with awesome prizes.

D¢ENT Ventures, the web3 development studio incubating these products is making some adjustments too. We are reorienting our approach to optimize our chances for survival, nay, our road to success!

1. We are pulling back from our bootstrap model of collecting small wins and generating quick revenue.

2. Instead, we will be taking the Silicon Valley startup approach of seeking significant investment capital so we can build highly-polished scalable products and building an enthusiastic user-base well before we attempt to monetize and flip the cashflow switch.

We feel this is the best way to continue building during the bear market and ensure that we have dialed in our product offerings so we can fully ride the next bull-wave.

If you are interested in investing in D¢ENT Ventures you can have a look at our deck here. Then please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for updates, join our Discord community, and follow us on X at the links below. This bear may be a bitch, but eventually it will get the horns!

@pixelraffle | @8bitlegensio | @dcentventures