The card genre in web3 gaming is one of the most exciting segments of the industry at the moment, and for good reason. The amount of innovation and new approaches to the standard formulas normalized by Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering is refreshing to see. Both games have been pillars in the traditional card gaming scene for ages, but the likes of Gods Unchained, Splinterlands, Cross The Ages, and our guest for this interview, Cards of Ethernity, are disrupting the industry as we know it.

We got the opportunity to sit down with Jens Peeters, the CEO and Founder of Aether Games, to go over Aether Games as a studio, the development progress for both Cards of Ethernity and Gates of Ethernity, the challenges of building an IP and crossovers across the studio’s games, and the innovative mechanics in Cards of Ethernity. Let’s get right into it.

We will start off simple for everyone to get to know Aether Games first. If you can please introduce yourself, Aether Games, and the development studio behind it

My name is Jens and I’m the CEO & Founder of Aether Games. Next to this, I’m also an Esports celebrity manager. Aether Games simply put is a game development studio, publisher and we’re also working on a CGI series as a lot of our expertise is in this field.

Aether Games aims to build its games in a coherent manner and in the same franchise. What do you think is the importance of that for the success of the standalone games itself? 

Connecting everything within the same universe allows us to have some cross-game assets within the blockchain space but the bigger focus is the fact that you’ll see the assets you own and play with come back in our series, and all the other games which adds emotional value to it.

Aether Games so far have revealed Gates of Ethernity and Cards of Ethernity. Can you give us a brief overview of what each game will offer its players? 

Gates of Ethernity is an dark fantasy auto battler where creatures can evolve during the match itself. Looking at the current gaming market, we’ve seen a huge demand in autobattler and as of right now in both the crypto & normal gaming space there is only one big autobattler. 

These type of games also allow for fast updates and quick meta changes which is exactly what the crypto space like to see, and fast development is one of the things which makes us stand out.

Card of Ethernity is a digital collectible card game focus on competitiveness and Esports. We are well aware of the fact that there are many card games out there, however, with CoE we want to show what we’re capable off while tapping into a gaming niche that will always have a big player base. 

CoE focuses on taking the best mechanics built into one single card game with high-quality standards. Playing with different adventurers, ethernal pets, relics, weapons, armor, creatures, and spell cards which can all be sacrificed to replenish your Aether pool adds a lot of strategy and quick meta changes when we introduce new assets.

What are your main focus points to make sure each of these games stand out in their respective genres?

Our main focus will always be to create fun games focused on Esports while maintaining a high-quality standard. We want people to play our games competitively and be able to call it their job as we grow the entire franchise and share the growth back with our top players.

One of the most unique game modes in Gates of Ethernity will probably be Bloodbath. Can you reveal more details about that particular mode?

Bloodbath is a mode where people can pre-create their team towards an instant end-game comp. Playing fast matches vs all the other players, allows them to test which comp is the strongest while also using fast thinking to counter the other players.

Adventurers play a very impactful role within Cards of Ethernity. Can you give us more information on the role Adventurers play in the game?

Each Adventurer has a unique passive or may have an ability which can heavily adjust how your deck plays out. Some adventurers let you draw extra cards while taking damage, allowing you to sacrifice them in order to a long chain that could almost end the game immediately. 

While other adventurers can have a more defensive effect where they reduce the damage they take, focusing on a more defensive playstyle. We will be adding more adventurers along the way and the MVP itself will release with a total of 10 different ones.

Can you share your thoughts on what are the challenges in actually building a successful long standing IP with recognizable characters and games around them?

I would say the biggest challenge is actually making a name for yourself to truly stand out next to having good lore of course. Our advantage is that we are very well connected within the film industry allowing us to reach out directly to companies like Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime without having to go through the usual methods which take a long time.

Next to our CGI we will also have small 2D animation stories, comics, short character/creature background stories and much more to push ourselves to anyone whether they like to read or watch.

Aether Games already revealed they are working on a standard CGI web series to tie everything together. Would you like to share any further information about it? How long will it be once it is finalized in terms of watch time?

We’re currently in production for the pilot episode which is a 3 part series we’ll gradually release starting in February 2023. As we work with a well-known streaming service, this series will extend into 1-2 seasons. The pilot episode will give an intro on how the worlds got connected and why from both the human side and also from the trolls and dragons

Building an IP usually requires crossing multiple entertainment medias. Can you share your thoughts on attempting to build an IP and the challenges that come with it?

Our series is 100% CGI, which means it takes a little bit more time than any other type of show as we create all assets used from scratch. It’s public information that we are working on this, however while the series is in production we are focused on building the audience for our games in both web2 & web3. 

This while working together with respectable PR firms will give us plenty of time to reach the audience we’re looking for. We also record all the behind-the-scenes footage to give plenty of sneak peeks of what is to come.

Where do you see the future of integrating augmented reality into blockchain games?

As of right now, I would say it’s a little early to combine AR with competitive games. The AR we currently have is a way for people to see their ethernals in real life as they own the NFTs. 

In the future we will make games focused on AR, using the assets we have, however this will have less focus on Esports and rather on community and exploration with friends.

What are you most excited about in Aether Games’ future?

I’m personally most excited to see the entire universe grow. Watching people create various apps and websites to educate people on how to perform better in our games. 

Watching people create youtube videos explaining or theorycrafting about our lore and last but not least hosting big Esports events once the player base supports it. I’m personally well connected with Esports teams so I can’t wait to push everything we’re doing to them.

We hope you enjoyed the interview with Jens, and it was our pleasure as well to see everything in the works behind the scenes for Blocklords. We don’t even want to imagine the amount of hours we are going to sink into this one. One thing is for sure is that web3 gaming is bound to have its king in the web3 gaming strategy genre.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below and keep an eye out for more upcoming exclusive interviews from across the web3 gaming space. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our earlier interviews with Brent Liang, Founding Team Member at Fractal, Grant Haseley, Executive Director of Undead Blocks, and Loopify, NFT influencer and CEO of The Treeverse.

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