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The Pixelmon name might be familiar to those in the NFT and blockchain worlds. It had a phenomenal start in the industry as an NFT collection with some individual pieces going for more than thirty-thousand euro! By the time they were up and running with plans to move forward, the Pixelmon name had nearly eighty-million euro raised from its NFT collection! We’ve also spoken before about NFT’s in the gaming industry.
With numbers like that, a huge following, and a dedicated Discord server with thousands of followers, the community behind Pixelmon were expecting something huge. Unsure of where to go next and how best to utilise their standing, they came to see our development team at Magic Media! We were delighted to assist the Pixelmon team by committing to a full-cycle development project and to help bring the world of Pixelmon to life. At Magic Media, we have a comprehensive host of services on offer including VFX, full-cycle development, and more.
The minds behind the Pixelmon collection were unfamiliar with game development and did not lack passion for gaming! Their initial hopes for the project was a combination of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Valheim, and Minecraft.
While this is a huge scatter of inspiration and hopes, it gave us some good ideas of what type of game they had in mind. But the concept for the game remained fluid as we began prototyping and trying out different mechanics. Originally, we deployed a small team to explore the options for game design and development. In a short while, we had a good concept idea.
While not directly emerging from the desired games, our team and the client ended up happy with a prototype delivery of a brawler-style game. With the direction settled and the Pixelmon client happy, the team was marked for expansion to meet the client’s requirements. As of today, the team on the Pixelmon project numbers about forty or so developers, artists, designers, and producers.
As the project moves forward, we’re delighted to say that both the community and the client are very pleased with what we’ve delivered so far. It’s always a pleasure working with such an engaged client and community, which are full of ideas and hopes. The main struggle now is narrowing down exactly what works best for the players!
As a full-cycle development project, the Magic Media team are creating everything from A-Z. The development work, concept art, modeling, rigging, and environments, the VFX for the unique moves and interactions of the brawling fighters, and the UI. Full-cycle development really gives our teams the chance to show off their talent while fully embracing and exploring the client’s ideas.
Currently, the project is Unity based. Our teams are tweaking the existing framework and gameplay in response to community and client feedback. With so much inspiring our client, and so many potential avenues of development, we’re focusing on balancing and refining the current gameplay rather than adding new features. But throughout 2023, we foresee some spectacular growth and progress.
The game, in its current state, is an alpha build. While an early alpha, we did put a lot of work into the stylized environment and environmental art to give a beautiful backdrop for players to brawl on.
Keep an eye on our progress with Pixelmon! We’ll have more to show and speak about as the year continues. And if you have any interest or need in our expertize, from full-cycle development and co-development to comprehensive art services and VFX, get in touch today! We’re always excited for the next opportunity to make some magic.
