Bringing Cricket to Crypto: Cricket Star Manager Set To Launch As Play-To Earn NFT Game

“Cricket is one of the world’s most popular sports, but the market is not that crowded."

While this is a phrase that can apply to your traditional gaming scene, it is equally true for the growing play-to-earn market. Sports games such as Sorare and (the now-defunct) F1 Delta Time are among the most popular NFT games around, with plenty of new NFT games also looking towards sport, too.

One of these is Cricket Star Manager. Seeking to break into the blockchain space, developer Gold Town Games is working alongside Vorto Gaming and CS Games to bring cricket into crypto. Planet Crypto spoke to Laris Alin, Chief Product Officer of Gold Town Games, and Kris Vaivods, CEO of Vorto Gaming, to find out more.

Cricket Star Manager Targets South Asian Market

Cricket is big. While it will always be held behind the likes of football in the UK and Europe, in countries such as India and Australia, it is a major part of the sporting landscape. This is where Cricket Star Manager hopes to come in.

“We see a lot more people in India looking into different play turn games, and cricket is religion there,” said Vaivods. “So this game is truly made for that specific market to help them earn extra money.”

In a press release, Alin added that he hoped the Cricket Star Manager community “can become one of the top 10 income sources for people across South Asia by the end of 2023” - an ambitious statement, and one backed up by Vaivods. “We’re looking to be one of the top employers in India,” he said.

Of course, with some of the top NFTs selling for millions of dollars, and gas fees remaining pretty high, I was curious to see how the development team would make its play-to-earn experience affordable for the market.

“It is a free-to-play NFT game,” Alin said. “We’re supporting a way for players to grind their way to getting their first money invested into valuable assets. So you really won’t have any upfront payments to start playing the game.

“You’re able to start playing the game and put the time in and get some money back.”

Vaivods agreed. “We don’t require that you own six players before you can start playing the game,” he said, in reference to games such as Sorare. “You will be able to create a team out of nothing and then start grinding to afford more players.”

The players and stadiums in Cricket Star Manager are not licensed but are completely new- perhaps a wise choice in the aftermath of Animoca Brands’ closure of F1 Delta Time after failing to renew its license with F1.

According to the Cricket Star Manager website, players can earn income by:

• Winning matches.
• Owning stadiums and hosting other teams' matches.
• Spectate matches and cheer for teams.
• Train players/transform stadiums and trade them on the transfer market.

Cricket Star Manager Tokenomics and Gameplay

Of course, as a blockchain-based game, players can put in some money through Cricket Star Manager’s token, CSM. The CSM token is slated to launch in Q2 2022 and will provide utility to players who own it. “You’ll be able to do specific things,” said Vaivods. “Only the CSM holders will be able to buy certain things, like changing stadiums or changing players' names.

“Then, holding and staking CSM will provide you with a voice for the community. You’ll be able to express your opinion on different things.”

A limited supply of stadiums will also go on sale as ‘Land’ during Q2 2022.

After the NFT sale and CSM listing, the MVP (minimal viable product) version of Cricket Star Manager is expected to launch in Q3 2022.

“if you're familiar with [World Hockey Manager], you will be able to recognise some of the stuff,” Alin said.

Alin singled out the community tournament potential as one element he is particularly excited about. “In our games at the moment, we are always the hosts of tournaments, but we will release [Cricket Star Manager] in a way where players will be able to both set up tournaments, will need to market them as well,” he said. “You can be a great marketer for your tournaments and draw a lot of attention to the people playing your games, then as arena holder, you would, of course, earn income from that.”