Jedi Spotlight: Katana Inu

Interview with the CEO & Co-Founder

In this Jedi Spotlight edition, we had the privilege of speaking with Marwan, the CEO,Co-Founder, Creative and Art Director of Katana Inu. He shared with us his background, the process of developing the game, and what sets it apart in the gaming industry.

From the team's passion for video games and Japanese culture to the backing from some of the biggest names in the industry, this interview provides a fascinating look into the creation of this exciting new game.

Whether you're a seasoned gamer or just starting to explore the world of blockchain gaming, this article provides an in-depth look at the inspiration behind Katana Inu and what players can expect from this revolutionary new game.

If you are interested in being a guest, reach out to us at [email protected]!

Introducing Katana Inu 🐶🗡️

Katana Inu is a free-to-play fighting game with an opportunity to earn exclusive NFTs and Katana Inu tokens as in-game rewards. These rewards can be acquired by winning tournaments against other players and teams, completing in-game quests, or just playing alone or on a team.

Whether you want to fight with your acquired spells or special Katanas and weapons, the Battle-Royal PVP arena is open for players with a maximum of 60 players.

NFTs play a crucial role in the Katana Inu game. They serve as skins and other important in-game assets or customizable items. These in-game items are strictly for aesthetic purposes and will provide no advantage in battle. There will also be many other exciting collectibles, including weapons, abilities, spells, poses, and skins that players can earn by simply playing the game.

Interview 📰

Yoda: Can you briefly introduce your studio and talk about your background? Past developments, projects and so?

Marwan: To create Katana Inu, we have partnered up with a well known development studio based in Europe which has been a very popular developer for many years, not disclosing the name for now. Their love for games and expertise have earned them a reputation as a leading force in the gaming industry globally and regionally. This combined with our experienced team of +10 from the corporate world and our passion to make the best Web3 Game turned Katana Inu into a key prospect for the Web3 revolution

Yoda: How and when did you decide to build Katana Inu?

Marwan: First of all, I love video games and have been playing pretty much everything all my life like Battlefield, COD, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, Super mario and other nintendo games and so on.

This combined with my love for anime, Japanese culture and samurais is what gave the idea to Katana Inu. I am extremely hands on and have been trying to make this perfect since day one and heavily involved in all the character and equipment design and development.

The development of the project began in early 2021. After having an internal demo, we invited a few early testers to try it out. Their feedback was so amazing and encouraging that it confirmed that we were on the right path in creating a game that would be loved by players.

In addition, this is obviously an on-chain game. One of my other aims is to show everyone that even the most skeptical Web2 players can enjoy Katana Inu which will accelerate the Web3 gaming expansion.

Yoda: Who has been backing you?

Marwan: We are very lucky to be backed by +20 VCs and organizations leading backers being Master Ventures and Bluezilla. In addition, we onboarded very high profile advisors along the way who help us develop and spread Katana Inu globally, such as:

  • Kyle Chasse - Founder of Master Venture, One of the Top 50 influential people in the crypto space with over 10 years experience in blockchain and successfully advised several Binance-listed projects.An early investor in Kraken, Coinbase, Bitfinex and other big Exchanges.

  • Shaikh Danial - Award Winning Creative Director. A 15-year veteran entrepreneur. Working with 21st Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Disney, World Bank Group, United Nations, Google, and many more global brands.

Yoda: How much of what you have built today was already in the plans when you started and what changed along the way?

Marwan: The beta game is set to launch in the next two months with a new approach to gameplay. Originally, the game was designed with a play-to-earn mechanism like many other games at the time, but due to the decline of play-to-earn and being gamers ourselves, we decided to switch to a fun-to-play and free-to-play model.

Our top priority is to create an inclusive gaming experience where everyone can compete in our arena, participate in tournaments with prizes, and have a good time regardless of whether they are casual or professional players.

Yoda: Can you describe Katana Inu in a bit more detail?

Marwan: Katana-Inu’s primary game mode will be Battle-Royale where players can choose to squad up or go solo against a team of other players in an arena of 60 players or we are also offering smaller and more competitive modes like 1v1,3v3 and 5v5.

So, each player gets to level up in experience and in the scoreboard as he/she plays more. To keep it fair, we only provided very small benefits in terms of fighting as players level up. We want to keep the skill as the main driver in this game.

Therefore, what players can do as they level up is to grow their supply bag where they can store more spell shards (fire, comet, shield etc.) and weapons. All the spells and weapons are NFTs which people can purchase, sell or forge to create an upgraded item.

In addition, we are currently planning 7 characters which are to be expanded later as the game grows. However, the customization options using weapons and skins add up to over a hundred different ways which we wanted to keep rich in Katana Inu.

Yoda: Next major milestones?

Marwan: Currently, our next milestones are the release of closed beta at the end of Q1. Then we have the open beta and a small NFT sale in Q2.

We will have other awesome announcements for this year but the dates are not yet set and there will be some tournaments with prizes. I suggest everyone to stay tuned to our socials.

Yoda: Are there any plans for your token and in-game economy?

Marwan: Certainly! We worked hard to get the in-game economy sustainable. For instance:

  • Each NFT purchase contributes to token burn partially as we burn the sale revenue to keep the economy sustainable

  • We are planning special tournaments with rewards where each player contributes to the reward pool as an entry and 15% is burned from each reward pool.

  • We will be accepting FIAT and card payments which will convert the payment into $KATA automatically in the background. So, we are onboarding Web2 players in a lower friction way increasing the adoption of our game and $KATA.

  • Lastly, the need for more CEX will be evaluated and actioned wherever necessary.

Gameplay Overview 🎮

Check out these fresh gameplay videos and teasers from Katana Inu!

Spotted! 🕵️

Katana Inu was spotted globally at many events spreading news and meeting gamers all around the world. Take a look!

Istanbul Hacker House Solana

Tokyo Game Show 2022

Istanbul Blockchain Summit

Gitex Global: Future Blockchain Summit

In conclusion, it has been a great pleasure to interview the team behind Katana Inu. This revolutionary Web3 fighting game is poised to provide an inclusive gaming environment where players can compete in tournaments in the arena and have a good time regardless of their skill level.

We are excited to see the impact that Katana Inu will have on the gaming industry and wish the team all the best in their future endeavors.

Stay tuned to Katana Inu socials to follow the updates!