Written by: Eric, Foresight News
At the beginning of 2021, The9 Limited, a US-listed company with gaming as its core business (referred to as "The9"), began to expand its presence in the Web3 industry by adding cryptocurrency mining operations, covering Bitcoin, FIL (Filecoin), and XCH (Chia). It later launched the NFT platform NFTSTAR and ventured into Web3 gaming. As of now, The9 holds over 500 Bitcoins and has deployed mining equipment in multiple overseas locations.
As the early agent for "MU Online" and "World of Warcraft," The9 is a shared memory for the generations born in the 80s and 90s. Although The9 did not abandon its game agency and development business after entering the Web3 industry, its initial choice to focus on mining rather than developing a blockchain game surprised many people to some extent.
After being absent from Web3 industry news for two or three years, The9 officially announced the launch of its Web3 gaming platform The9bit in August—a "masterpiece" that combines decades of gaming resources with token economic design.
The9bit: A Steam for Players and Communities Revitalized by Tokens
As the largest game distribution platform, Steam's internal value flow is solely from users to publishers. The9's the9bit aims to establish an economic system where players, creators, and publishers can all share in the revenue. According to official data, the9bit currently has over 4 million registered users, 300,000 daily active users, more than 100,000 orders, and the platform has generated over $1.5 million in revenue.
According to the9bit documentation, players can earn points and exchange them for 9BIT tokens or in-game items by purchasing well-known IP AAA games, topping up mobile games, completing casual in-game tasks and watching ads, participating in esports competitions, and acquiring rare collectibles. For AAA games, The9 has obtained distributor authorization from Capcom, allowing players to purchase games from the Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, and Monster Hunter series. The9bit plans to further expand its licensing in the future, so that all games listed on Steam can also be purchased on the9bit.
Regarding how to top up mobile games such as "Genshin Impact," "PUBG," and "Honor of Kings" on the platform, the9bit explains that it supports direct top-ups via DTU, rather than pre-paid value sales. DTU can only be achieved through cooperation with game publishers, so users only need to have an account on the platform to top up using their cryptocurrencies and earn points.
In addition to games, the9bit has launched a Discord-like social tool called Spaces on the platform as a foundation for developing gaming guilds. Players can join Spaces and post or explore content such as game clips, blogs, and guides, with the9bit providing AIGC tools for support. In addition, esports competitions will be held between communities to earn rewards.
Besides earning points through their own activities on the platform, the9bit also distributes daily token rewards to different Spaces based on their "performance," calculated by a weighted formula of user engagement and platform contribution: 20% for new users, 20% for DAU activity, and 60% for store consumption. Of the daily distributed tokens, 50% are released immediately, while the other 50% are released after a 12-month lock-up. The9bit has established a partnership with Web3 gaming guild Yield Guild Games, which likely contributed to the platform's rapid user accumulation and the establishment of numerous Spaces communities within two months, thanks in part to YGG's support.
Such a platform was clearly not designed overnight. The author learned that after entering the Web3 industry, The9 tried investing in and incubating some GameFi and NFT projects between 2022 and 2023, but felt that the entry barrier for players to get into Web3 games was still too high. In June 2024, The9 officially hired former 91 Assistant executive Marrtin Hoon and established The9's Web3 division. Marrtin Hoon has helped many traditional operators develop game distribution platforms and has published numerous games in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Marrtin also launched the Web3 game distribution platform MetaOne as a founder. The9bit is the result of a year of incubation by the Web3 division, combining the team's Web3 industry experience and gaming industry resources.
9BIT Token Economic Design
9BIT will be issued on Solana with a total supply of 10 billion tokens, of which 35% is allocated to the ecosystem, 15% for market liquidity, 38% to the project treasury, 7% to the team and advisors, and 5% to strategic investors. The9bit states that it plans to officially launch the 9BIT token by the end of the year, but the specific timing is yet to be determined.
Of the 35% allocated to the ecosystem, 13% will be used to incentivize players, communities, and guilds—that is, tokens that can be redeemed for points earned by playing games, posting content, and topping up; 8% will be used for daily Space rewards; 2% will be used for the KOL/KOC program to support creators in attracting more users; and 12% will be allocated to the ecosystem fund for IP investment, establishing strategic partnerships, and incubating projects aligned with ecosystem goals.
Of the 38% allocated to the project treasury, half will belong to The9, to be used for future partnerships, expansion of game IP, platform growth operations, and strategic acquisitions.
In addition to serving as an in-platform transaction currency, incentive, governance, and granting access to exclusive content like most tokens, 9BIT uniquely allows token holders to purchase The9's Nasdaq-listed stock during a specific annual window. The9bit has designed a 9BIT token buyback plan, with a portion of the platform's annual net profit used to buy back tokens. The platform's revenue comes from game distribution, in-game top-ups, and ads in casual mini-games. According to the project's roadmap, the 9BIT token will be listed on at least one exchange before the end of the year.
The roadmap also plans updates to be launched before the first quarter of next year, including peer-to-peer trading of in-game assets, a staking page, as well as the aforementioned AIGC creation tools and esports competitions. Currently, users can choose to pay with cryptocurrency on the platform, and fiat-to-crypto exchange channels and fiat payment channels are expected to go live in mid-October. With the addition of new features and the launch of the 9BIT token, we should see more use cases for cryptocurrency on the platform.
The9 has shown great confidence in the token. Public information shows that in The9BIT's ecosystem design, The9 is not only the builder and operator of the platform but is also gradually transforming into a digital asset reserve company. With the issuance of the 9BIT token and the growth of platform revenue, The9 will continue to accumulate 9BIT assets through the token buyback mechanism and include them as part of the company's treasury. This strategy not only strengthens The9's voice in the Web3 economic system but also gives it long-term reserve and management capabilities in the digital asset field. In the future, as 9BIT is issued and its market value increases, The9's balance sheet and income statement will benefit from the appreciation of its 19% 9BIT holdings. The9 is expected to become the first company to accumulate its own token as a stock-coin. In this way, the stock price and token price will have a mutually reinforcing relationship.
Why Are Gaming Platforms Still Worth Looking Forward To?
If you are familiar with the Web3 gaming sector, you have probably heard the story of the "Web3 version of Steam" more than once. But as the author wrote at the beginning, The9's professionalism in the gaming field is beyond doubt. Regardless of whether the combination of the platform and Web3 can achieve the expected success, the fact that more and more games are being listed on the9bit is credible. However, this most basic capability of the platform is something that most projects claiming to be the "Web3 version of Steam" do not possess.
With the development of the industry and technology, the overall gaming ecosystem is shifting toward UGC and AI, and traditional game distribution, publishing, and distribution will all be fundamentally changed by Web3. The9 firmly believes that the9bit will become one of the leading new ecosystem models to change gaming. This model truly integrates games, players, and communities, redistributes revenue through Web3-related technologies, and achieves a transparent, unique, accurate, and reliable implementation.
Since entering the Web3 industry in 2021 and after more than four years of exploration, The9 has ultimately chosen the gaming field it is most proficient in and has poured its decades of accumulated gaming industry resources into it. As possibly the company in the Web3 industry that understands gaming the best, we look forward to The9 turning its dreams into reality.
