Sky Mavis is on a roll. After deploying major changes to Season 20 of Axie Infinity, they have now revealed details regarding the upcoming Axie Infinity Origin update.
Dubbed Axie Infinity 3.0, the Origin update will bring a whole new ecosystem, ushering in new gameplay mechanics, card changes, a free to play system and of course new ways to utilize SLP.
This update, once deployed, will hopefully further boost or even stabilize the value of SLP which has been pumping ever since the deployment of the season 20 update which focused SLP gains on the PVP or Arena mode.
From Alpha to Season 0
As a new version of Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis plans to deploy the alpha tests for Axie Infinity Origin in the latter part of Q1 2022. The game’s alpha version will be made available for download by all players globally, although the focus will be on getting feedback from the player experience.
The Alpha version will not reward players with SLP or AXS and all account progress will reset once the game is fully launched.
In what appears to be a savvy move, not only will Sky Mavis be able to get player feedback en masse but this could also help test the capacity of their new servers and work out kinks and creases right before launch. Once all the necessary feedback is gathered and applied then comes the release of Season 0.
Season 0 will implement changes based on player feedback; however, it will not immediately allow SLP earnings as it will still function as a continuation of testing the player experience before the actual full game launch.
Sky Mavis also states that depending on feedback, they would either transition Battles v2, the current version of Axie Infinity, into Origin completely… or keep Battles v2 running in parallel with Origin.
Transitioning to Origin also means bringing your Axies with you, so players can worry less about purchasing new Axies. However if in case Sky Mavis does decide to transition from Battles v2 into Origin completely, players might be forced to make the switch as this could mean that Battles v2 will get shut down.
Update on Axie Infinity game mechanics – Cards, Turns, Energy and more
Part of the major change for the Origin update is reworking how the combat mechanics work for Axie Infinity. This involves cards, turns, and use of energy in the day to day battles. For instance, energy will no longer accumulate, meaning that regardless of whether you spend energy by playing cards on your turn or choose to skip, energy will most likely remain the same. There will be, however, new mechanics that will be implemented regarding how energy is consumed, retained and gained, so that is something that we can look forward to the closer we get to the Alpha release.
Cards will also get a major change — such as having either an Attack or a Defense value instead of having both. New abilities, as well as adjusted abilities, will also be implemented in some existing cards.
More cards will also be introduced in Origin with the Eyes and Ears finally getting their own cards or abilities. In Battles v2, only 4 of the 6 Axie parts have cards incorporated, namely the horn, mouth, back and tail.
Speaking of battles, the upcoming Origin update will also promote a more active battle system as Axies will execute their attacks as soon as the cards are played without waiting for each player to deploy or play their cards first. This will make PVP battles more fast-paced compared to Battles v2; how it will affect the whole gameplay experience in PVP remains to be seen.
Feel the burn! New ways to spend and use SLP
Perhaps the most anticipated addition to the Origin update is the introduction of more utility to SLP. Currently SLP can only be used for breeding new Axies together with AXS. However, once the Origin update launches, new ways of spending SLP will also be deployed.
While mechanics such as upgrading and tweaking parts were being discussed, Origin will first introduce a Power Up mechanic using Runes and Charms which can be crafted using SLPs and a new in-game resource called Moonshards.
Runes and Charms will provide new power-ups and upgrades to your Axies and Axie teams, which could result in a very interesting approach in battles and the overall metagame. Runes and power ups also reset each season, which in turn would help keep the SLP economy active.
Aside from runes and power-ups, Sky Mavis also plans to introduce more ways of adding utility to SLP, and those will be detailed in future updates once Origin is deployed.
Free-to-Play is here but…
Together with the upcoming Origin launch is the arrival of Axie Infinity Free-to-Play.
However, the initial focus will be on getting players to be more familiar with the new updates and changes. Players can only use Axie trainers and will not be eligible for SLP earnings; however they will be able to use these Axie trainers to unlock other Axies more suitable for PvE and PVP modes.
This also means that SLP earning will be made available along the way for Origin… but it will not be the same earning opportunity as offered from Axies bought from the NFT marketplace.
Axie Infinity Origin is planned for release at the later part of Q1 2022.