In this era of "no one knows how many clouds are in the sky," Catizen has burst onto the Web3 gaming stage like a bullet, becoming an unmissable star in this track.

As a super casual cat-raising mini-game based on the Telegram ecosystem, Catizen has captured players' hearts with its simple yet addictive gameplay and the memorable slogan "Play for Airdrop." Since its public beta in March 2024, this seemingly ordinary mini-game has attracted over 1 million players in just one week, instantly becoming a phenomenal product on the Telegram platform.

But this trend is not a flash in the pan. As of the time of writing, Catizen's daily active users have soared to 7 million, with over 2.76 million on-chain users and on-chain transactions exceeding 36.58 million. Meanwhile, the Twitter follower count has reached 2.79 million, and the Telegram channel subscription numbers have hit 8 million, creating a momentum that many Web3 projects find daunting.

In these past few months, Catizen has successfully completed three rounds of financing, with the latest round led by Binance Labs. All of this not only solidifies Catizen's foothold in the Web3 ecosystem but also paves the way for its upcoming exchange listings.

On September 20, Catizen will officially launch on several well-known exchanges including OKX, Bybit, Gate, and Bitget, and Catizen's token CATI will welcome a broader market.

The gameplay of this super casual game may seem simple on the surface, but it hides intricacies. Players take on the role of a cat café owner, managing up to 12 cats simultaneously. Every two cats of the same level can be combined to create a higher-level cat, and the cats can also produce tokens. As the cats' levels increase, the token production rate gradually rises, allowing players to use these tokens to purchase higher-level cats in the shop, thus accelerating game progress. Catizen cleverly integrates a social referral mechanism into the game, rewarding players for inviting new users, which has brought greater user growth and activity to the game. This inevitably brings to mind the 2018 WeChat mini-game ecosystem's "Cute Dog Transformation," as Catizen inherits the classics while adding blockchain elements and airdrop surprises, creating new gameplay.

In this seemingly simple cat-raising mini-game, Catizen excels in various fields—TG product development, community operation, and traffic monetization.

Is Catizen truly "standing and making money" in the Web3 gaming track?

What surprises can the launch of the CATI token bring to everyone?

Today, we are fortunate to invite Geezee, an advisor to Catizen and the head of gaming at the Mantle ecosystem, to unveil the story behind this game. Below is the full dialogue:

Team and Project Development: Diverse Backgrounds, Precise Strategic Financing

**MarsBit: ** It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk with you in depth. First, could you please introduce your background? Including your educational experience and your work and entrepreneurial experience in the Web3 field, how have these experiences shaped your unique perspective on Web3?

Geezee: I come from the gaming industry, having led the launch teams for several games such as "League of Legends," "Teamfight Tactics," "TapTap," "Ragnarok," "Game of Thrones," and "Transformers 3." Web3 technology is a new field that fascinates me, and I believe it has the potential to completely change game development and gameplay. I want to be at the forefront of the gaming industry, so I formed my own team and launched several Web3 games. At the same time, I shared my experience to support the development of multiple projects like Catizen, Metacene, and Party Icons.

MarsBit: There is a Chinese saying, "A good man has three helpers." Any successful project relies on an excellent team. How did Catizen build its team? What is the background of the founding team? Were there any interesting stories during the formation process?

Geezee: The Catizen team mainly comes from three backgrounds:

1. Pinduoduo ------ Successfully attracted hundreds of millions of users to participate in e-commerce activities through social marketing strategies, laying the foundation for our user acquisition in the Web3 field.
2. WeChat Mini-Games ------ Since 2017, our team has successfully launched multiple WeChat mini-games, accumulating rich experience in social operations, particularly suitable for application in Telegram mini-games.
3. Casual Games ------ I personally participated in the launch of casual games like "Crossy Road" and "Skiing Yeti Mountain," which have accumulated over 300 million downloads; this experience is crucial for driving Catizen's success.

MarsBit: I noticed that Catizen's revenue has been continuously growing since its launch, with total earnings exceeding $23 million. In this case, why is the team still accepting investments from various institutions? Can you share Catizen's financing process? Especially the background of the recent strategic investment from Binance Labs?

Geezee: In fact, our revenue is close to $30 million.** We plan to use these funds for further development of Catizen and to grow the community, aiming to build Catizen and the CATI token into a multi-billion dollar brand. One of our initial investors is Mantle, whose support made us realize the importance of having strategic investors. In the recent round of financing, we rejected investments from over 20 funds, only accepting those with strategic cooperation potential. As for the investment from Binance Labs, due to a confidentiality agreement, I cannot disclose the details, but we highly value their support.

Web3 Ecosystem and Strategic Cooperation: Deep Binding with Mantle and TON Ecosystems

MarsBit: The collaboration between Mantle and Catizen has attracted much attention. Can you share why developers should choose Mantle? How does Mantle as a Layer 2 solution empower game development?

Geezee: My advisory role includes comprehensive support from token economic model design, fundraising, market strategy to user growth, listing, and team structure. After joining Mantle, I gained more resources to better support game development teams. Mantle's gaming strategy is different from most other ecosystems; we are very selective about the games we support, and once a team is chosen, we provide comprehensive support to ensure their success. Our team's goal is to collaborate with seven teams to turn each team's game into a representative work. Currently, Catizen and Metacene have launched, and based on the current progress, I am confident in achieving this goal.

MarsBit: As the head of gaming at the Mantle ecosystem, how do you view the gaming ecosystem on TON? Do you think clicker games are the ultimate direction for TON? Do genres like MOBA, FPS, and RTS have prospects in Web3? What game directions should we pay attention to in the future?

Geezee: The TON chain has enormous potential, which is why we facilitated the collaboration between Catizen and TON. Clicker and hyper-casual games are just the beginning; their simple onboarding process is very suitable for attracting Telegram's 900 million users into mini-games. Just like WeChat mini-games gradually developed since 2017, as the market matures, the gameplay will become more in-depth. As for the game directions I particularly favor, everyone can pay attention to the Catizen game center, where we showcase the games we choose to support.

Web3 Game Development and Challenges: Deepening Game Development, Innovating Token Economic Design

MarsBit: You have rich experience in investing and participating in WeChat mini-games and Facebook mini-games. Can you share how these experiences have influenced your development of Web3 games? What special insights or challenges have these experiences brought? Any significant discoveries?

Geezee: Our experience in launching HTML5 games has indeed helped us in the development of Web3 games. We borrowed successful strategies from HTML5 games and adjusted some outdated methods to better fit the Web3 environment. One of the biggest challenges is designing a reasonable token economic model that ensures token value while also incentivizing core users. This process went through multiple trials and failures until we found the best solution. The turning point was when we received support from the Mantle ecosystem, which not only provided assistance from TON and Telegram but also taught us a lot.

As the head of the Catizen project, I have had the privilege of witnessing how we stand out in the Web3 gaming field. In the wave of the bull market, we saw the potential of gaming projects on Telegram, but we took a different approach. We are not just pursuing short-term profits; we are building a long-term, sustainable ecosystem.

Our game center product is currently in beta testing; although there are still some bugs to fix, we are working hard to optimize operations. Additionally, we have a professional game review team responsible for preliminary screening of games to ensure that only low-risk and interesting games enter players' sight. Currently, over 3,000 games are awaiting review, and our goal is to ensure that the games recommended to users are worth playing.

MarsBit: The CATI token is set to launch on exchanges on September 20. According to the disclosed token economics, 43% of the tokens will be used for user airdrops. Can you share the strategy behind this design? How can users utilize these airdrop tokens? What are your expectations for the token's market performance?

Geezee:

I am very proud to announce that our token $CATI will be listed on exchanges on September 20, marking an important milestone for our project. Our token economics model has been carefully designed to provide long-term value for players and investors. The core idea is to ensure that the number of tokens in circulation balances with the governance rights of holders. $CATI is the governance and utility token of Catizen, issued on the Mantle and TON chains. It has multiple uses within the ecosystem, and users holding $CATI tokens will have the right to decide which games they want to support in the Launchpool. Users can vote with $CATI tokens to support the next game they want to play, such as purchasing applications in the Catizen game center and community governance. The token will also play a key role in the launch pool, game center, and open tasks, allowing users to participate in the Launchpool and earn rewards by staking tokens.

In the bull market, Catizen's community users have shown high enthusiasm and participation; they not only actively engage in games but also help maintain the project's valuation and reputation. This FOMO sentiment has driven the rapid development of our project. However, we are also acutely aware of the volatility of market sentiment, and in the bear market, we have adopted a long-term investment strategy, focusing on the long-term development of games and ecosystem building. To support Catizen's continued development, we plan to invest tens of millions of dollars. This funding will be used to ensure liquidity, maintain Catizen's market value, and develop our ecosystem.

MarsBit: You mentioned plans to build a multi-layered ecosystem, but many GameFi projects often fall into unsustainable business models. How does Catizen ensure the sustainability of the game lifecycle and long-term success? What are the biggest challenges faced?

Geezee: The core of any game is that it must have a sustainable source of income as a commercial product. Many failed projects attempt to profit by selling tokens and NFTs, but this is more like debt than income. Catizen earns revenue by creating real value, distinguishing itself from other projects.

Our goal is to establish a game center where players can discover and support their favorite games. By staking Catizen tokens, players will have the opportunity to earn tokens from other games, whitelist qualifications, and other experiences.

Catizen's vision is to be a bridge from Web2 to Web3; we hope to attract more traditional users into the world of Web3. Our user base is key to Catizen's success. Compared to other projects, our user profile and quality are very high, with an average payment price of $27 and over a million paying users. Our 3 million on-chain users are predominantly high-quality users. This aggregation of high-quality users provides a solid foundation for Catizen's token market value.

It is worth noting that Catizen received particularly favorable conditions upon listing on exchanges, which stands in stark contrast to other projects that need to pay fees and stake tokens. This treatment not only proves the value of Catizen's users but also shows the exchanges' recognition of this user group. In the history of Web3 gaming, aside from Axie, I don't think any game has been this impressive.

We create value for players by providing engaging and attractive gaming experiences; by collaborating with platforms like OKX, Bybit, Binance, and Bitget, we introduce millions of users to wallets and exchanges; by helping to build the Mantle and TON chains and bringing millions of users to these two ecosystems, we further promote their development. By creating real value, we have a more sustainable business model than our predecessors. Catizen will become an important bridge connecting traditional gaming and the Web3 world, bringing unprecedented value and experiences to investors and players.