Andrew Gilliam, founder and CEO of PlayChange.io, will mark National Video Games Day on Sept. 12 by launching the ground floor of the PlayChange Gym. The free virtual gaming destination will allow players to explore, compete, develop their characters and discover what games are coming next from PlayChange. The Gym is the first phase of the company’s broader platform, which brings together sports, artificial intelligence, digital commerce and community engagement.
The opening represents the first phase of a planned three-floor Gym and PlayChange’s first multiplayer test. At launch, gamers will be able to explore the ground floor and familiarize themselves with the environment before it is fully developed. Initially, users will be able to participate in boxing exercises inside a dedicated training room, compete for top scores on a leaderboard, and shop for PlayChange apparel and merchandise. Additional character updates are expected every week following the initial launch.
The PlayChange Gym is being developed around a straightforward idea: Gamers should have a place where playing, exploring and having fun come first.
“Gaming should begin with the experience, not with a price tag attached to every part of it,” notes Andrew Gilliam, founder and CEO of PlayChange.io. “We’re creating the kind of place that gamers remember as somewhere they can play, build their characters, have fun and feel like the platform was designed just for them. The industry may lose sight of the gamer at times, but PlayChange never will.”
By making the Gym free to gamers, PlayChange is pursuing a different approach from models that continually charge players to access individual parts of the experience. The company’s goal is to create an environment players will want to revisit because they enjoy being there, while gradually introducing additional features, characters and entertainment.
“As gamers ourselves, we began by examining the issues that frustrated players across today’s platforms and games,” adds Vernon King, chief content and talent officer at PlayChange. “Too many decisions are driven solely by monetization, while the experience that made people love gaming gets pushed aside. The PlayChange Gym is our answer, a place shaped by the conversation gamers have been having and the kind of experience we have wanted for ourselves.”
The Gym will also provide the foundation for PlayChange’s broader plans spanning games, combat sports, music and indie games.
CryptoBoxers, the company’s next major gaming release, is being developed at the intersection of gaming, boxing and athlete culture. The title is designed to bring fighters and their audiences into the gaming environment, creating new ways for fans to engage with the athletes they follow.
PlayChange is also developing an initiative to introduce unsigned recording artists and their music to gamers inside the platform. The planned PlayChange Top 20 will feature a curated selection of music, giving participants an opportunity to discover emerging artists while providing select artists with promotional support and assistance generating music sales through the platform.
The game entity plans to accept a limited number of initial artist submissions through a dedicated submission page scheduled to be available on launch day. Future music initiatives may include curated gaming playlists, mixtapes, original releases, artist promotion and collaborations between musicians and game developers.
In addition, PlayChange is inviting independent developers with compelling game concepts to pursue potential publishing relationships with the platform. Its developing model is intended to create another pathway for promising independent games that may have not been completed or had difficulty attracting attention through traditional industry channels.
Dedicated submission pages for unsigned artists and independent developers are available at https://playchange.io/partners/artists and https://playchange.io/partners/developers .
The launch arrives approximately one year after PlayChange began publicly introducing its vision. With the first floor of the Gym opening, CryptoBoxers preparing to follow and submission opportunities being created for artists and developers, the company is beginning to activate the interconnected platform it has been building.
Gamers can explore the PlayChange Gym and view platform previews HEREHere.
