It was a busy 2024 for Confiction Labs, with a strong focus on building RIFTSTORM as the first flagship game of Collaborative Entertainment. Since its inception, RIFTSTORM has had three successful playtests on Steam. The RIFTSTORM ecosystem has expanded, with pioneering community members now holding FICT ZERO and XPSR-24 assets to help spearhead Confiction’s vision for the future of entertainment. The team also built the Portal gaining media coverage for its application of Proof of Exposure.
Progress was a recurring theme for 2024. The team has established partnerships in gaming and technology, which supported the development of RIFTSTORM. Confiction Labs also took the opportunity to garner player feedback at key consumer events globally, traveling to Gamescom in Germany, YGG Play Summit in the Philippines, and PAX in the US.
Here is a recap of 2024 for Confiction Labs.
Entering the Occultical Universe with RIFTSTORM
RIFTSTORM was created with longevity in mind, designed to be everyone’s #2 game, always installed in players’ libraries and one they can always come back to play with friends. The cooperative looter shooter ARPG with roguelite elements gained much traction for its theme and mechanics. Inspired by mechanics from the Diablo franchise and Hades, RIFTSTORM took on the form of a futuristic alternate universe where a secret society battles against mysterious and sinister creatures known collectively as mythics.
The game had its second and third playtest in 2024, held on March 8-15, 2024, and October 16-29, 2024. Its latest playtest broke engagement milestones with 99,514 hours played, 110,590 downloads, and 92% positive reviews on Steam, securing the top spot on the trending free charts for three straight days. Numerous content creators and esports players covered the playtest, gaining over 1.3 million impressions on streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
Development continues for RIFTSTORM as it moves closer to its closed and open beta planned in 2025. A new and improved Dungeon System 2.0 introduced in the third playtest made missions more dynamic and allowed for deeper narrative control for both the developers and players. A weapon crafting system, new weapons, new characters, and narrative missions were also implemented, leveraging insights from player feedback. The Confiction Labs team continues to gather data to flesh out RIFTSTORM further while testing the new Collaborative Entertainment features that will come with the open beta version.
Get the full overview here:
Building Ecosystem Assets
In 2024, Confiction Labs released two new ecosystem assets, FICT ZERO and XPSR-24.
FICT ZERO serves as the foundational core for all future universes created by Confiction Labs. It is an invite-only genesis asset that grants holders the right to produce and benefit from IPs developed by Confiction. The team held one-on-one meetings with each applicant for FICT ZERO, ranging from technology builders to content creators and artists. Each initial holder was hand-selected for their capability to contribute to the ecosystem and drive Collaborative Entertainment forward. Some of the most notable holders of FICT ZERO such as Sam Steffanina, Gabby Dizon, Giulio Xiloyannis, YellowPanther, Ray Chan, Grail, Konger, and Dingaling.
A total of 333 FICT ZERO assets have been minted, most of which are staked for the maximum time. Holders show complete confidence in Confiction Labs’ vision. Only two FICT ZERO assets have been sold since mint, with the highest price at 3.6 ETH in November 2024.
XPSR-24, a collection exclusive to the Occultical universe, was designed to gather the most passionate and dedicated community members to support RIFTSTORM and future games set in Occultical. XPSR-24 features cutting-edge utility, with evolving assets that record a holder’s legacy while offering exclusive opportunities, such as limited-time cosmetics, airdrop rewards, and special product discounts.
The collection’s art direction created a refreshing new artistic movement called: Urban Neo-Expressionism, a style created to appeal to gamers and collectors alike. Led by renowned artist Chris Lie, the art team behind XPSR-24 was inspired by the expressive nature of Neo-Expressionism and urban art, which resonates with Web3 culture while mirroring the secretive world of RIFTSTORM.
Get more details about Confiction’s ecosystem assets here:
Defining Collaborative Entertainment
At the heart of everything being built by Confiction Labs is Collaborative Entertainment. It is a new way to approach entertainment by opening the doors for the community to contribute their creative ideas directly to the development of an IP. RIFTSTORM will be the first to introduce this approach, and the earliest iterations can be seen in its alpha playtest narrative missions, where players were given a choice that would influence game updates. In the future, it will be possible for players to contribute user-generated content (UGC), with each submission potentially becoming a part of RIFTSTORM’s lore or next update.
Collaborative Entertainment was conceptualized with emerging technologies fueling its development. Artificial intelligence makes it possible to scale Collaborative Entertainment with its ability to categorize and vet user submissions, while Web3 enables the transparent, verifiable attribution and incentivization of ideas. Confiction Labs believes that new technology will kick-start the next wave of gaming innovation in the same way mobile computing unlocked live service and free-to-play games. These emerging technologies also make it possible for a player to have a lasting legacy in their games, whether through the assets they own or their in-game actions.
As part of the Collaborative Entertainment vision, Confiction Labs has built the Portal, a platform allowing community members to join a more extensive network. Members of the Portal can increase their clearance levels, which opens up opportunities such as becoming a part of the allowlist for XPSR-24. The team also implemented Proof of Exposure, a verification method that prevented bots from overtaking the XPSR-24 allowlist process while measuring the potential of community members’ contributions.
Get more details here:
Partnerships and Events
As of the third playtest, Confiction Labs has 302 community partners supporting RIFTSTORM and other endeavors connected to Collaborative Entertainment. These include Yield Guild Games, Talon Esports, Team Secret, GAM3S.GG, Pixelmon, and many more. Their support can be seen through written coverage, streaming, events, and even infrastructure, as seen with the recent XAI partnership, which will add a layer of security to the RIFTSTORM assets designated to be deployed using Web3 technology.
The Confiction Labs team has also been busy traveling and showcasing RIFTSTORM at events. PAX East 2024 was one of the biggest events the team was a part of, with around 2,500 gamers appearing daily to try the game. The feedback has been positive, with many gamers highlighting the nostalgia brought about by RIFTSTORM with how it reminded them of games such as Helldivers I and Alien Shooter.
RIFTSTORM also participated in the Indie Arena booth at Gamescom 2024, the team’s official debut at the event. The game was one of the few showcased among 170 developers from 37 countries, and about 1,000 daily attendees played it during the event. Many players enjoyed the cooperative experience and praised the game for its polished design. Confiction Labs also partnered with DareDrop and invited creators to try RIFTSTORM.
By early September, the Confiction Labs team made its way to PAX West 2024, which saw a bigger crowd compared to the previous year. The RIFTSTORM booth featured a newer build, and over 1,800 daily attendees arrived to try the game. From casual to hardcore players, everyone enjoyed the game’s challenges during the event.
Several team members also traveled to the Philippines in November 2024 to attend the YGG Play Summit, a gathering of games and other gaming-related projects integrating Web3 technology. The Summit was an opportunity to test the latest build of the game in the heartland of Web3 gaming adoption. RIFTSTORM was a part of the event’s Gamer Expo, where 7,000 attendees had a chance to try the current version of the game.
Looking to 2025
The following year will continue the momentum of 2024, with RIFTSTORM heading into its closed and open beta phase, where the game will be available for all Steam players. The team is working to ensure that all features will be available at that time, especially creators’ participation, which will be the cornerstone of the Collaborative Entertainment experience. The team is also evaluating additional platforms for the launch of RIFTSTORM, looking carefully at console options.
RIFTSTORM is just the first step. There have been early-stage developments for other games set in the Occultical universe to broaden the player experience, and Confiction Labs has been talking to partners for potential collaborations. The past year was a success, thanks to Confiction Labs’ team, the community, partners, and early supporters who believe in the company’s vision.
