MixMob: Driving Innovation in Web3 Gaming – A Conversation with Pavel Bains – Influencive

We sat down with Pavel Bains of MixMob, the world’s 1st card strategy racing game from the team behind FIFA and HALO. Pavel was in the gaming industry for almost 10 years prior to entering crypto in 2016, working in every arena from licensing to business development, mergers and acquisitions, financial operations and full studio management. He worked with several well-known studios including Disney Interactive Studios, Xbox, Electronic Arts, Activision, Nintendo and more. After having kids, he decided to take a stab at nonviolent games and worked on Story Panda, a digital content platform on the iPads. The problem was, everyone wanted free content and it was a tough market to sell in which made his entry into the world of web3 all the more appealing. His first project was Bluzelle decentralized storage that did well and is still in operation. Gaming was still his passion though and when Axie started taking off, Pavel started making calls. One of those calls was Simon, the current MixMob CEO, who also worked with FIFA, EA, Lego, Nintendo and a host of other well known outlets. “Do you think we could do better,” Pavel asked? The answer was yes, and they began to assemble a team with a background working on HALO, Battlefield, FIFA, and more to join forces and build what is now MixMob. This Mario Kart meets Hearthstone style game allows players to build their strategy from a deck of cards, similar to the random power ups in other racing games. The full release is coming out in Q2 on mobile and all platforms and the reception so far has been positive. They target crypto natives, and Pavel says they break their players into three types: the gamer, the gambler, the degen. With free to play options gamers can hop in and enjoy from day 1, “but the real fun is when you compete with people for money,” Pavel said. The game offers rewards for competition and prize pools. For those that don’t actually game, the gamblers, the platform offers on-chain stats so viewers can throw money in and enjoy the race. On top of that, each racing arena is a DeFi liquidity pool. Degens can stake MXM tokens in the arenas and get a percentage of the racing arena fees. “So that’s how we made the whole thing like a full loop that everybody has something to do no matter what type of person you are,” Pavel said. So why did these legends leave their positions at some of the most popular gaming studios in the world? They had accomplished everything they could in traditional gaming. Web3 is the evolution of gaming, allowing builders to create their own token and economy within a game unlike the enclosed systems of web2. MixMob sold out an NFT collection in December called MixBots, robot figures which are your Mario Kart-like racing characters. They have different levels, cosmetics, and rarities as well as different powers. Combine your MixBot with the right cards and you have the beginning of your strategy in MixMob. They started development back in January 2022 and have released a new version of the game every 3-4 months in order to gather community feedback. This is just not done in the traditional gaming world, but the advantages are obvious. Not only does it build their community, but the feedback has steered the game to what it is today. MixMob can be found on Solana, and their token MXM only recently launched. They took an alternative route, choosing to build their game first before their TGE. Crypto is a game of survivability according to Pavel and they have proven their ability to build through the bear. They also have acquired their first IP license from another licensed brand. Opinions expressed here are opinions of the Author. Influencive does not endorse or review brands mentioned; does not and cannot investigate relationships with brands, products, and people mentioned and is up to the Author to disclose. Accounts and articles may be professional fee-based.