Key highlights:
- Web3 sports predictions platform Pooky is launching its free-to-play public beta
- Pooky aims to provide players an entertaining sports prediction experience, while avoiding the risks of traditional gambling platforms
- Holders of Pookyball NFTs can make predictions and earn points
Pooky is launching its public beta, players will be able to predict FIFA World Cup results
Pooky, a web3-powered platform for sports predictions, is launching its platform in public beta today (November 16). The free-to-play Pooky public beta will allow users to predict results of matches at the FIFA World Cup, which is set to kick off on November 20.
Participants in the Pooky public beta will get a whitelist spot for minting Genesis Pookyball NFTs in the project’s private sale, which is scheduled for January 2023. Pookyball NFT holders will be able to make predictions on football games from the biggest tournaments and leagues in the world, including the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga.
Pooky will initially be focusing its efforts on football prediction, but the team plans to also add support for other sports such as tennis, basketball and Formula 1 next year.
The Pooky platform, which is built on the Polygon blockchain, allows players that correctly predict the results of matches to earn experience points and compete on leaderboards. Players also collect upgradeable Pookyball NFTs, which provide access to predictions.
According to the Pooky team, the platform allows players to avoid the high risks of traditional sports betting platforms, while still making games more exciting since players have something on the line. Experience points earned by making correct predictions can be used to upgrade Pookyball NFTs, with better Pookyballs yielding bigger rewards. Top players can earn crypto rewards, as well as rare Pookyball NFTs.
The Pooky platform will feature an ERC-20 utility token, which will function purely as an in-game currency and a way to reward the best players. The tokens will be burned through various in-game actions, with the Pooky team hoping to avoid the token supply inflation problems that have plagued multiple “play-to-earn” games.
Here’s how Pooky co-founder Stefano Riff summed up the project’s ambitions:
“We wanted to build a healthier alternative to traditional sports betting. By going back to the roots of sports prediction — challenging friends and demonstrating your knowledge of the beautiful game — Pooky encourages social interaction and fun whilst creating communities, both on and off the platform.”
