Ballman Project is the first Play-to-Earn tennis game launched in 2022 by Stanislas Wawrinka. This blockchain-based game is built around a collection of NFTs that represent virtual tennis players, called Ballman. The competitive aspect of the game is powered by the Ballman Tour, where players can earn rewards. This March 14, Ballman is hosting a freemint and presale for its new collection of NFTs, followed by a public sale on March 17, the perfect opportunity for new players to discover this Play-to-Earn.
Ballman Project: the blockchain game dedicated to tennis
Launched in 2022, Ballman is a Play-to-Earn tennis game created by Stanislas Wawrinka (three-time Grand Slam winner, Olympic champion and Davis Cup winner). The game is powered by the Ethereum blockchain (ETH) and is built around a collection of evolving NFTs that allow their holders to participate in virtual tennis tournaments and win rewards.
Each of these NFTs represents a virtual tennis player, also known as a Ballman, all with unique characteristics that evolve over time based on tournament results.
During a match, the player’s choices (match tactics, and soon training and equipment) also play an important role in the outcome. Thanks to this feature, the outcome of a match is not a matter of chance. Each player becomes a real manager and his decisions before and during the match influence the outcome of the match.
Ballman match preview
After the great success of its 1st collection of 6,200 NFTs, a 2nd and larger collection of NFTs is planned for the community. A new collection of 30,000 NFTs will be released on March 14th (freemint) and the public sale will be open on March 17th
The competitive aspect of Ballman and its rewards
In order for players to progress to a world ranking and win prizes, Ballman offers a virtual tennis competition: the Ballman Tour. This consists of weekly tournaments divided into several categories. Depending on his ranking, a player can participate in tournaments with higher or lower payouts. The more successful the player is, the more points he can earn in the general ranking.
Some tournaments are paid (in MATIC), while others are free. Paid tournaments offer rewards in MATIC tokens (from the bets of all participants) and Ballman Tour Points (BMT), while free tournaments only offer BMT points. It is these BMT points that determine the Ballman world rankings.
For example, here are the characteristics of a typical Ballman tournament:
- Entry requirement: top 250 in the world ranking;
- Entry fee: 6 MATIC ;
- Global prize pool: Up to 6,400 MATIC;
- Maximum number of participants: 128.
Ballman tournament features
Alongside the Ballman Tour, there are many other competitions where players can progress and win awards:
- The first official French Open tennis tournament on the Web3: Starting April 15, 2023, those who own a Ballman NFT will be able to compete in a tournament in an environment exclusive to the French Open brand, with an overall prize pool of $25,000;
- Training Matches: Allow players to train and gain experience;
- Exhibition Matches: Allow players to compete outside of tournaments and gain experience;
Flash Tournaments (coming soon): Fast-paced competitions with prize pools; - Annual prize pool of 50 ETH.
Evolving NFTs and Ballman’s gameplay
Ballman’s dynamic NFTs
There are 5 types of Ballman, differentiated by the number of basic skill points they have. The 5 Ballman types are:
Overview of the 5 categories of Ballman NFTs
Ballman NFTs are not static like most other NFTs, they are dynamic. This implies that they have the ability to evolve in response to many factors.
Indeed, a Ballman can be upgraded by gaining experience, which is gained by winning matches, whether in tournaments, exhibition matches or training sessions.
Thus, a Ballman Rookie can become a Challenger as soon as he reaches the basic skills of this category (220). With more experience, he can then become Epic (230) and even Champion (240).
An exception is made for Legend Ballman, whose supply is fixed at 6,200 NFT. No new Ballman of this type will ever be created and the only way to get one is to buy it on the secondary market, like on the OpenSea marketplace for example.
Some Ballman Legend
In terms of their characteristics, Ballman players have 5 tennis skills that influence the way they play:
- Technique;
- Mental;
- Power;
- Tactics;
- Condition;
Depending on the player’s class, they will have more or less points (from 1 to 5) in each of these skills. Indeed, Ballman’s players are also divided into 5 classes with different abilities:
- Basic offensive player;
- Allround player;
- Server-volleyball ;
- Counter-attacker;
- Pusher.
They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, which are directly reflected in their overall abilities during matches. Furthermore, some Ballmen have rare abilities that give them an advantage in the form of extra points on certain skills.
Also to add depth to Ballman’s NFTs, some Ballmen wear rare outfits, which give a bonus to one of his skills.
How a Ballman match works
In this game, 2 players compete in real time using traditional tennis rules in 3 winning sets. Each rally is played using an algorithm that takes into account the players’ skills to determine where the ball lands. For each player and for each rally, calculations are made based on various parameters:
- Remaining energy ;
- Mental ;
- Total experience points;
- Class Advantage;
- Possible bonuses (booster, area advantage).
Thus, at each exchange, a score is obtained for the players. This score determines who wins the rally and any notable events that will have an impact on the match statistics, such as an ace, a double fault, a break, etc. The winner of the rally is then determined.
The winner of the rally is then determined as follows: a threshold value is calculated for the first player and a random value is drawn by a simulator. If this random value is lower than the threshold of the first player, he wins the point. If it is not, he loses the point.
A collaboration with the French Tennis Federation
In an effort to provide the best possible experience for his players, Ballman has signed a three-year contract with the French Tennis Federation (FFT).
As part of the collaboration, Ballman Project will restore the official French Open tennis tournament to a Web3 version, allowing fans to engage with the tournament in a new way. The tournament will take place in an environment exclusive to the French Open brand and will be open to anyone with a Ballman NFT.
The first French Open virtual tennis tournament on Ballman, with a guaranteed prize of $25,000, is scheduled to begin on April 15, 2023, with the final stages of the tournament running concurrently with the real tournament until the winner is announced on June 11.
This collaboration will help us achieve our goal of becoming the largest tournament and tennis community in the Web3 universe. We look forward to working with the TFF to make this happen. We are looking forward to partnering with all Grand Slam tournaments. “
As part of this initiative, holders of an NFT Roland-Garros Game, Seat & Match will even be able to obtain an NFT Ballman and benefit from privileged access to the virtual Roland-Garros tournament on the platform.
In addition, thanks to this collaboration, 15 French professional tennis players have already joined the Ballman Academy. Ballman’s goal is to welcome 35 additional players in the near future.
Conclusion on the Ballman game
Ballman
Ballman is a complete Web3 tennis experience. This Play-to-Earn game has significant depth, both in terms of the NFTs and their skills, but also in its tournaments and gameplay.
This Web3 experience offers the opportunity to climb a global leaderboard and earn significant rewards as you progress. In addition, the scalability of its NFTs really brings a breath of fresh air that will delight all players.
With his experienced team from both the tennis and Web3 sides and quality partnerships such as the one with the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Ballman has all the cards in hand to build an active and engaged community around his ecosystem.
As a reminder, if you are interested in becoming a Ballman player manager and would like to try your luck at tournaments to win rewards, the new collection of 30,000 NFTs is coming this March 14th.
