Step Hero Soul: Play-to-Earn NFT Game and DeFi Ecosystem
The Step Hero Soul whitepaper was written and released by the Step Hero core team in Q2 2021, aiming to provide players with a brand new experience that combines entertainment and profitability by integrating NFT gaming and DeFi.
The theme of the Step Hero Soul whitepaper can be summarized as “Step Hero: a comprehensive NFT fantasy role-playing game and DeFi ecosystem.” The uniqueness of Step Hero Soul lies in its construction of a comprehensive ecosystem that includes an RPG game, NFT marketplace, and hero mining. By tokenizing game characters and items as NFTs and using $STEP and $HERO tokens to drive the in-game economy, Step Hero Soul brings sustainable value to users and investors, and promotes the development of the BSC and Polygon ecosystems as well as the adoption of blockchain applications.
The original intention of Step Hero Soul is to build a top-tier NFT ecosystem, providing players with novel gaming experiences and generous earning opportunities. The core viewpoint stated in the Step Hero Soul whitepaper is: by deeply integrating NFT gaming and DeFi mechanisms, a sustainable “play-to-earn” model is constructed, thereby providing immersive entertainment while endowing digital assets with real value and promoting the widespread application of blockchain technology.
Step Hero Soul whitepaper summary
What is Step Hero Soul
Friends, imagine if playing games could not only bring you fun, but also allow you to truly own rare items in the virtual world, and even earn some small rewards by playing—isn't that cool? Step Hero Soul is just such a project: it is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) ecosystem that combines gaming and blockchain technology.
Simply put, Step Hero Soul is part of the “Step Hero” game ecosystem, integrating the concepts of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi), allowing players to participate in the crypto economy while enjoying the fun of gaming.
In this fantasy world, you can collect unique heroes (these heroes are NFTs, unique digital assets), use them to battle, complete quests, and even trade them in the in-game marketplace.
Core scenarios and usage flow:
- Summoning heroes: Players can use in-game tokens (including the STEP token and HERO token we’re discussing today) to summon new hero NFTs.
- In-game transactions: The STEP token plays an important role in the game, such as opening equipment chests, upgrading hero star levels, or purchasing other game items.
- Obtaining rewards: When you win battles or complete quests in the game, STEP tokens are your reward.
- NFT marketplace: The game also provides an NFT marketplace where you can buy, sell, or even create your own NFTs, such as powerful heroes you’ve trained or rare equipment.
Project Vision and Value Proposition
The vision of the Step Hero project is to create an NFT game ecosystem that is both fun and profitable, allowing players to gain real value from their game time and investment while enjoying an immersive gaming experience.
The core problems it aims to solve:
- Traditional game assets do not belong to players: In many traditional games, the skins, equipment, and other virtual items you purchase are actually owned by the game company. Once the game shuts down, your assets disappear. Step Hero uses NFT technology to ensure that rare in-game items truly belong to players and can be freely traded on the blockchain.
- Combining gaming and earning: It combines “play” and “earn,” allowing players to obtain cryptocurrency rewards through in-game activities, thus creating new sources of income for players.
Differences from similar projects:
Step Hero emphasizes its high-quality fantasy-themed RPG gaming experience and exquisite NFT design. It is not just a simple “click-to-earn” game, but is committed to providing engaging storylines and gameplay.
Technical Features
The Step Hero ecosystem is built on multiple blockchain platforms, mainly Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Polygon (formerly known as Matic Network).
- Multi-chain support: This means it can run on different blockchain networks, providing users with more flexible choices and lower transaction costs.
- NFT technology: The core of the project is NFTs—each hero, equipment, etc. is a unique NFT recorded on the blockchain, ensuring its rarity and ownership.
- Smart contracts: Various game rules, transactions, and reward distributions are automatically executed through smart contracts, ensuring fairness and transparency.
(Note: Regarding the specific consensus mechanism, as an application-layer project, Step Hero mainly relies on the consensus mechanisms of its underlying blockchains, i.e., BSC and Polygon.)
Tokenomics
There are two main tokens in the Step Hero ecosystem: HERO and STEP. Although users mention “Step Hero Soul” and abbreviate it as “STEP,” according to available information, HERO is the main token of the ecosystem, while STEP is more of an in-game reward and utility token.
HERO Token (Main Ecosystem Token)
- Token symbol: HERO
- Issuing chains: Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Polygon
- Total supply: 100 million HERO
- Use cases:
- NFT summoning: Used together with STEP tokens to summon new hero NFTs.
- Staking: Holders can stake HERO to earn rewards, such as points to exchange for NFTs.
- Liquidity mining: Provide HERO/BNB liquidity on platforms like PancakeSwap to earn FLIP tokens, which can then be exchanged for NFTs.
- Governance: Holding a certain amount of HERO tokens may grant voting rights on project development decisions.
- NFT marketplace payments: HERO tokens can be used as the payment currency on the Hero NFT marketplace.
- Distribution and vesting:
- Seed sale: 5%
- Private sale: 15%
- Public sale: 2.5%
- Team: 10% (2-year lockup, 25% unlocked every 6 months)
- Advisors: 5%
- Liquidity: 20%
- Marketing: 15%
- Game incentives: 17.5%
- Reserve: 10%
STEP Token (In-game Currency)
The STEP token is an in-game currency within the Step Hero game ecosystem, mainly used for various in-game operations and rewards.
- Token symbol: STEP
- Use cases:
- Summoning new heroes: Used together with HERO tokens to summon new hero NFTs.
- In-game transactions: Used to purchase in-game items, open equipment chests, upgrade hero star levels, etc.
- In-game rewards: Rewards obtained by players for winning battles or completing quests.
- Bounty hunting rewards: Stake NFTs to participate in bounty hunting and earn STEP rewards.
(Note: Detailed information on the total supply, inflation/burn mechanisms, etc. of the STEP token is not as comprehensive in public sources as for the HERO token; it is more focused on in-game circulation and consumption.)
Team, Governance, and Funding
The Step Hero project is developed by a dynamic young team passionate about blockchain and cryptocurrency, dedicated to reimagining classic childhood game characters with the 4.0 technology trend.
- Team characteristics: Team members have rich backgrounds and experience in game development, blockchain technology, and related fields.
- Core members: Although the specific list of core members is not always up-to-date in public sources, the project has mentioned that its team has more than 20 members and is supported by advisors from well-known projects such as PolkaFoundry.
- Governance mechanism: HERO token holders have voting rights on project development decisions, indicating that the project may adopt a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance model, allowing the community to participate in the project's future development.
Roadmap
The following are some historical milestones and plans for the Step Hero project:
- Q2 2021:
- Release of web app and NFT website.
- Whitepaper release.
- HERO token issuance.
- Launch of NFT collectibles on Polygon (then Matic Network).
- Q3 2021:
- Launch of HERO NFT marketplace.
- Public sale.
- HERO token listed on exchanges.
- Q4 2021:
- Launch of Step Hero RPG game.
- Release of game trailer and Beta version.
(Note: As blockchain projects develop rapidly, the above roadmap mainly reflects the project's early plans and milestones. For future specific plans, please refer to the latest official announcements or updated whitepapers.)
Common Risk Warnings
Investing in any blockchain project comes with risks, and Step Hero Soul is no exception. Here are some common risks to be aware of:
- Technical and security risks:
- Smart contract vulnerabilities: Smart contracts are the core of the project; if there are vulnerabilities, they may lead to asset loss.
- Network security: The game platform and NFT marketplace may face the risk of hacking attacks.
- Economic risks:
- Token price volatility: The prices of HERO and STEP tokens are affected by market supply and demand, project development, overall crypto market sentiment, and other factors, and may fluctuate sharply.
- Sustainability of the game economic model: The economic model of “play-to-earn” games needs to be carefully designed to be sustainable in the long term; if rewards are too high or players leave, it may lead to a decline in token value.
- Liquidity risk: If token trading volume is insufficient, it may be difficult to buy or sell when needed.
- Compliance and operational risks:
- Regulatory uncertainty: Global regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies and NFT games are still evolving, and future policy changes may affect project operations.
- Intense competition: The NFT gaming market is highly competitive, with new projects emerging constantly; Step Hero needs to continuously innovate to remain competitive.
- Team execution: The success of the project largely depends on the team's development and operational capabilities.
Please remember, the above information does not constitute any investment advice. Be sure to do your own in-depth research (DYOR) before making any investment decisions.
Verification Checklist
- Block explorer contract addresses:
- HERO token (BSC): 0xE8176d414560cFE1Bf82Fd73B986823B89E4F545
- (Note: As the STEP token is an in-game currency, its contract address may need to be found in in-game materials or a more detailed whitepaper.)
- GitHub activity: It is recommended to visit the project's official GitHub repository (if public) to check code update frequency and community contributions to assess project development activity.
- Official website: https://stephero.io/
- Whitepaper: https://whitepaper.stephero.io/
- Social media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/StepHeroNFTs), Telegram (https://t.me/stephero_chat & https://t.me/stephero_ann), Medium (https://stephero.medium.com/), etc.
Project Summary
Step Hero Soul (as part of the Step Hero ecosystem) is a project that combines fantasy role-playing games with blockchain technology, aiming to provide players with a new gaming experience and value acquisition method through NFTs and the “play-to-earn” model.
It uses the HERO token as the main value carrier of the ecosystem and the STEP token as the in-game currency and reward, building a dual-token economic model. Players can collect and train NFT heroes in the game, participate in battles, and trade these digital assets in a decentralized marketplace.
The project's vision is to solve the issue of asset ownership in traditional games and create earning opportunities for players. However, like all emerging blockchain and gaming projects, Step Hero also faces technical, economic, and regulatory risks.
For those interested in NFT games and blockchain technology, Step Hero provides a window to understand and participate in this emerging field. But please remember, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and risky. Be sure to conduct thorough personal research before participating and make decisions based on your own risk tolerance. This is not investment advice.
For more details, please conduct your own research.