DeHorizon: Disney of the Crypto World, the True Metaverse
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DeHorizon: Disney of the Crypto World, the True Metaverse
DeHorizon is a metaverse gaming ecosystem built on a multi-chain network. In other words, it is not a single game, but rather a gaming platform that creates a user-autonomous, co-creative gaming metaverse.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsI first heard about DeHorizon at a dinner gathering, when a friend mysteriously said, "I've invested in a really amazing project—this is going to make me rich," and then revealed the project was called DeHorizon.
His comment left a deep impression on me: "Disney of the crypto world, a true metaverse." That phrase became the title of this article.
On December 6, OKEx announced that DeHorizon would be the latest project in its OKEx Jumpstart program, with staking for mining beginning at 2 PM on the 7th.
Out of curiosity, I’ll provide a comprehensive analysis of DeHorizon.
What is DeHorizon?
DeHorizon is a metaverse gaming ecosystem built on a multi-chain network. In other words, it's not just a single game but more like a gaming platform—an autonomous, user-created game metaverse.
Their long-term vision is to create a cross-chain virtual carnival open to all metaverse natives, offering a second life within the DeHorizon universe.
DeHorizon features a complete narrative universe. For example, Numen are guardian deities in the DeHorizon metaverse, including rangers, thieves, adventurers, alchemists, and warriors. JuJus are pets that accompany players, who can raise and witness their growth.
One thing I particularly appreciate about DeHorizon is that instead of starting with game development, they began by building a story IP, making each character vivid and alive—just like Disney. Here, the IP is truly the core.
On the official website, players can read background stories about characters and organizations. There’s also a Comics section, hinting at future comic content releases.
Based on official announcements and character reveals by founder Shane, the art style closely resembles Disney-style comics—cute and精致.
Currently, the DeHorizon ecosystem has launched three games of different styles and one DID product.
Team Battle Game: DeVerse
DeVerse is a team-based MMORPG blockchain game. Each player needs a guardian deity to join battles, defeat enemies, and earn in-game items and rewards. Each guardian has one basic attack and three skills.
DeVerse is scheduled to launch in Q1 2022.
Battle Royale: DeTournament
DeTournament is a battle royale game where each player can play solo or with friends, exploring maps and discovering treasures. Spectators outside the match can observe gameplay in god mode.
Dragon Racing Game: DeQuidditch
DeQuidditch is a dragon racing game where the goal is to score more points than your opponent.
Each goal is worth 5 points; catching the "magic ball" is worth 50 points. Each point corresponds to the same number of tokens (in-game currency). The game ends when the "magic ball" is caught or only one remains on the field.
There are no penalty rules during the match. Dragons can fight and shoot at each other. Each match has a limited number of players. Players without access to play or without a dragon can bet on others and win rewards after the game.
This reminds me of Quidditch from Harry Potter—you can think of it similarly.
DeMeta
DeMeta is an innovative NFT product—a interoperable, editable, and evolving ERC-721 NFT composed of six customizable avatars and equipment, plus an on-chain profile editable by the player.
The key feature is "editability": players can spend GAS to reset their profiles, while previous owners' data will remain on-chain for future reference. This editable NFT opens up vast imaginative possibilities.
Overall, it serves as a passport for every player entering the DeHorizon metaverse—a decentralized identity granting access across multiple game worlds.
This also reflects my view of the future trend of NFTs: moving beyond simple JPG NFTs toward assets combining both artistic and practical value.
According to the official roadmap, public test versions of DeVerse and DeTournament will launch in Q1 2022, while DeQuidditch’s public test version is planned for Q3 2022.
If traditional play-to-earn games represent GameFi 1.0, DeHorizon’s games are already entering the 2.0 era, making a leap forward in both visual appeal and gameplay—Play for fun and to earn.
Team
Looking at DeHorizon’s team background, the summary is clear: rich experience in both traditional gaming and the crypto industry. Let me highlight a few key members.
Gaming Background:
Todd Porter is the founding producer of Dungeons & Dragons and the first-ever MMORPG Ultima, with over 20 years of experience in the gaming industry.
Changtao Zhou has released over 20 games and served as CTO and co-founder at Yoozoo Network. Gamers are likely familiar with Yoozoo—a publicly listed company valued at over $10 billion, once holding over 20% of China’s mobile gaming market share.
Matt Mocarski previously worked on World of Warcraft and developed Candy Crush at King, a UK-based game developer.
Crypto Background:
Shane Zhu, Founding Director, graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Robotics and is a serial entrepreneur from Silicon Valley. Previously, he was a fund manager for a cryptocurrency trading fund.
Cecilia Maple, Chief Marketing Officer, oversees global marketing for DeHorizon, bringing over seven years of operational and marketing experience in fintech and blockchain. She formerly served as Marketing Director at Bithumb Global.
David Chiu, Chief Technology Officer, has over five years of experience in cryptocurrency wallet development. After earning his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Houston, he became a technical director at several multinational tech companies and CTO at multiple AR and AI firms.
Economic Model
For any blockchain game, economic design is critical—balancing Play and Earn.
DeHorizon uses a dual-token model: governance token + independent native game tokens.
DEVT is the DAO governance token with a total supply of 300 million. Holders who stake DEVT can become members of the DeHorizon DAO and participate in governance proposals. Official materials also mention that a token burn mechanism will be introduced later to maintain relative stability in DEVT’s supply.
On the official website, the team clearly marks out exactly when and how tokens will enter circulation—an approach worthy of wider adoption.
Source:https://dehorizon-foundation-1.gitbook.io/dehorizon/tokenomics
A key date: On December 15, 9 million DEVT tokens will unlock, representing an initial circulating supply of 3%.
Additionally, each game has its own independent native token—DVT (DeVerse Token), DTT (DeTournament Token), and DQT (DeQuidditch Token).
Players can use these native tokens to purchase digital assets such as characters, land, and equipment. As more game scenarios are released, players will need more tokens to unlock new gameplay and upgrade gear. To start playing, users must initially buy tokens from liquidity pools to generate their characters and kick off the game.
The supply of DVT/DTT/DQT scales entirely with user base growth and unlocked gameplay. Initial supply is set at 1,000,000,000, and to ensure fairness, tokens will be launched via Fair Launch.
Investor Background
In October, DeHorizon announced an $8.5 million Pre-A funding round led by Sfermion, Dragonfly Capital, and Everest Ventures Group (EVG), with participation from Animoca Brands, Yield Guild Games (YGG), Mechanism Capital, and others.
The investor lineup is impressive. Animoca Brands and YGG are now considered bellwethers in the blockchain gaming space.
Each of the three lead investors brings strong credentials.
Sfermion recently raised $100 million dedicated specifically to NFT investments. Its LPs include Marc Andreessen and early partner Chris Dixon from a16z, the Winklevoss twins of Gemini Exchange, among others. Sfermion founder Andrew also invested in OpenSea.
Dragonfly Capital is a heavyweight in the industry—well-funded and influential. It has backed Lido, Bybit, Animoca Brands, Avalanche, zkSync parent Matter Labs, and many others.
Everest Ventures Group (EVG) is low-key yet luxurious, having made early investments in The Sandbox, Animoca Brands, Flow… Dapper Labs’ CBO Naayem once described EVG as “the DCG of Asia” (“EVG is building the DCG of Asia.”)
YGG
Let me focus briefly on YGG, since they’ve not only invested in DeHorizon but also pre-purchased exclusive in-game assets before launch.
According to disclosed information, YGG purchased $91,000 worth of DeHorizon in-game assets, including exclusive weapons, gear, a dragon racing team, DeMeta Pass IDs, and 40 custom JuJu monsters. Notably, the exclusive weapons and gear obtained by YGG have superior stats compared to regular items. Additionally, YGG completed a $60,000 token swap between YGG and DEVT tokens.
This sends a clear signal: YGG and its scholars will definitely participate in the game and have already begun strategic positioning, demonstrating strong confidence and endorsement of DeHorizon’s gaming ecosystem. So I’m labeling this project: YGG-Selected.
However, I do have a personal question: Does allowing gaming guilds early access and better equipment violate fairness?
Finally, let’s summarize the project’s highlights and potential risks.
Game Highlights
1. Exceptionally strong and well-rounded team, featuring OGs from gaming and experienced marketing and technical talent from crypto.
2. Platform-based ecosystem with high valuation potential, backed by a clear long-term vision and roadmap.
3. High-quality art style and engaging gameplay.
4. Endorsed by YGG—guaranteed user traffic upon launch.
5. Strong investor lineup.
Potential Risks
1. Broader market trends may affect player engagement—though this impacts all projects equally.
2. Future value capture of the governance token, along with details around the burn mechanism, require further clarification and refinement.
Finally, below are the research materials and links used for due diligence (DD) on DeHorizon:
Website: http://www.dehorizon.fun
Litepaper: https://www.dehorizon-foundation-1.gitbook.io/dehorizon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeHorizonfun
Telegram: t.me/DeHorizonfun
Discord: discord.gg/dehorizon
Medium: https://medium.com/@DeHorizon
OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/dehorizonfun
Founder's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shengdaddy
Disclosure: The author is currently staking OKB to participate in the DEVT launchpad; a friend participated in DeHorizon’s private investment round.
*This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. Do your own research.
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