When we look at ZED RUN and the state of the ecosystem, we know there is so much more to do. We know we haven’t always hit our timeline targets, but we will endeavour to do better in 2022. Let’s get into what we have planned to evolve and expand beyond BETA.
Revamping the Class System
Timeline: Early Q1
The first phase of an improved class system is coming. This new rating system is based on Elo and determines a racehorse’s class by calculating a racehorse’s rating according to its position at the end of any given race, relative to the field of competition. This will more accurately represent a racehorse’s rating based on its past performance.
We will also introduce more classes. As the racehorse population increases, the optimal number of classes will change. This significant update to the class system will help ensure that racehorses continue to race competitively without plateauing. More details about Elo will be coming in the updated section on the ZED RUN Guide.
What are your thoughts on Revamping the Class System? Complete the survey by clicking here.
ZED RUN Tokens
Timeline: Q1
One of the first and most pivotal changes coming to ZED RUN is a native token ecosystem.
To help fast track the launch of the ZED RUN token, we have officially partnered with Republic Crypto. Republic Crypto have worked on some of the biggest token launches to date, including Star Atlas, Avalanche and Polygon. Having a deep understanding of NFTs, community and game de-fi economics, Republic Crypto will help finalise the execution and development of a sustainable ZED RUN token and token ecosystem.
NOTE: The ZED RUN token is intended to be utilised as a unit of exchange for the provision of services in the ZED RUN ecosystem, and an incentive to encourage players to contribute and maintain the ZED ecosystem. Ownership of the ZED RUN tokens carries no rights, other than a means to engage with the ZED RUN ecosystem. The token does not have any intrinsic value, and it is the responsibility of the token recipient to maintain the token securely and protect its wallet private keys.
The ZED RUN token will play a critical role in establishing the new foundation for racing, breeding, lending and guilds and as such will underpin all ongoing development. The ZED RUN token will be used across the platform, and can be held by members of the community to exchange for in game activities.
We expect the distribution of the ZED RUN tokens to be divided into three (3) main categories:
- In-game activities
- Growth incentives
- Existing users
The ZED RUN token will launch in the following four phases:
Phase 1: Initial Airdrop
Timeline: Q1
ZED RUN tokens will be airdropped to eligible stable owners and ZED RUN NFT holders (skin / pass / racehorse holders). Allocation will be based on the following factors:
- Number of racehorses owned
- Type of racehorses owned (i.e. racehorse DNA)
- Length of ZED RUN NFT ownership
Active stable owners and long-term holders of racehorses will receive tokens first for their unwavering support and participation in breeding, racing, and trading. We will be taking a snapshot of this data which will be communicated to the community in due course.
Phase 2: Racing
Timeline: Q1
The ZED RUN token will be used to enter into races. Early incentives will be available to all stable owners who participate in racing through Play to Earn rewards.
The token rewards on offer for each race and/or tournament will be correlated to:
- Race class
- Tournament type
- Tournament length
- Special conditional event(s)
Race pools will initially continue to have ETH/WETH prizes alongside the ZED RUN token.
As racing in ZED RUN continues to expand, the way in which tokens are used in game will change alongside the community’s expectation and input.
Phase 3: Racehorse Retirement
Timeline: Q2
ZED RUN lacks an “end-of-life” option in its core engagement loop of breed-trade-race, where breeding has an unlimited growth curve. As such, we plan to introduce a “retirement” feature that will allow stable owners to permanently give up ownership (i.e. for deletion or addition to the VHS Racehorse Treasury) of a non-Genesis racehorse in exchange for tokens.
These tokens will correspond to the activity of that racehorse throughout its life. This will improve ZED RUN in two (2) ways:
- Adding a deflationary influence on the racehorse population
- Providing players with an option to salvage value back from their initial purchase.
Phase 4: Renting
Timeline: Q2
An integral part of ZED RUN is to continue democratising horse racing and racehorse ownership. A majority of created stables have never raced in ZED RUN. One of the reasons for this is that the prices of racehorses are simply too high and act as a significant barrier to entry.
This is about to change.
Beginning with the Official ZED RUN Stable, new stable owners will be able to rent many of the unsold Genesis racehorses. We have been planning to more effectively utilise unsold Genesis racehorses to better serve the community. Rather than profiting from the sale of Genesis racehorses, we are instead driving utility back into the token to create stronger levels of engagement for the community.
Rewards accumulated from the racehorses rented out from the Official ZED RUN Stable will be shared with the renter and the rest of the community, driving a continuous engagement loop that benefits the entire ecosystem.
Once launched, Renting will enable:
- A better onboarding experience for new stable owners, rapidly increasing their ability to enter a race and compete faster;
- A wider distribution of tokens, and;
- Existing stable owners to generate rewards by renting out their very own racehorses.
More information and details will be provided in the coming weeks.
What are your thoughts on the ZED RUN token? Complete the survey by clicking here.
Ultimate Tournament and Racing Experience
Timeline: Commencing Q1
Tournaments are about to explode in 2022. As you are aware, the team is testing a variety of formats and structures so that every racehorse will have a place in the ecosystem. More variety will be applied to:
Prize Pools
With the introduction of the ZED RUN token and an existing prize pool treasury in excess of USD $9,500,000, a wave of rewards will be up for grabs for all racehorse owners and renters.
Eligibility Conditions
Conditional-based racing will encourage activation for inactive racehorses, boosting racing participation and the value of those racehorses.
Examples of entry conditions may include:
- Bloodline/Breedtype/Genotype specific only races
- Racehorses with 0% place record
- Colour group (i.e. Neptune/Earth/Wild/Moon/Classic/Mystical)
- Inclusive of Skin type, Pass type
Party Mode is Coming
Yes, private or public user-generated events, aka “party mode”, is part of the plan, enabling stable owners to run their own special racing events and create their own tournaments.
Seasons
With the introduction of Seasons, stable owners can opt in to play in two different game modes:
- Daily Leaderboard
Participate in free racing events daily. Daily leaderboard points are distributed for races won and the daily treasury purse is distributed according to racehorse rank. - Seasons Leaderboard
With the ZED RUN token, stable owners can opt in to a Seasons using a Pass which gives access to different tournaments, exclusive sponsored events, and rewards.
The Masses
Timeline: Commencing Q3
Over the last 9 months, ZED RUN has enjoyed publicity through some of the biggest news outlets across the globe including:
- New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- Sportico
- Yahoo!
- Yahoo! Finance
- Financial Times
- NASDAQ
- AXIOS
- Coin Telegraph
Throughout 2021, our focus has been on platform stability and scaling ZED RUN to cope with the huge influx of users from the beginning of the year. As we build more stability into the ZED RUN ecosystem, our marketing efforts will kick off in 2022 with the aim of bringing in more new users with a focus on adoption.
Reputable Network
ZED RUN has been supported by some of the most prominent investors in the world such as The Chernin Group, Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners that continue to support not only our vision, but the community’s vision too.
We also have a world-class advisory team of dedicated individuals helping ZED RUN cast its reach into the mainstream, including:
- David Van Egmond, Former Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Barstool Sports and Former Executive Vice President Head of Strategy at Fan Duel
- Henrik Andersson, Chief Investment Officer at Apollo Capital
- Matt Restivo, Former Chief Product Officer at Action Network
With the support of industry titans in the sports, media and NFT space, ZED RUN is positioned to finally make a big push towards a deeper and wider level of adoption.
Team Growth
ZED RUN has more than 100 individuals working full-time on the platform, and the majority of these new employees began with us over the last three (3) months. Our key hires include:
| Name | Position | Past |
| Roberto Viera | Head of Engineering | Director of Technology at Wargaming (World of Tanks) Head of Engineering at King (Candy Crush) |
| Daniel Bruce | Head of Product | Group Product Manager at Stripe Payments Senior Product Manager at Google |
| Alex McMahon | Head of Design | Senior Manager of UX at Expedia Group Head of Design at a machine learning solar start up |
| Alex Kruger | Senior Data Scientist | Data Scientist at Sports Bet Software Engineer at IBM and CSIRO |
| James Oppel | Senior DevOps Manager | Site Reliability Engineer at Tencent DevOps Manager at NASA |
| Shannon Dix | Chief Marketing Officer | Marketing Operations Director, Accenture CEO, Wunderman aVP of Marketing, HTC |
| Ted Gay | VP of Commercial Operations | President at Twin Spires Chief Strategy Officer at Churchill Downs |
| Chika Chandrashekar | VP of Strategy | VP of Strategy at AirTime Global Product Lead at Google Monetisation Strategy at eBay |
Ongoing Developments
In addition to the roadmap items above, the team will continue improving all aspects of ZED RUN. This January, you can expect to see:
- Smart contract development beginnings with Republic Crypto
- Finalisation of smart contract audit by Qauntstamp
- Increased community collaboration through surveys to improve user experience
As ZED RUN enters its third full year of development, our community approaches its 1,000,000th race! Now is the time to continue building stronger than before to deliver our vision together.
Are you ready for the long game? We’re here for it.
What are your thoughts on the 2022 ZED RUN Roadmap? We’d love to hear from you! Complete the survey by clicking here.
Join the Fun 
Head over to ZED RUN to buy your very own digital racehorse and join one of our fast-growing social channels below.