Another day, another TON Innovators interview introducing you to the best of the best from within the TON Ecosystem. Under the spotlight today is Fanton Fantasy, a Telegram game that redefines the fantasy league experience by merging the competitiveness of traditional fantasy football with blockchain and Telegram.

Fanton offers a unique experience in which you compete in fantasy football tournaments against the rest of the world, vying for the top spot and attractive rewards. The game operates through Telegram in a seamless and accessible user interface, where you draft your teams, compete in various tournaments, and earn points based on your squad's real-world performance.

Fanton is capturing the masses, and its success is underscored by being recognized as the Top Product of the Week by Product Hunt. Fanton is a leader in the fantasy sports industry, and its exciting roadmap includes expansion into other sports, enhanced features, and customizable tournaments.

Now, let’s get to the interview.

This interview is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement, approval, or recommendation of the project. The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the TON Foundation. This is not an investment advice.

TON Innovators: Fanton

Welcome to TON Innovators, Fanton. Your team can be considered one of the OGs of the TON and TG ecosystem, so tell us where it all started.

Hello, community. This is Fanton CEO, Eldar! The Fanton journey began while I was working for one of the largest loyalty programs in Eastern Europe. I envisioned creating Fanton there. At the time, I was in charge of gamification. We made games with the bonuses of this loyalty system. One of my ideas was a fantasy football game, but bureaucratic red tape stalled its development.

After learning about the TON ecosystem from my friend, who launched one of the most successful NFT collections on TON at the time, which sold for $2 million, I thought fantasy sports and the NFT could coexist harmoniously. By then, it was only possible to create mini-ups inside Telegram.

I shared my idea with Vadim Sterlin, a friend and university classmate. We realized that a similar game already existed. However, we believed we could create a superior gaming experience for Telegram and TON users.

We discussed this concept for several months, but fear held us back. After Vadim’s Vipassana retreat, we gained the courage to proceed. We invited our former Kaspersky Lab colleague, Aleksey, to join the project. Together, we started creating the Fanton project. We’re thrilled with the results.

Your team is one of the very few that is doxxed and does not hide behind pseudonyms. Can you introduce us to the core people driving Fanton?

We revealed our faces from the start to show our seriousness and commitment. By opening our faces, we made it clear that this project means a lot to us, and we are ready to put our reputation on the line and do our best to make everything work out for us. We are still doing it.

From the beginning, we attended the AMA sessions with open faces and communicated openly with our audience. In Web3, this transparency is crucial. Projects featuring visible founders inspire trust as teams and individuals risk their reputations.

To believe in investing your time or money, of course, something may not work out, the business may work without it, and the percentage of companies that grow to self-sufficiency is growing. The percentage is tiny, but these are the things that, in my opinion, allow the project to be more open with its audience and more honest.

• Our team is led by myself, Eldar Khayretdinov as CEO

• Vadim Sterlin - COO and co-founder

• Aleksey Frolagin - CTO

We started this project from the ground up. Sergey Lyadov, our head of community, and Igor Bael, our commercial director, joined us later. While we could list many team members, each is essential to our success. I decided to name just the top-level directorial positions.

And, of course, our community, which helps us with advice, ideas, and so much more. A vibrant, engaging community is vital in any Web3 project. As they say in football, the 12th player is the fan. And here, our 12th player is our community.

Let’s assume I’m new to the concept of fantasy football. How do I begin with Fanton? Do I need to do my research first, or can I jump straight into it?

If we talk about the fantasy football genre, you must love and like football to play and have fun. Everything is simple. • You select five players for free and see what results you get. • Analyze your results to understand the scoring system, what actions earn points, and how fantasy football works. • After the first tournament, you can try several more free tournaments. And even though you can earn tickets to paid tournaments, these require better skills.

If you’re already a fantasy football fan, you’ll find it easy to immerse yourself in our game. We've worked hard to simplify onboarding into Fanton tournaments for everyone, and it's clear that our efforts are paying off.

We hope we’ll make the simplest fantasy football in history due to Telegram’s simplicity and convenience, as well as the fact that we make our fantasy convenient, understandable, and beautiful for most users. At least, we hope that this is the case, and indeed, we find confirmation of this among our audience, most of whom learned about the fantasy football genre only thanks to our project and became active fans of fantasy football.

What makes Fanton Fantasy different from traditional fantasy football platforms?

1. First, user-friendliness and integration inside Telegram make it possible to attract native users. Users don’t need to download the application or log in to the website.

2. Secondly, a simple Fantasy Football format; you only need to choose five players, and your team is ready. We also allow anyone from anywhere in the world to register for membership.

3. Lastly, users can pay in TON or Telegram stars, which is quite simple and native to any player who is not even familiar with crypto. It's easy enough to understand, register, and figure out how a game of this genre works.

Let’s discuss the NFT aspect of the game. Do I need to own Fanton NFTs to play the game, or do they provide players with some edge in tournaments?

NFT cards were crucial catalysts for our project, providing the initial funding to develop the game. Initially, we launched a collection of football players, and after that, we developed a product that you can play using these NFT cards. Each NFT card belongs to one of three categories:

• Legendary - of which there is only one for each football player

• Epic - of which there are only three

• Rare - there will be only 12 for each player

Each NFT rarity has its coefficient: Legendary—х2, Epic—x1,75, and Rare—x1,5.

To facilitate participation, we offer both NFT tournaments and Common tournaments. While NFT tournaments require participants to own an NFT card, Common tournaments allow players to choose any player for different positions, regardless of NFT ownership. The model makes the game accessible to more people.

Currently, NFT tournaments and NFT cards appeal to collectors and gamers. These digital assets can also be investments, offering potential returns through gameplay.

Fanton offers a variety of leagues, teams, and nationalities from which to pick the players. Do you plan to expand the list? Are there any new leagues players can look forward to?

We currently have eight leagues in the game, including the top European leagues (England, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany), the Russian, Brazilian, and the MLS championships. We plan to increase the number of leagues, and this season, we aim to add leagues such as the Saudi Arabian league (Rest of the World), possibly the Turkish league, and others.

Our team is currently discussing these additions, keeping in mind the needs of our customers. We want to ensure that the engaging tournaments complement our leagues. These new leagues must be appealing and in demand to attract interest. Given the growing number of Chinese users on Telegram, we are also considering adding the Chinese League. Further tournaments are still under discussion. I believe we will expand the number of leagues.

What drove you to launch Fanton as a Telegram game?

Over two years ago, Telegram introduced the ability to create mini-apps. Inspired by this, our friend launched an NFT collection on TON called Animal Red List, which earned $2 million. This success made us realize that fantasy football was a perfect fit for NFTs and that we could create a fantasy football game within Telegram.

Since TON and Telegram complement each other so well, we saw an opportunity to simplify this process and make it intuitive for Web2 users. Web3, in this context, becomes a product designed for Web2 users, utilizing familiar Web2 mechanics.

The cost of attracting users appeared to be much lower than on traditional websites, where users need to register. With Telegram, users can log in using their Telegram ID without additional registration. There's no need to download a separate mobile app, either—if you have Telegram, you simply click 'start,' and the game begins.

Recognizing the potential of creating a game within Telegram in the fantasy football genre, we moved forward with our idea, and it has successfully found its audience. Moreover, Telegram allows users to manage channels, facilitate interactive chats, and share various updates. These advantages benefit those who love our game and want to receive news promptly.

Through Telegram channels, we can publish news for fans of our game, facilitate user chats, and directly communicate with them. We can also conduct video AMA sessions where we appear on camera, answer questions, address user concerns, and maintain an open dialogue. Having the game itself integrated into Telegram is incredibly convenient. Recognizing the potential, we decided to launch our game on Telegram.

How does Fanton’s use of blockchain affect the fantasy sports experience?

Blockchain technology allows us to attract many users worldwide to our game, as anyone with a crypto wallet can participate in our paid tournaments. Additionally, we offer free games where users can join, get onboarded, and explore Web3 through engaging mechanics tailored for football fans, particularly in the fantasy sports genre. Launching our project as a Web3 initiative allows us to attract investments, grow our project, and build a strong community by introducing our token.

For those who have been with us from the start and believe in our project, our token offers the chance to earn through in-game mechanics and by being early supporters. After launching our token, players can earn it through various game mechanics and airdrops, allowing them to profit from their early involvement in the project. This approach has helped us attract and retain an audience from the very beginning, as users are engaged not only with the game itself but also with the potential to earn from their loyalty and early participation in the project.

What is the $FTON token? On which launchpads will the IDO take place?

We are gearing up for the launch of $FTON, the utility token for the Fanton game. $FTON will be one of the first major tokens on TON with in-game utility. This week, we announced significant investments from top investors, including Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, Kenetic Capital, and Hashkey.

We also want to highlight the support we've received from the Notcoin and Tonstarter acceleration program—it's been an invaluable experience, and we’re grateful for their assistance. Additionally, we have powerful launchpads lined up for the upcoming IDO, including Magic Square, Eesee, and another exciting one. We’re optimistic about a bullish listing season this fall!

What upcoming features and expansions can players look forward to in Fanton?

We are actively integrating the $FTON token into our game mechanics. After $FTON's launch, we plan to gradually switch from TON to $FTON as the token users will use to take part in our paid tournaments and buy NFT cards within our product. We will also allow $FTON holders to stake the token and earn a percentage through staking.

Additionally, we are adapting the NFT tournament system, which will be introduced in the coming months, making the gameplay even more engaging. As described in our channels, the NFT tournament will also introduce a new Seasonal tournament format, which was well-received during Euro 2024 when we first tested it.

Our upcoming updates will introduce new tournament formats, including Single Match tournaments. In this format, players have the freedom to choose five players from any position. The new format will increase the variety of choices and allow for more creative team compositions, enhancing competition among players.

We’ll introduce a 'Cap' system in our tournaments, starting with the NFT tournaments. A cap sets a maximum limit on the number of points users can use to build their teams. It ensures players choose the top-rated, well-known players, and mix in lesser-known players, making squad selection more creative and strategic.

We’re also considering launching a web version of our game, targeting the European audience. Since football is popular in Europe, and many people already enjoy fantasy football, this is a natural expansion. Although the current Telegram audience in Europe is limited, creating a web version will help us reach new users who can easily transition to Telegram, where they can enjoy a more convenient and enjoyable gaming experience. Lastly, we're negotiating with well-known football players, clubs, and major sponsors to enrich our platform.