Technology continues to elevate the gaming experience, and that progress has found its way to horse racing. A new game called Zed Champions, and its companion Zed Picks, tries to create as close to a complete racing ecosystem as possible in a digital world.
Sprung from the seeds sown by its predecessor Zed Racing, Zed Champions presents racing, ownership, and breeding to players. Zed Picks allows participants to bet on the races and win prizes.
It's a stark change from the original, according to Virtually Human Studio CEO and director Nir Efrat, whose company created the games.
"The horses were NFTs, non-fungible tokens, which were very big at the time, and the game took off very quickly," Efrat said of the original. "It was a very big time for NFTs and Web3 people were excited. The prices went way up, and the game was very successful. The problem is, because of the novelty of the game, it was so new, and it was so different, the way it was designed was not very sustainable. It was based on quick peaks of prices, and then it was very hard to sustain, like all old products and all games in the crypto world of the time. It's very hard to create longevity and sustainability of the economy."
Through the games, Virtually Human is "trying to rejuvenate (the sport) a little bit" and to "make horse racing cool and young again," Efrat said.
The game is Web3-based, meaning it utilizes blockchain technologies and token-based currencies. It requires users to have a digital wallet, such as Coinbase. As these are relatively new concepts, especially to older players, the terminology can sometimes scare people from getting involved. That's why Efrat said the games will soon allow more traditional forms of currency, which should make playing more inclusive.
That was only part of the change Efrat initiated when he took on his role in 2024.
His top priority was correcting the game design to allow for sustained involvement through different market conditions.
He said that Zed Champions has "taken into consideration much more sustainable principles in terms of the longevity in the game. It has much better agency."
The old user interface didn't place a high priority on user experience and it was meant for "very hardcore crypto people."
Launched in April, Zed Champions offers around-the-clock racing with new races going off every 80 seconds. So no matter where you are in the world, you don't have to wait very long for action. The racing takes place over the course of an eight-week season.
Unlike in the real world, when a horse is "born" in Zed Champions, it immediately joins the pool of eligible runners. From there, players can take an ownership stake in the horse, they can breed a new horse, and watch and bet on races via Zed Picks. Zed Picks is available in 39 states (excluding Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington).
If you are looking for well-known horses and tracks, they won't be found in Zed Champions. While the game seeks to mimic real horses and the speed at which they race, Zed Champions takes place in a virtual, futuristic setting.
Efrat said that an investment was made in the graphics. That means horses with a distinctive polygonal look and races that take place in deserts, urban areas, and even outer space.
Once players have their horse, they can equip the horse with augments that enhance its on-track abilities. The horses race against equal competition—rankings are based on performance. As an owner, you can win Zed Dollars, which can be converted from cryptocurrency into physical dollars upon retiring the horse. Or it can be reinvested in the player's stable.
Players can own a horse in totality or purchase a stake. And just as if someone wanted to look at Sovereignty's past performances, the horses in Zed Champions have historical performances that can be referenced.
Horses are born with a balance, which is dependent upon how much the player invested in the horse's breeding. Then, once it races, the balance increases or decreases based on performance.
In Zed Picks, the prizes for correctly picking races can be withdrawn to your bank account.
The game is different than the now-defunct Game of Silks, which saw shareholders file a class action lawsuit, accusing those involved with the game of securities law violations.
Zed Champions' predecessor, Zed Run, debuted in 2018 and was accessible until February 2025.
The combination of a still-growing platform such as Web3 and blockchain with something steeped in tradition as horse racing might seem an odd pairing. But Efrat sees a harmonization.
"We thought it was a really good way to marry a very old, majestic sport that's existed for centuries, with very new and exciting technology," he said. "Web3 is really perfect technology for that because of its focus on ownership, transparency, and decentralization. You can actually own that horse like people own horses in real life. ... It's yours. It sits in your wallet, you can sell it, you can keep it, you can do whatever you want. And the blockchain technology is also making everything fair and transparent. So whatever happens in the race, whatever happens in the game, it's all public. It's all out there."
Next up, Efrat said, is to continue growing the "ecosystem of the horse racing." He said that Virtually Human will invest time and resources on the scaling of Zed Champions and Zed Picks. Part of that will include offering the races "as an overview of an open (application programming interface) that will make it available for sportsbooks around the world to come and integrate those races as sports on their platform," he said.
According to Efrat, Virtually Human is in talks and has run pilots with online sportsbooks such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM, where Zed Champions races would appear alongside the NFL, MLB, and others on the wagering menu.
"We're in talks with some (sportsbooks). It's working quite well," he said of the pilot testing. "I'm excited about that."
He said that inclusion with the sports books wouldn't happen until 2026. If and when that happens, the wagering would not feature pari-mutuel betting. Efrat said it would be fixed-odds wagering because "it's easier to regulate."
To play Zed Champions, visit www.zedchampions.com. Zed Picks can be found in the Apple and Google app stores.
