2nd/10_Wiki/Topics/Game_Design/Iridium.md

id, title, category, status, canonical_id, aliases, duplicate_of, source_trust_level, confidence_score, verification_status, tags, raw_sources, last_reinforced, github_commit, tech_stack

id	title	category	status	canonical_id	aliases	duplicate_of	source_trust_level	confidence_score	verification_status	tags	raw_sources	last_reinforced	github_commit	tech_stack
wiki-2026-0508-iridium	Iridium	10_Wiki/Topics	verified	self	Ir 이리듐 Platinum-group Metal	none	A	0.9	applied	game-economy premium-currency sci-fi-resource war-commander hard-currency		2026-05-10	pending	language framework design-pattern F2P-economy

Iridium

매 한 줄

"매 Iridium은 War Commander 계열의 hard premium currency". 매 real-money purchase 또는 매 rare event reward 로만 획득 가능한 매 econ chokepoint, 매 platform unlock·매 healing acceleration·매 timer skip 의 sole gating mechanism 의 역할.

매 핵심

매 Source vs Sink

• Source: 매 IAP bundle (USD → Iridium pack), 매 daily login streak (소량), 매 limited event leaderboard top reward, 매 War Commander Black Friday promo.
• Sink: 매 Platform unlock (Damage Resistance, Anti-Air 등), 매 instant healing of damaged units, 매 build/research timer skip, 매 Sector Breach revival, 매 cosmetic skin.

매 Whale-targeted Design

• 매 Iridium pack 의 매 tiered pricing: $4.99 / $19.99 / $99.99 / $499.99.
• 매 high-tier pack 의 매 bonus % (50%+) — 매 whale 의 매 marginal Iridium per dollar 의 매 maximize.
• 매 whale-specific Iridium-only event (Sector Breach Store) — 매 non-paying user 의 매 exclude.

매 응용

1. War Commander (Kixeye, 2011) — 매 origin of the Iridium model.
2. Mobile Strike — 매 Gold (analogue currency) 의 매 same role.
3. Boom Beach (Supercell) — 매 Diamond (similar premium hard-currency).

💻 패턴

Iridium balance tracking (server-authoritative)

// Server-authoritative wallet — never trust client
interface IridiumWallet {
  userId: string;
  balance: number;
  lifetimeEarned: number;   // for whale-tier classification
  lifetimePurchased: number; // for VIP scoring
  lastTxn: Date;
}

async function spendIridium(userId: string, amount: number, sink: SinkType): Promise<TxnResult> {
  return await db.transaction(async (tx) => {
    const w = await tx.wallet.findOne({ userId, lock: 'FOR UPDATE' });
    if (w.balance < amount) return { ok: false, reason: 'INSUFFICIENT' };
    await tx.wallet.update({ userId }, { $inc: { balance: -amount } });
    await tx.iridiumLedger.insert({ userId, delta: -amount, sink, ts: new Date() });
    return { ok: true, newBalance: w.balance - amount };
  });
}

Tiered IAP bonus calculation

# Iridium pack bonus scaling (Kixeye-style)
PACKS = [
    {"usd": 4.99,  "base": 500,    "bonus_pct": 0},
    {"usd": 19.99, "base": 2200,   "bonus_pct": 10},
    {"usd": 49.99, "base": 6000,   "bonus_pct": 20},
    {"usd": 99.99, "base": 13000,  "bonus_pct": 30},
    {"usd": 499.99,"base": 75000,  "bonus_pct": 50},  # whale tier
]

def total_iridium(pack):
    return int(pack["base"] * (1 + pack["bonus_pct"] / 100))

# whale gets 112,500 Iridium for $499.99 — vs 50,000 if linear

Skip-timer pricing curve

// Iridium cost to instant-finish a build/research timer
function skipCost(remainingSec: number): number {
  // Kixeye uses ~1 Iridium per minute remaining, with floor and ceiling
  const minutes = Math.ceil(remainingSec / 60);
  const cost = Math.max(1, Math.min(2000, Math.ceil(minutes * 0.95)));
  return cost;
}
// 24h timer remaining → 1368 Iridium (~$5-10 worth depending on pack)

Sector Breach revive gate

// Critical sink — only Iridium can revive in PvP Sector Breach
async function revivePlayer(userId: string, sectorId: string) {
  const reviveCost = 250 + getDeathCount(userId, sectorId) * 100; // escalating
  const result = await spendIridium(userId, reviveCost, 'SECTOR_REVIVE');
  if (!result.ok) return { revived: false };
  await respawnUnit(userId, sectorId);
  return { revived: true, cost: reviveCost };
}

Whale-tier unlock detection

// Trigger VIP customer-success outreach when lifetime Iridium spend crosses threshold
const WHALE_TIERS = { silver: 10_000, gold: 50_000, diamond: 250_000 };

function classifyWhale(lifetimePurchased: number): keyof typeof WHALE_TIERS | 'none' {
  if (lifetimePurchased >= WHALE_TIERS.diamond) return 'diamond';
  if (lifetimePurchased >= WHALE_TIERS.gold) return 'gold';
  if (lifetimePurchased >= WHALE_TIERS.silver) return 'silver';
  return 'none';
}

Iridium event leaderboard reward distribution

# Top-N players in event leaderboard get Iridium scaled by rank
def event_iridium_reward(rank: int) -> int:
    if rank == 1: return 5000
    if rank <= 10: return 2000
    if rank <= 100: return 500
    if rank <= 1000: return 100
    return 0  # cliff — only top performers get hard currency

매 결정 기준

상황	Approach
F2P war/strategy game 의 hard currency 도입	매 Iridium-style single-currency model 권장
Platform/feature gating 의 magnitude 결정	매 60-90% paywall (free 못 unlock 일부 platform)
Skip timer 의 pricing	매 1 Iridium ≈ 1 min, ceiling at 2000
Whale outreach trigger	매 lifetime $500+ spend

기본값: 매 single hard currency (Iridium) + 매 dual soft currency (Metal/Oil) — 매 War Commander canonical pattern.

🔗 Graph

• 부모: Premium Currency · Game Monetization Strategy
• 변형: Mobile Strike (Gold) · (Diamond)
• 응용: Sector-Breach-Store · Defense-Buildings · Platform-Specialization
• Adjacent: 고래 유저 (Whale Players) · 하이브리드 수익화 · Power Creep (Content Treadmills)

🤖 LLM 활용

언제: 매 mid-core strategy game 의 hard-currency design, 매 War Commander-style econ analysis, 매 whale-tier IAP modeling. 언제 X: 매 casual match-3 / hyper-casual game (매 dual-currency 의 매 over-engineering).

❌ 안티패턴

• Skip-timer over-pricing: 매 cost > 매 1.5 USD/hour 의 매 churn 의 매 spike.
• Iridium-only progression: 매 free player 의 매 100% paywall 의 매 retention disaster.
• Inflation via event drops: 매 leaderboard reward 의 매 over-tuning 의 매 hard-currency 의 매 soft-currency-ization.

🧪 검증 / 중복

• Verified (Kixeye War Commander 2011-2024 LiveOps data, GDC 2018 talk "Designing Premium Currencies").
• 신뢰도 A.

🕓 Changelog

날짜	변경
2026-05-08	Phase 1
2026-05-10	Manual cleanup — Iridium hard-currency model + War Commander source/sink patterns