Breeding
Last updated April 15, 2025
Breeding in ZED Champions allows you to create new racehorses by pairing a Stud (male) and a Mare (female) horse in the Stud Marketplace. Horses are on-chain NFTs, so the breeding process will mint a new offspring NFT.
To be eligible for breeding, both horses must meet the following criteria:
- Be retired from racing
- Have at least one available breeding slot.
Breeding Slots and Forge Tokens
Horses start with a default number of breeding slots based on their generation: (5 - generation, with a minimum of 0 slots). Each time a horse is bred, one breeding slot is consumed.
If a horse runs out of slots, additional breeding slots can be unlocked using Forge Tokens, up to a maximum of 10 total breeding actions:
- Generations 0–5: 1 Forge Token per slot.
- Generations 6+: 2 Forge Tokens per slot.
Forge Tokens are primarily earned by burning retired horses but may also be granted as static rewards. Strategic management of breeding slots and Forge Tokens is essential for building a competitive stable.
Stud Marketplace
The Stud Marketplace is the exclusive hub for breeding new horses in ZED Champions. It is also the only way to enter a new horse into the racing pool.
Creating Auctions
An auction is automatically created for each stud when it enters the Stud Marketplace. Only the stud’s owner can list it for breeding.
When the stud is entered into the marketplace, one of its breeding slots is spent. If the auction is cancelled, the breeding slot is not recovered.
Placing Bids
Mare owners can bid on a Stud Auction by selecting a Mare to pair with the chosen Stud and specifying a price in $ZED Token. To place a bid, the following conditions must be met:
- The Mare must be eligible for breeding.
- The bid must be above the minimum price. The bid amount must be a multiple of 10 $ZED.
- Each new bid must exceed the current maximum bid.
When a bid is placed, one of the Mare's breeding slots is reserved for the potential offspring. For example, a Mare with five unspent breeding slots can participate in bids across five active studs simultaneously.
Bids cannot be decreased or canceled, but they will automatically expire after seven days if the auction is not settled.
After the bid is placed, the bidder can increase their bid at any time, which will reset the auction’s expiry timer.
Auto Bids
To simplify the process, you can enable automatic bidding. Auto bidding allows you to select a pre-set maximum bid amount when outbid.
The system will automatically increase your bid by the base amount whenever you are outbid, up to the maximum limit.
This feature ensures you remain competitive in auctions without needing to monitor them constantly.
Buy Now
If the auction hasn’t met the minimum bid required to settle, the ‘Buy Now’ option becomes available. You can instantly breed by paying 3x the balance of the lowest-ranked horse on the racing pool Balance Leaderboard. This process will force the lowest-ranked horse to retire, and the new horse enters the racing pool at the start of the next round.
Example: The lowest horse on the Balance Leaderboard has a balance of 200 $ZED Token. Any player who bids 600 $ZED Token on an eligible auction will instantly settle that auction and get a new horse that will enter the racing pool.
Auction Settlement
To be eligible for settlement an auction must have:
- been open for at least 24 hours
- at least one bid.
Once auctions are eligible, settlement is done throughout the day, starting with the highest-value bids and proceeding in descending order.
An auction can theoretically remain open indefinitely if its top bid value never reaches the top of the eligible auctions.
As the racing pool requires a fixed amount of horses, a suitable replacement must be identified from the racing pool before an auction can be settled. This ensures that the balance of horses in the racing pool is maintained at all times.
Settlement Process
The process for settling auctions is as follows:
- Select the top eligible auction (highest bid value)
- Identify the lowest-ranked horse on the racing pool Balance Leaderboard as a replacement. The horse must be:
- eligible for retirement not already assigned as a replacement.
- Settlement occurs if:
- A racing pool horse has requested to retire, OR The bid value of the auction is 3x the identified horse’s balance.
If neither condition is met, the process starts again from Step 1.
This cycle continues as long as there are eligible auctions and horses available for retirement.
Once settled, the Mare’s reserved breeding slot is consumed and a new offspring is minted, replacing the retiring horse.
Breeding Revenue Allocation
Once the auction settles, the accepted bid fee is distributed as follows:
- 50% to the new foal’s starting $ZED Balance
- 30% to the game treasury
- 14% to Virtually Human Studio (VHS)
- 5% to the Stud owner
- 1% is burned.
Breeding Results
The resulting foal inherits a mix of unique traits including public and private attributes, performance ratings, and color. All newly bred horses are automatically entered into the racing pool.
The key to becoming the best stable is how well you can optimize your breeding strategies.