Blockchain games are not doing well, which has become an unspoken consensus after the market downturn and the demise of most game projects.
However, not all practitioners are pessimistic about the game track.
For instance, Delphi Venture partner Piers Kicks recently posted, cheering for game developer Gunzilla Games and their upcoming flagship game Off The Grid.
According to Piers' post, Delphi Ventures has made a significant bet on Off The Grid, which is the largest investment in their game track. The game has been developed by a team of 300 people over 5 years, with a total investment reaching $90 million.
As an aside, the estimated cost of Black Myth: Wukong, previously revealed by game producers, was around 300-400 million yuan, which roughly means Off The Grid's investment cost is even higher than Black Monkey.
But as the old saying goes, when a whale falls, all things live. In the blockchain game track, however, it might be that when all things fall, only one whale survives.
Under the backdrop of numerous blockchain game projects failing, what makes Off The Grid potentially successful?
It is understood that Off The Grid plans to simultaneously launch on PC and console platforms (PS5/XBOX) within the next 60 days, which is unprecedented for blockchain games.
Moreover, PC and console platforms are often the stronghold of core players, who cannot stand any "gold-making" or blockchain-related smell. For blockchain games to succeed, they must find a good balance in gameplay, graphics, on-chain economy, and marketing promotion.
Under the current circumstances where blockchain games are generally not favored, can Off The Grid truly set an example of a "good game"?
Invite masters to create the script and special effects to attract VC investments in the industry
In the game industry, a successful work basically cannot be separated from two key elements: people and money.
The former points to the development team, and the latter to financial support.
What credentials does Gunzilla Games, the developer behind Off The Grid, have?
Founded in 2020, Gunzilla Games is a relatively young company, but its team lineup and scale are quite good. Currently, the company has about 340 employees, including many industry veterans.
The core development team mainly comes from the former Crytek Kyiv studio. This team participated in developing the popular online shooter game Warface, which attracted over 140 million players and created more than $1 billion in revenue. Additionally, team members have been involved in developing famous game series like Far Cry and Crysis, as well as the CRYENGINE game engine. CRYENGINE was at the forefront of game graphics development during its peak, providing technical support for many major titles.
More interestingly, the company has hired Neill Blomkamp as co-founder and chief creative officer. Blomkamp directed sci-fi blockbusters like District 9 and Elysium, and his unique visual style and profound social insights bring top-tier visual experience and narrative design to Off The Grid.
Meanwhile, the game's 60-hour campaign story is written by famous sci-fi writer Richard Morgan. Morgan is the author of bestselling novels like Altered Carbon, which has been adapted into a popular Netflix series.
This is different from previous blockchain games, as they have put effort into the script and special effects, seemingly aiming for a high-quality single-player game.
However, the actual quality can only be determined after the official release, as we cannot know whether these big names are just lending their names or truly participating in the production.
In terms of funding, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, Delphi Ventures invested $6 million, becoming the largest validator and node operator of Gunzilla's GUNZ blockchain platform (financing amount source: Coindesk).
In March this year, Gunzilla Games completed a $30 million financing round. This round was led by CoinFund and Avalanche's snow fund, with well-known institutions like Republic Capital and Morningstar Ventures also participating.
With funding in place, how well has this game been polished?
Cyberpunk Battle Royale, PUBG-style gameplay + on-chain items
Off The Grid's core gameplay is essentially a battle royale, the classic mode in PUBG. A group of players compete for resources and try to survive on a carefully designed map.
However, the game adds more sci-fi and cyberpunk elements.
The game is set in a dystopian future on a massive battlefield called "Teardrop Island", where contestants from around the world participate in a brutal "reality show" for a huge prize.
In the game setting, all contestants must amputate their limbs to use the advanced prosthetic technology on Teardrop Island. This is not just a unique setting, but the core of the game mechanism. Players can obtain various special abilities by changing different prosthetic limbs, such as grappling hooks, reconnaissance drones, or quick sprints. This design brings unprecedented tactical depth and flexibility to the game.
In map design, OTG has created the largest battle royale map to date. Players can use their character's jet pack and prosthetic limb special abilities to shuttle between high-rise buildings, achieving rapid aerial movement. This highly flexible movement system not only increases the game's excitement but also encourages more aggressive gameplay.
But how is this related to blockchain?
OTG introduces an Extraction Royale mode. Players collect HEX cubes on the map, which represent blueprints for weapons, accessories, or prosthetic limbs.
Players need to bring these cubes to specific extraction points for decoding while defending against other opponents eyeing their loot. After successful extraction, these items will be "3D printed" into the player's inventory, essentially minting assets to the blockchain in the backend.
To put it more simply, it's an off-chain battle royale with on-chain unboxing.
As the main gameplay is battle royale, players obtain loot boxes and then open them, with the items inside being minted as Non-Fungible Tokens and other assets on-chain, while also binding to the account and setting up a trading logic.
The game has no traditional in-game store; all items entering the economic system and peer-to-peer market are obtained by players through the in-game extraction mechanism and minted on-chain.
This design not only ensures item scarcity and true ownership but also brings more dynamism and player engagement to the game economy.
It's worth mentioning that OTG adopts a seamless approach to handle blockchain-related issues. The cryptographic parts of the game become optional rather than mandatory, gradually attracting players to the blockchain in a completely optional manner.
Although the final game product hasn't been seen, common designs like social login, built-in wallets, hidden deposit and withdrawal channels, and gas fee abstraction are presumably not absent.
Preview of the On-Chain Economic System
In OTG, players obtain game item Non-Fungible Tokens through the previously described HEX cube extraction operation. This process cleverly combines game mechanics with blockchain technology, making asset minting a natural extension of the game experience, rather than a disjointed external operation.
Meanwhile, the GUN token is the core of OTG's economic system. As the game's native token, GUN plays multiple roles in the game ecosystem:
a) Trading Medium: Players can use GUN to buy, sell, or trade Non-Fungible Token items in the in-game market.
b) Governance Rights: Players holding GUN tokens can participate in important game decisions, such as voting on new features or adjusting economic parameters.
c) Staking Rewards: Players can stake GUN tokens to earn additional in-game rewards or privileges.
d) Creator Incentives: Content creators can earn GUN tokens by creating in-game content (such as custom skins or maps).
e) In-Game Fees: Certain advanced features or services may require payment in GUN tokens, such as accelerating manufacturing processes or unlocking special areas.
It is worth mentioning that the game has its own blockchain network GUNZ, which is essentially a subnet based on Avalanche. By establishing a dedicated subnet, they ensure fast and low-cost transactions, reserving ample space for future expansion and optimization.
Public data shows that the GUNZ testnet has been running for nearly a year, processing 27 million transactions and accumulating over 2.2 million registered wallets.
In the GUNZ subnet, validator nodes play a crucial role. They are responsible not only for validating and confirming all in-game transactions but also for collectively maintaining the network's security and stability, with specific functions as follows:
a) Transaction Validation: Nodes are responsible for verifying and confirming all in-game transactions, ensuring the security and reliability of the economic system.
b) Network Maintenance: Nodes collectively maintain the operation of the GUNZ network, ensuring the continuous and stable operation of the game economy.
c) Governance Participation: Some nodes may have voting rights and participate in important network decisions.
d) Reward Mechanism: Participants running nodes may receive GUN tokens as rewards, further incentivizing community participation in network maintenance.
In the current design, the ecosystem's core consists of 10,000 validators responsible for processing transactions and minting all in-game items. From an investment perspective, these validator nodes are attractive because players must pay dollar-denominated minting fees to them; additionally, validators receive commissions from all secondary market transactions of items they mint.
Supporting the Off The Grid game is a complete Gunzilla ecosystem toolkit, including a wallet (running on iOS and Android), marketplace, and blockchain explorer, where interested players can view real-time data displayed in the GUNZ testnet browser.
Currently, players can only try the game in advance by filling out a form and answering questions through the official website's "Pioneer Program", selecting their gaming platform (console or PC) and waiting for an official game invitation after screening.
Lastly, it must be emphasized that before seeing the finished product, one cannot say it has escaped the "low-level interest" of gold farming.
In fact, the crypto world doesn't even need a pure game; but if the on-chain economic system can become a mature "item unboxing model" carrier without overshadowing the main theme, then the Off the Grid game is still worth a small expectation.
After all, with a free game added on PC and PS5/XBOX, there will be people willing to try it for free.
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