On March 28, 2025, Binance Launchpool's 66th project GUNZ (GUN) was officially announced, like a depth charge exploding in the dormant blockchain game track. Built by the German 3A game studio Gunzilla Games and based on the Avalanche subnet Layer1 public chain, it not only carries the blockchain transformation ambitions of the cyberpunk battle royale game "Off The Grid" (OTG) but is also seen as a milestone event of deep integration between traditional games and Web3. Three years after STEPN ignited the "X-to-Earn" trend, can GUNZ open the "Black Mythology" era of blockchain games?
Blockchain Game Dilemma and GUNZ's Solution
STEPN's Legacy and GameFi's Evolution Bottleneck
STEPN's explosion in 2022 once made the market believe in the feasibility of "blockchain games = financial products", but the Ponzi model overly dependent on token incentives ultimately led to a avalanche-like collapse.
In the following three years, the market has been struggling with the imbalance between "playability" and "financialization": According to DappRadar, 87% of newly launched blockchain games in 2023-2024 had a lifecycle of less than 6 months, with a median player retention rate of only 3.2%.
GUNZ's Solution: Abandoning the Old Logic of "Token-Driven Retention" and Constructing a New Paradigm of "Game Quality Driving Asset Value"
GUNZ is a Layer1 blockchain launched by the German game development company Gunzilla Games, aimed at providing decentralized infrastructure for 3A games. Unlike traditional blockchain games, GUNZ's core goal is to seamlessly integrate blockchain technology into mainstream games, ensuring true ownership of in-game assets while enhancing player experience.
Gunzilla Games' first flagship game "Off The Grid" is an important part of the GUNZ ecosystem. This cyberpunk-style battle royale game not only features movie-level graphics and storyline but also allows players to acquire and trade Non-Fungible Token items through an on-chain economic system, bringing true game quality improvement to the blockchain game market.
Flagship Game "Off The Grid" Has Achieved:
- Next-generation graphics with 150-player competition: Built using Unreal Engine 5 with film-level scenes, supporting ray tracing and 4K resolution
- Invisible on-chain asset design: Players mint Non-Fungible Token weapons/skins through natural interaction of "extracting HEX cubes" without actively operating wallets
- Dual-track economic system: 30% of game revenue used for GUN token buyback, forming a closed loop of "traditional player payment → ecosystem fund pool → on-chain player incentives"
Disruptive Technical Architecture Upgrade
As a public chain designed for AAA games, GUNZ has achieved three major breakthroughs in its underlying architecture:
- Thousands of TPS and zero gas fees: Based on a customized consensus mechanism of Avalanche subnet, with a tested transaction speed of 12,000 TPS and a transaction cost below $0.0001
- Engine-level compatibility: Provides Unity/Unreal plugin libraries, allowing traditional games to migrate to the chain in just 72 hours
- Hybrid verification network: Validator nodes operated by institutions like Delphi Ventures, while also allowing players to participate in light node verification by staking GUN, achieving a balance of efficiency and decentralization
Core Game Mechanics Introduction
GUNZ's core game "Off The Grid" is a cyberpunk-style battle royale game that integrates a blockchain economic system, allowing players to truly own and trade in-game Non-Fungible Token items.
Battle Royale Mode: The game supports 150 players competing simultaneously, similar to mainstream battle royale games like "Apex Legends" and "PUBG". Players need to collect weapons and equipment and survive in a cyberpunk-style open world.
Blockchain Economic System: Players can obtain Non-Fungible Token items (such as weapons, equipment, skins, etc.) through in-game missions and battles. These assets truly belong to the players and can be freely traded on the GUNZ chain or brought into other compatible games.
PvE + PvP Integration: Besides traditional battle royale gameplay, the game also has narrative-driven PvE missions where players can complete story missions in the open world, influencing the overall game ecosystem. After completing missions, players can obtain unique Non-Fungible Token rewards with collectible and trading value.
[The translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text]- Wearable Non-Fungible Token: Collaborating with Meta to develop exclusive skins for Quest 3, supporting gesture recognition and motion interaction7
- Spatial Computing Assets: Players can generate on-chain map Non-Fungible Tokens by scanning real scenes through Apple Vision Pro5
- Cross-Platform Asset Library: Establishing asset interoperability protocols with Roblox and Fortnite, achieving "one-time minting, multi-universe universal"
Risk Warning: The "Nine Layers of Abyss" Behind the Prosperity
Despite GUNZ showing unprecedented potential, there are structural risks in the blockchain game track:
The "Sword of Damocles" of Token Unlocking
The project team has not yet disclosed specific unlocking plans, but according to industry practices:
- Team and advisor tokens typically have a 12-48 month lock-up period, with the first unlocking wave potentially arriving in Q4 2025
- Early investors may reduce more than 50% of their holdings within 6 months after listing
The "Gray Rhino" Impact of Regulation
The EU's latest Crypto Assets Market Regulation (MiCA) requires a 20% VAT on Non-Fungible Token transactions within games, which may force GUNZ to adjust its economic model. Additionally, the US SEC is investigating whether "game assets are unregistered securities", and the investigation results may trigger a global regulatory chain reaction.
The Ultimate Test of the "Playability Trap"
According to SteamDB data, the average player retention cycle for battle royale games is 6.3 months, and OTG needs to prove:
- Ability to continuously update content (at least 1 new map/3 new weapons per month)
- Effectiveness of anti-cheating systems (23 cheat samples have been found in the current test network)
- Web3 functions are a "boost" rather than a "disruption" to core gameplay
In Conclusion: When "Blockchain Games" Redefine Gaming
GUNZ's launch is not only a strategic declaration of Binance's heavy bet on GameFi but also signals a deep transformation of the game industry's value logic. While traditional AAA games still rely on DLC and season passes for profit, GUNZ has built a complete value closed loop of "player creation-trading-governance". This paradigm shift from "content consumption" to "asset co-creation" may be the fulcrum for Web3 games to leverage the trillion-dollar market.
As Gunzilla Games CTO Timur Davidenko said at the developer conference: "We are not copying games on the chain, but growing a chain within the game." This blockchain game renaissance that began with Binance Launchpool is writing the most exciting narrative in the digital world - where every bullet is a Non-Fungible Token, and every victory leads to true ownership.
