1KIN Labs Announces Modular Gaming Network, the GR1D
Since our 2023 strategic raise featuring backers from major gaming chains, funds, and other investors, we have been ideating and building what we believe the Web3 gaming space really needs. Some of the most active participants in the industry have been supporting and motivating as we build.
Today, we’re thrilled to shed more light on the unifying piece of our ecosystem- the GR1D, an upcoming modular gaming network.
The Challenge of Walled Gardens
Traditional user acquisition and growth strategies in gaming networks involve brands launching networks, building communities, and integrating products within their ecosystems.
The name of the game for each ecosystem is maximizing network effect and activity, providing true utility to their community members.
However, this has led to walled gardens, creating friction for users navigating multiple ecosystems.
Despite this, these strategies come with benefits. Pressure to innovate and continuously improve propels the entire space forward. Users and developers have freedom of choice when making their first jump into Web3. The future is shaping up to look like many, many games running on many, many chains.
Web3 newbies will need to interact with many different networks, but it’s a hassle to juggle all the different user experiences.
To really grasp the necessity of the GR1D, we need to dissect this user dilemma and compare it to the current state of traditional gaming.
Traditional Variety Gaming
The traditional gaming industry has been maturing for decades — and cultivating seamless experiences for each ecosystem. For the most part, the traditional gaming industry ecosystems are segmented by their hardware.
Got a Playstation 5? Play any Playstation 5 game, seamlessly. How about an iPhone? Play any iOS game. Is PC your style? Play any PC game your hardware can handle with a couple clicks using a popular launcher.
The worst case scenario, from a user experience perspective, would be something like having to create a companion account from a certain publisher when you install a game. Or, perhaps needing a few different launchers on your PC so you can play all your favorites. A mild hurdle, but no biggie. Gamers are used to this user experience setup, and they have grown accustomed to its convenience, save for a minority who remember that it used to be even easier.
Web3 gaming is segmented not only by hardware, but by protocol as well. For example, your preferred Web3 game launcher is likely distributing games from numerous protocols. The user experience hurdles lie in the issue of multiple protocols.
As an industry, we all need to acknowledge what we are asking traditional gamers to do when getting started in Web3 gaming.
Web3 Variety Gaming
Let’s imagine that in the future, the top 20 games in the Web3 gaming industry reside on eight different protocols (not an unreasonable supposition):
- Gamers would need to get up to speed on eight different Web3 user experiences. This mayinclude watching multiple tutorials and breakdown videos for each of eight protocols.
- They would need to understand how eight protocols and their user-facing components work, and manage assets across (up to) eight wallet products.
- Web3 asset management is not only multiplied per protocol, but per platform (desktop, web, mobile).
- Gamers would also need to manage identities across the eight ecosystems as well.
- Additionally, each ecosystem comes with a different suite of products and 3rd-party platforms to perform the same exact tasks.
- Gamers would need to identify and avoid scam attempts across all eight ecosystems, and scam tactics can vary drastically per ecosystem.
- In parallel to all this, gamers would need to be confident enough in each unique protocol to execute immutable transactions with no margin for error or mistakes.
Gaming chains are working hard to optimize the user experience for their specific ecosystems, and they are making great progress.
In support, we are pledging to unify the user experience across the industry as a whole. That’s where the GR1D comes in.
Enter the GR1D
As a modular gaming network, the GR1D aims to achieve the following goals for our ecosystem participants:
- Gamers can play any game on any protocol they want, but it all feels like they are just using ‘one Web3 thing’ to do so.
- Node Operators run services under the hood that simplify the experience for all gamers across the industry.
- Web3 Newbies only have to learn one Web3 platform to access their favorite games regardless of chain or protocol. ‘Access’ means full usage of any game’s Web3 features, not just discovery.
- Web3 Games & Studios benefit from the GR1D’s ecosystem and user base without migrating off the chain they opted to integrate.
- Chains & Protocols increase their network activity and retain their hard-earned communities while simultaneously capitalizing on the GR1D’s network effect.
- Stakeholders (users, games, studios, and foundations) share in the governance process, keeping the GR1D’s singular access point to the entire industry decentralized.
The holy grail for the Web3 gaming industry is to execute on all these goals simultaneously. From a user experience perspective, we aim to make Web3 gaming truly competitive with the Web2 status quo.
With help from the GR1D, Web3 gaming adoption may eclipse traditional gaming more quickly than expected.
Product Lineup
In concert with the GR1D, we plan to develop and integrate a suite of products and services from the ground up to further drive home the unified user experience concept:
- A subscription service that could be described as a decentralized XBox Games Pass. Subscribers would gain access to exclusive Web3 content for partnered games, opportunities for early access, discounts on other services, and more.
- A SocialFi initiative that rewards gamers for tackling various missions and quests, both on social media and within the games themselves. We call this initiative MoonBase, with a rebrand on the way to better reflect MoonBase as a companion product to the GR1D. MoonBase’s first version is live now.
- A software development kit that enables games and studios to supplement their existing Web3 features with access to the GR1D, and even build games that live on the GR1D itself (if they so choose).
- A global ID and login system that allows gamers to take a single digital avatar identity wherever they go within the Web3 gaming industry.
- A universal gaming token that would grant holders access to the entire Web3 gaming industry through seamless under-the-hood interoperability.
Next Steps
If you’ve read this far, you’re just the kind of person we’d love to see join us in our mission to unify all games and all chains. Here’s what you can do next:
- Follow us on X for more news and developments for the GR1D
- Join our Discord to chat with us and other community members
- Check out MoonBase for social missions and digital rewards
- Invite games and studios to partner up and join our ecosystem
See you on the GR1D!
