Will Migration of Mythical Games Lead to the Explosion of Web3 Gaming Within the Polkadot Ecosystem?
Recently, blockchain gaming company Mythical Games, ranked fourth on the monthly digital asset sales chart, announced they plan to migrate its Mythical Chain to the Polkadot ecosystem. This move will allow partners of the Mythos game to establish their own chains and create the largest and most interconnected gaming ecosystem in Web3.
With party games and flagship game Blankos Block Party, the upcoming Nitro Nation: World Tour, and the recently launched NFL Rivals (a collaboration with the NFL for American football enthusiasts), Mythical Games boasts over 3 million monthly digital asset transactions, 200,000 active wallets engaging in more than 1 million in-game trades using over 1 million native MYTH tokens daily, and a continuously expanding portfolio of games. Undoubtedly, they are leading innovators in Web3 gaming and Metaverse space.
As part of this groundbreaking initiative, Mythical Games will introduce and launch its Mythos ecosystem on Polkadot. This DAO will allow Mythos game partners and projects to leverage Polkadot’s unique technology and community to build their own “super chains” without sacrificing interoperability or connectivity, thereby lowering the barrier for game developers.
Why did Mythical Games decide to move its Mythos ecosystem from the Ethereum ecosystem to a parallel chain on the Polkadot ecosystem? Its founder and CEO, John Linden, stated:
Polkadot’s commitment to innovation, security, and governance provides the highest value to our community. We firmly believe that this new technology will not only support our ongoing growth but also empower other Mythos partners to utilize it for their own large-scale projects.
n his perspective, the decision to leave the Ethereum ecosystem stemmed from a series of issues. Even with L2 Rollups, the relatively slow transaction speed could ultimately hinder Mythical Games’ expansion plans for new games this year. Additionally, it is crucial for Mythical to establish a robust security and governance infrastructure that grows stronger with increased participation and time, while ensuring full interoperability with other Mythos ecosystem game partners. John believes that this new technology will not only support Mythical Games’ growth but also enable other Mythos partners to leverage it for their own large-scale projects.
Björn Wagner, CEO of Parity Technologies and a key contributor to Polkadot, looks forward to more AAA game companies and players joining the Mythos ecosystem, bringing Polkadot closer to becoming a global leader in the next generation of gaming. Mark Cachia, Founder and Chief Information Officer of digital asset management company Scytale Digital, added:
After choosing Polkadot, Mythical Games now possesses a solid foundation of innovation and top-tier technology, allowing them to rely on and focus on their expertise in the gaming industry. They firmly believe that Polkadot will fulfill its commitment to becoming the most advanced and versatile blockchain platform, which is why Scytale is proud to be an important partner in this transaction.
As a representative of the next-generation disruptive gaming technology companies, Mythical Games’ ecosystem migration will attract a significant number of developers and partners to the Polkadot ecosystem, collectively enhancing its scalability.
What Other Games in the Polkadot Ecosystem are Worth Noting?
According to PolkaProject, as of July 20th, there are currently 579 projects in the Polkadot ecosystem, with 18 of them being gaming projects. Besides Mythical Games, what other Web3 gaming are worth noting in the Polkadot ecosystem?
Ajuna
Ajuna Network is a decentralized gaming platform and infrastructure based on the Polkadot ecosystem, serving as a parallel chain with a focus on gaming and NFTs. For game engine developers using Unreal and Unity, they can create incentive layers within the game, enabling tokenized exchange of virtual goods.
Within Ajuna Network, players can own and have full control over the virtual goods they acquire in the game. They can trade these in-game items on decentralized exchanges (DEX) and use them across different games.
This marks a significant upgrade for Web3 gaming, as in traditional games, players don’t truly own or have the convenience of interoperability with the game assets they spend hours obtaining.
By collaborating with Integritee, Ajuna Network gains the ability to run the entire game engine in Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), providing Web3 with a fast, secure, and scalable gaming ecosystem. Ajuna utilizes Layer2 as a solution, enabling the deployment of game engines with complex logic in off-chain executable environments connected to the Polkadot network. Their SDK simplifies the blockchain development process for game developers, addressing some limitations of EVM development, such as smart contract latency.
In 2022, Ajuna gained attention by showcasing the world’s first fully blockchain-based mobile game, and recently launched a collective game called “Awesome Ajuna Avatars” on their Kusama parallel chain Bajun.
Web3 gaming company Evrloot has also revealed that their new game, Stardust Colonies, will be built on the Ajuna Network, highlighting the growing activity of application layer developers on the platform.
Efinity
Efinity is the next-generation NFT blockchain designed to serve as the infrastructure for a decentralized metaverse, reducing barriers to entry for NFTs and decentralized gaming. It simplifies the user experience and economics of managing digital assets.
The significant market demand for NFTs has driven enterprises and developers to seek a platform that can provide a rich user experience, mainstream adoption, and developer-friendly NFT solutions. Prior to joining Polkadot, Efinity struggled with high minting fees, inflexible smart contracts, and the lack of interoperability on Ethereum.
With the scalability provided by Polkadot, Efinity can process over 2 million NFT mints per second. Currently, there are over 100 brand partners building on this platform. Enjin Wallet 2.0 has further expanded Efinity’s project scope by enabling multiple addresses, improving portfolio views, integrating wallet dapps, and supporting multiple chains.
Recently, MyMetaverse minted playable NFTs on Efinity, representing virtual assets that can be used in various games, including “Grand Theft Auto 5” and “Minecraft.” In 2022, Efinity collaborated with gaming giant Square Enix to develop NFTs supported by Polkadot for one of the most popular games of all time, “Final Fantasy.”
Seascape
Seascape Network is an incentive-driven gaming ecosystem platform built on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polkadot Substrate, with a focus on DeFi and NFT economies. By gamifying decentralized finance, Seascape allows users to seamlessly enter the world of blockchain gaming and decentralized finance, while offering incentives for players, developers, and influencers to participate in entrepreneurship.
Seascape provides developers with an SDK toolkit, making it convenient for them to integrate their self-developed games into the blockchain ecosystem at a low cost. Additionally, Seascape has launched the Scape Game Store, which can connect to various ecosystems, allowing users to trade their in-game assets across different chains while playing games. Any user who downloads the client can help verify network transactions and earn profits while enjoying their favorite games.
Seascape is developed based on Moonbeam parachain, which supports multi-token creation, cross-chain transactions, staking, higher data scalability, better permission control, and usability.
During Seascape’s early development stages, its founder David was highly interested in Polkadot’s parallel chain protocol solutions, believing that Polkadot would provide scalability possibilities for Seascape. Thus, Seascape chose the Polkadot ecosystem’s Moonbeam network, and its flagship game project, Moonscape, is currently exclusively available on Moonbeam.
Why do these Games Choose Polkadot Ecosystem?
Ajuna’s co-founder, Nicholas Douzinas, has talked about why they chose Polkadot to achieve their project’s vision of “empowering creators and gamers to have more control and influence within the game.”
We are fond of Polkadot because of its long-term vision. Essentially, being a Layer0 allows us to build infrastructure tailored to a singular purpose. For gaming, this means we don’t have to worry about trust and security since it is provided by the entire ecosystem of Polkadot and Kusama.
Web3 gaming industry is highly demanding when it comes to infrastructure, as games require scalability and various other assurances. The advantages of Polkadot and the potential for future ecosystem development make it an attractive choice for more Web3 gaming projects.
Gas Fee, Performance and Power Consumption
The limitations in transaction speed, throughput, and gas fees have significantly impacted many Ethereum-based gaming projects. Web3 gaming projects require higher network interaction and throughput, and Polkadot adopts an improved mechanism called NPoS (Nominated Proof of Stake) consensus to ensure both high-level security and efficient network operation.
With its parallel chains allowing parallel transaction processing, Polkadot achieves an average speed of 1,000 transactions per second (tps). It is reported that after major network upgrades, this speed could reach 100,000 or even 1 million tps. This rapid transaction processing significantly contributes to Polkadot’s gas fees, keeping the costs below $1. For gaming projects, the Polkadot ecosystem may prove to be a more energy-efficient and efficient choice.
Interoperability
In the traditional gaming realm, games can be cross-platform and interoperable, allowing releases on Xbox, Playstation, and PC. In the Web3 domain, a similar concept of cross-chain interoperability exists, enabling assets to move across multiple different blockchains typically through bridging contracts
Polkadot is a blockchain network that supports multi-chain and cross-chain interactions, aiming to become a unified framework for blockchain technology. A crucial goal of Polkadot is to achieve seamless interoperability between chains, driving all technological and strategic decisions.
During the development of Web3 gaming projects, developers commonly face the challenge of fragmented liquidity for assets and users across various chains. Polkadot’s XCM (Cross-Consensus Message Format) and other cross-chain technologies, along with numerous Layer1 chains in different directions, provide significant opportunities for interoperability and scalability in Web3 gaming projects. This enables users to play games and automatically replicate in-game assets on any chain they prefer, enhancing user experience and avoiding additional gas fee expenses. As a result, not only do games attract more users, but existing users also enjoy an improved experience.
Privacy
Currently, mainstream public blockchains, although some have integrated vertical gaming, were not originally designed for gaming, leading to speed and privacy issues that Web3 gaming aims to address. As a result, the industry requires fast and reliable infrastructure while maintaining confidentiality and privacy.
Polkadot, built on Substrate and TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) technology, offers a decentralized, secure, and rapidly scalable computing network that provides privacy protection, verifiability, and low-cost computing services. This forms a solid foundation for more gaming projects, meeting the needs of the Web3 gaming community for a privacy-preserving and cost-efficient solution.
Community Support
As the world of blockchain gaming expands at an increasingly rapid pace, undoubtedly, one of the most important things is to provide more value and diverse experiences for game players and communities.
Regarding the further expansion of the Polkadot ecosystem, founder Robert has emphasized that the value of Polkadot lies in the collaborative efforts and collective strength of its community. Initiatives such as the Web3 Foundation’s Grant program, Parity’s Substrate Builder program, the Polkadot Treasury, hackathons, and more, provide comprehensive support and ecosystem assistance to early-stage gaming projects. They offer startup funding, exposure and promotion, resource connections, and other forms of support to help high-quality projects in their early development and progress.
Conclusion
For on-chain gaming projects, a technologically innovative and mature ecosystem that enhances user experience allows game developers to focus on game design itself. Simultaneously, in a more transparent, secure, and valuable environment, players, creators, brands, and game developers are more likely to collaborate in creating the next generation of anticipated Web3 gaming ecosystem.
The explosive growth of blockchain gaming in the Polkadot ecosystem will rely on more practical implementations and collaborations from games and communities in the future. OneBlock will continue to monitor updates and applications related to Polkadot and Substrate ecosystems, aiming to provide inspiration and insights for developers.
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