Block & Chain Game Studios Weekly Newsletter October 19, 2018
Block & Chain Game Studios
Weekly Newsletter
October 19, 2018
A big congratulations to everyone on the Halo Platform team for launching HaloDEX, the newest decentralized exchange in the cryptosphere. It currently supports Ethereum, but very soon you will see all kinds of currencies and game tokens listed there! Next week, the Halo Platform will also launch the Chrome browser extension, which means users won’t need to download the Featherlite client. This is great for Block and Chain as it enables us to launch our games on web and mobile as standalone products without needing the Featherlite client. This will make our games much easier to access and play!
News @ Block & Chain
This week, we spent a fair amount of time planning the marketing push for two of our upcoming game launches. As most of you know, Blockfight is nearly in the bag and now that HaloDEX has launched, we are integrating the pieces necessary for moving HALO in and out of the game.
However, we also have Draggin’ Dragons and our next game (title to be announced) coming out in the next two months. Starting early November, you will see a lot more content from these games, get to know the characters, and get a chance to explore some exciting multimedia content!
While we’re at it, here’s a taste of the latest screens from Draggin’ Dragons:
All our games will have Daily Rewards. We want you to come and play often!
The Main Menu — Play and replay races, check out the leaderboards, see your stats!
We’ve also been working on our mobile build pipeline to bring our games to iOS and Android as quickly as possible. Here’s Blockfight running on Mobile:
Both iOS and Android (mobile and tablet) will be supported
Game Maker’s Corner
Cody Murry: Sr. Program Manager
Hello everyone, my name is Cody and I’m the Sr. Program Manager here at Halo. So what does that role even mean? Well, you could say I help everyone “get with the program.” I drive many of the logistical components behind the creative and engineering team deliverables. For the Block and Chain team we run a software development process called Agile. My role is Scrum Master. I assist with project planning, running the daily meetings, resolving blocking issues, and ensuring the team meets their deliverable commitments. I’ve acted in this role at previous companies and really enjoy it.
On the Halo Platform side, my role is less about game products and more about operational effectiveness. Not only do I oversee the social media and customer support efforts but I’m also responsible for HR, payroll, and outside contracts. Devin and I have worked together before, I try to take as much off his plate as possible. Many of these responsibilities are new to me. I enjoy my role because I work with both familiar and new faces on projects that are exciting and cutting edge!
In the News
What’s hot in gaming, on and off the blockchain? Here’s where you find out!
https://bizedge.co.nz/story/blockworks-hackfest-celebrates-2018-winners — Last weekend more than 80 people gathered at AUT University last week as part of the Hackfest. Developers and businesses presented 13 different ideas about how blockchain can be used in the real world.
B&C: It’s exciting to see activities like this, which promote new and exciting uses of the blockchain. Many people don’t realize that blockchain technologies can do a great deal more than manage cryptocurrency. It’s a powerful tool for secure, fair, anonymous transactions and data warehousing. At Block and Chain, we enjoy exploring new ways to make use of the blockchain. While cryptocurrency is also exciting, our games don’t require it to play. We want anyone to be able to enjoy our games and experience the blockchain whether or not they ever choose to trade in cryptocurrency.
https://www.finder.com.au/coinbase-co-founder-blockchain-will-make-gaming-economies-real — The trajectory is clear: more people are playing games, their economies are getting bigger, the closed economies of these games hurt both trust and extensibility and crypto will make these economies open
B&C: Many blockchain game platforms extoll the virtues of provable fairness, “real” digital assets and true asset ownership, as though these features were unique. But the truth is, blockchain technology provides this capability out of the box. What excites us about blockchain for games is the peer-to-peer economy and community built content described in this article. We’ve all seen auction houses, mods and other user managed/generated content in some of our favorite games and appreciate the culture that emerges from these self-built communities. To us, this is where blockchain can add the most compelling value for game makers and players alike.
https://mashable.com/article/rockstar-games-red-dead-redemption-2-crunch-explained/#DsLmdCgheOqD — A great game looks effortless when you sit down and play it, but few people really consider just how much went into making it that way. Lots of people have been ooo-ing and ahh-ing over all the tiny details in Red Dead Redemption 2 from Rockstar Games, but the revelation this week that those details may have been fueled by 100-hour work weeks prompted shocked and horrified responses.
B&C: This article is controversial, but touches on the realities of game making in large corporations. Most of use at Block and Chain have worked in the industry and can say that the 100+ hour week is not unique to Rockstar. I recall working on a certain sports game where I dutifully arrived at work by 8:30 am and left the office around midnight for four solid months, weekends included. The real question is, why is this necessary? Frequent scope change and non-agile planning methods tend to wreak havoc on large scale game teams. Thus, there is an argument to be made for keeping it small, simple and rapidly iterative. Earlier this year, the Block and Chain team formed a set of team values and among them was the intent to keep some sanity in our work/life balance. So far, we’ve managed to avoid long stretches of overtime (though the odd work weekend has occurred where the team has chosen to do so to meet sprint commitments). As the leader of this rabble, I can confidently say the team consistently delivers their best work without the need for so-called “heroic overtime”.
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Originally published at community.haloplatform.tech.
