Loom’s Ecosystem and Competition
In a post on the Loom blog, I recently wrote about the disruptive potential of crypto in gaming. Loom is not alone in making the realization that gaming is the perfect match for crypto. There are many other teams that aim to achieve what Loom does in different ways. Additionally, Loom faces competition from general purpose blockchains and specialized marketplace platforms for NFT assets.
On the other hand, Loom has already delivered a lot of value and many developers have started to build their decentralized gaming and other applications using the Loom framework. In many ways there are also synergies between “competing” projects.
In this post, I will shortly introduce a few of the main adjacent projects and games that are building on Loom. The whole list of companies in our crypto gaming ecosystem map (pictured below) can be found in our full thesis document on the Loom Network.
Specialist Platforms
The main competitors to Loom are other projects that aim to cater to the same use case as Loom: enabling scalable blockchain gaming. One of the main competitors here is the team at Fuel Games, the creators of games like Gods Unchained that is also building a platform to integrate decentralized assets in games at scale, leveraging state channel technology to ensure high throughput while maintaining low transaction costs.
Collectible Markets
Another area where Loom is competing in is the area of marketplaces for collectibles and in-game assets (NFTs). E.g. Enjin, who is also starting to compete with Loom on the platform level with their SDK and sidechain network Efinity, is known for their marketplace of in-game assets. Enjin already managed to foster a large community through their wallet and token.
Other competitors of Loom’s marketplace notably include OpenSea and RareBits, both of which provide an interface to browse and trade digital items.
General Purpose Blockchains
More broadly, the Loom Network as a scaling solution competes with any other project that aims to bring scale to decentralized applications. These include other Ethereum layer-2 solutions that take similar approaches, e.g. Plasma-based efforts like those by SKALE, Matic, or LeapDAO. Any general purpose blockchain implicitly competes with Loom in a way, including Ethereum itself.
Additionally, well-funded general purpose blockchains are also involved in the gaming ecosystem. Examples include EOS and Mythical Games and TRON Arcade, a $100 million commitment by the TRON Foundation to fund blockchain gaming.
Interoperability
Loom is trying to establish as a hub in the emerging network of blockchains by enabling interoperability between their and other major blockchain ecosystems, such as EOS, TRON, and Cosmos. In our interview with Matthew Campbell, this topic was discussed at length. I recommend giving it a listen if you’re interested in hearing about Loom’s strategy from the CEO himself.
Games in the Loom Ecosystem
Overall the blockchain gaming field is highly contested, and many of the first decentralized applications that saw some adoption have been games ( CryptoKitties). In the face of the alternatives mentioned above, the Loom Network has managed to attract many interesting projects to their platform. Part of this can be traced back to their commitment to build educational resources and tools that they themselves use to develop their own blockchain games. This strategy of the Loom team and their technologies will be covered in detail in another post, in the following I will introduce four games that are currently being built on the Loom Network:
ZombieBattleground
This trading card game is developed by Loom’s in-house game studio utilizing the tools and running on the technologies built by the team itself. As the name suggests, the game plays in a setting where undead creatures battle each other.
The game features Hearthstone-like mechanics with players using decks consisting of (NFT) game cards to defeat their opponents in short, round-based battles. The game is available on iOS, Android, and Steam.
Axie Infinity
One of the most well-known games being developed on Loom. The game allows you to breed, level up, and equip fantasy creatures (Axies). Axies can also battle other players in the Arena, or go on an adventure together in the story mode.
The world in which Axies live (Lunacia) is controlled by the players. There’s a land sale going on currently in which 25% of the land in Lunacia and various items will be distributed to players.
CryptoWars
This strategy game is developed by Experimental and lets players build an empire and an army to try and conquer other players’ empires. The game is completely browser-based with little animated graphics. Players earn resources by building mines and other structures, which can then be used to recruit soldiers to fight.
They are frequently hosting competitions where the best players receive a price, check here for more info.
Neon District
Neon District is a cypherpunk RPG developed by Blockade Games in which players collect and craft items to fight against evil in a dystopian setting.
Learn more about the game and the “Founder’s Sale” here.
Chorus One is operating a validator on the Loom Network. You can support us by staking your Loom tokens with us and be rewarded for helping to maintain the network. If you’re interested in staying informed about our content around staking and the networks we validate on, follow us on Twitter or join our mailing list below.
Originally published at https://blog.chorus.one on April 16, 2019.
