Merit Circle DAO and Vorto to co-launch MMO-RTS Hash Rush
Vorto, a modular gaming network platform, and Merit Circle, the groundbreaking DAO for gaming, are excited to announce the co-launch partnership of the world’s first blockchain-powered MMO-RTS (Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy game) — Hash Rush. The partnership combines a shared commitment to democratizing gaming and gamification through the use of protocols and decentralized technology. The combined expertise promises to turn Web3 gaming on its head by not only putting players in control of their gaming experience and incentivizing competitive play but also giving them unprecedented influence on its development.
With Web3 asset ownership & management, value can now be placed directly into the hands of players. This growing interest in tradable assets is empowering traditional gaming communities, while Vorto’s powerful tooling is providing game developers new ways to monetize their titles through more balanced and vibrant virtual economies. At the same time, innovators like Merit Circle are helping to expose the benefits to the community (industry) with decentralization of production and publishing through Gaming focused DAOs. This partnership brings together the best of both worlds for gamers and will ultimately support not only the Hash Rush launch but other future titles focused on in-game asset ownership and gamified NFT real-money trading.
— Kris Vaivods, CEO, Vorto
A Rush for the Stars
Set in the Hermeian Galaxy and in the wake of a cosmic attack that had unleashed untold horrors on an unsuspecting galaxy, Hash Rush is a hybrid Real Time Strategy game where players have to liberate and restore planets from the influence of a malevolent entity. Combining strategic resource management with exploration, base building and competitive PVP, players will lead their group of settlers and heroes across diverse planetscapes and biomes as they strive to provide for their colony while fending off scourges of cosmic proportions.
Being avid fans of the RTS genre, me and my team have been inspired by classics like Starcraft, Warcraft 3 and Age of Empires. From the base building and resource management to Hero and army micromanagement we believe that we have merged a great set of features for Hash Rush. The game functions and feels right for both passive and active players with multiple avenues for accumulating wealth from the game. Each mode is catered for a specific type of player but only by engaging in all the players can truly excel in the game. We are certain that Hash Rush will succeed as a benchmark for Blockchain games and will continue to evolve in the space! See you in the Hermeian Galaxy!
— Nathan Ziedonis, Studio Lead, VZ Games
Hash Rush is driven by player agency and ownership-based economy and offers a variety of game modes tied to exclusive resources and rewards. In Standard Mode players can look forward to the classic RTS gameplay — base building, resource and unit management and of course summoning powerful Heroes to help defeat the Crystal Scourge that has infested the area. Players can also dive into the Dungeon Mode to take on hordes of subterranean challenges and their corrupted denizens to harvest strategic resources. Or maybe, you just want to duke it out with other players in tournaments on customizable PVP maps on player-owned planets.
The key to any successful MMO-RTS game is maintaining a balance between tradable and non-tradable items. This ensures that the game cannot be won by simply paying more money than others. Players will be able to freely accumulate resources, craft and upgrade in-game equipment, skins, recruit hero units, and trade nearly all items on the market place excluding a handful of upgrade items. These non-tradable items are powerful catalysts for crafting upgrades and their proliferation is bound to derail player experience.
Building the Player-owned Economy Together
As the leading gaming DAOs, Merit Circle has been and continues to be at the forefront of building ecosystems that are fully owned by the communities where members create value for the network rather than relying on centralized parties. Merit Circle is on a mission to create an open ecosystem that distributes value to its Decentralized Autonomous Organization and Vorto is set to tap into this rich vein of resources as a DAO-centric publishing platform for games starting with Hash Rush.
Working together with Merit Circle, Vorto is building the infrastructure for developers, publishers, gamers, and content creators to create, engage, and exchange values across Web2 and Web3.
Hash Rush neatly leverages web3 technology to create a unique gaming experience. A unique economic game and meta-game are layered onto a set of very engaging RTS game modes, from the more friendly campaign modes to hardcore PVP matches. The game mixes real time tactical finite games with turn based infinite meta-games. The Hermeian Galaxy offers strategy inside out, from the micro to the macro. Players in the Hermeian Galaxy will be empowered to build, craft, acquire and own their assets. Not just their own assets, but they are also enabled to have shared ownership and governance over the game itself. The potential depth of a game like this is incredible and we are very excited to co-launch it with Vorto, one of Merit Circle’s close partners. Web3 still has very few engaging quality games, we think Hash Rush has not just the potential to revitalize the RTS genre, but to be one of the most engaging games in web3 currently.
— Tommy Quite, CFO, Merit Circle
Join the Battle
Following the success of two earlier playtests, Hash Rush will launch their third and final beta on September 1st. Closed testing will run from September 1st through September 14th for those who have a Vorto Key in their Vorto account (acquired by previously purchasing any of the items from the Vorto Store), after which a final update will be pushed on September 15th to herald the open public Beta for everyone.
To sign up for a chance to brave the unknown and save the galaxy, register here.
