Mar 9
YGG’s Role in Securing the Web3 Gaming Ecosystem
As one of the earliest communities in blockchain gaming, Yield Guild Games (YGG) has always been proactive in building, decentralizing and securing the web3 ecosystem. The guild has partnered with over 80 games, infrastructure projects and subguilds to date, providing guidance and resources to support their ongoing development. As the industry continues to scale, there are now a variety of blockchains targeting low- to no-cost transactions and high throughput dedicated to the specific needs and requirements of modern games.
In its role as steward and guardian of the web3 space, the guild demonstrates its commitment to providing a safe and secure network on which its player communities can rely, through its role as a network validator for some of these gaming blockchains.
What Is a Validator?
Typically found in proof-of-stake protocols, validators are nodes that are responsible for authenticating each block and securing the transactions within a network. Potential validators undergo a selection process with criteria including the number of tokens they have staked in the network, their established reputation, and their past performance as a validator.
Protocols incentivize validators with different kinds of benefits, such as additional token rewards or voting rights in governance proposals, to reward them maintaining a secure and decentralized ecosystem.
Validators who behave poorly, such as attempting to validate fraudulent transactions, can lose their stake and be removed from the network. The amount of crypto that a validator is required to stake depends on their reputation and the rules of the network.
Having multiple validators preserves the network’s security and resilience against external and internal threats such as hacking attempts and 51% attacks, where an attacker gains control of more than 50% of the validating authority through unauthorized access of physical hardware, thus giving them the ability to manipulate the network and its transactions. Networks can prevent this by distributing the control among multiple validators and using cryptographic hashing algorithms to secure the integrity of data stored in the blockchain.
YGG believes that beyond authenticating transactions, validators play a crucial role in maintaining the network’s overall health and stability. They monitor the network and ensure that it is running smoothly, identifying and resolving any issues that arise.
YGG as a Validator
Working together with other validators and stakeholders enables YGG to help build a more resilient and inclusive ecosystem that benefits everyone. YGG’s responsibility involves checking and verifying transactions to ensure they adhere to the protocol rules and secure the ecosystem. In addition, YGG participates in governance activities to represent the needs and goals of the YGG community. Lastly, YGG also ensures the robustness of the protocol, ensuring that the nodes running its infrastructure are secure, up to date, and reliable for validating transactions.
“Being a validator of these different chains showcases our desire for an industry that is secure and decentralized,” said YGG co-founder Owl of Moistness. “Forming relationships with multiple gaming blockchains provides YGG with opportunities to propose systems that can benefit the player community. By prioritizing security, our goal is to instill confidence in the blockchain gaming community, allowing them to feel more assured as they play games within the ecosystem.”
The Path to a Safe Web3 Gaming Ecosystem
From the early days of blockchain gaming in November 2020, when Axie Infinity had only around 10,000 daily active users (DAU), and the YGG community represented 5% of all Axie DAUs, YGG’s founders have been committed to strengthening the ecosystem and reinforcing its growth.
Throughout 2022, web3 saw several security breaches across different blockchains, DeFi bridges and other platforms. Each of these incidents have demonstrated the serious consequences challenging the integrity of the current infrastructure and preventing them is critical if web3 is to reach mass adoption.
As such, YGG has taken on the responsibility of being a validator for the Ronin, Oasys and XPLA gaming blockchains and is actively supporting them to ensure their continued security and success.
“YGG extends its full support to the Oasys, Ronin and XPLA gaming blockchains and their communities. As the blockchain gaming industry continues to evolve, it’s important to recognize those who are making significant contributions to the landscape,” said YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon. “Each of these chains brings something unique and valuable to the community. Through the guild’s support, we are demonstrating our commitment to innovation in collectively securing the network.”
Below are the gaming blockchains that YGG currently supports as a validator:
Oasys
Co-founded by Japanese gaming executives from Bandai Namco, Sega, gumi and double jump.tokyo, along with the support of Gabby Dizon, Oasys is a blockchain protocol offering zero transaction fees. Oasys is also tackling interoperability challenges in web3 games by providing a mechanism for the ownership of digital assets across different Metaverses.
Other validators of Oasys alongside YGG include SoftBank, Ubisoft, Netmarble, Com2US and Jump Crypto. The blockchain currently hosts games including ChainGuardians and Trouble Punk: Cyber Galz.
“YGG has supported Oasys since the early days of the project through its participation as a validator and its contribution to the Genesis Council, as well as YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon’s s eat on the Oasys advisory board,” said Oasys Director, Daiki Moriyama. “As the world’s largest gaming guild and a driving force behind blockchain gaming adoption, YGG is an important partner in scaling the Oasys ecosystem. We are excited to drive the industry forward with YGG.”
Ronin
Ronin, Sky Mavis’ proprietary blockchain network, is an EVM blockchain that allows millions of in-game transactions to occur seamlessly. Ronin enabled Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis’ breakout game, to scale its user base.
In April 2022, Ronin was opened up to other independent developers with the launch of the Axie Infinity Builders Program, which has brought 12 additional games on Ronin. All of the games deployed on Ronin benefit from the security brought about by the validators of the network. Alongside YGG, these validators include Google Cloud, Animoca Brands, DappRadar and Nansen.
“YGG joined the Ronin Network as a validator in July 2022 after a thorough review process. YGG is not only a pioneering web3 gaming guild, but has been in Axie Infinity’s corner since the beginning,” said Sky Mavis co-founder and COO, Aleksander Larsen. “We are thrilled to have a validator with such strong community roots.”
XPLA
XPLA, developed mainly by the South Korean mobile and online game development and publishing company Com2Us, is a blockchain protocol focused on developing an ecosystem for web2 games transitioning to web3. To achieve this, XPLA utilizes the Tendermint Core to operate seamlessly across Layer 1 blockchains, Layer 2 sidechains and dapps. XPLA is expanding its vision of an interchain environment starting with EVM support.
Partnered with the C2X gaming platform, the following games all use the XPLA blockchain: Summoners War: Lost Centuria, Chromatic Souls: AFK Raid, Kritika Global, Baseball Superstars, IDLE LUCA, and Dear, Ella.
Alongside YGG, XPLA has onboarded Delight Labs, Blockdaemon, Lydia Labs, and Animoca Brands as validators for the network.
“XPLA aims to provide a top-notch experience for game developers and gamers through our Layer 1 network,” said XPLA CEO, Paul Kim. “We’re thrilled to have YGG as our initial validator as we share the same vision of creating a Web3 Gaming Universe where the community can have true ownership while enjoying high-quality content on our platform. We look forward to expanding areas of collaboration in the future with YGG.”
YGG is continuously seeking ways to secure web3 and enhance the integrity of its infrastructure. In its role as validator, YGG is fostering a more resilient ecosystem to benefit the blockchain gaming community for decades to come.
For more information on the gaming blockchains that YGG supports, visit the Oasys website, Medium and Twitter, the Sky Mavis website, Medium and Twitter, and the XPLA website, Medium and Twitter.
Also check out YGG’s Discord or follow us on Twitter for future updates.
