Top News
#1: Hyperplay’s Wallet Interoperability Solution
One of the most commonly cited issues about onboarding players into web3 games is wallets. The focus is usually on getting players to create wallets, but there’s an equal challenge in connecting wallets to games across various platforms. The typical way of connecting wallets is through the Metamask browser extension, which is fine for browser-based games but isn’t suitable elsewhere (and browsers are also not suitable for the next generation of high-end games). Horizon’s Sequence wallet (covered previously) may be one of the best candidates to help on mobile, but a new announcement from Hyperplay may drive a big leap forward for non-browser desktop games. In short, Hyperplay is building a system that allows players to connect their Metamask wallets to desktop games in a much easier way by leveraging the Epic Games Store and GoG (Good Old Games) platforms.
Hyperplay procust makes use of two pieces of existing tech: 1) the Heroic Games Launcher (used for playing Epic Games Store titles on Linux) and 2) Metamask’s new SDK (which makes it easier for apps to connect to wallets). When it comes to playing games as desktop apps, there are two big issues that the Epic Games Store can help solve: updates and discovery. Unfortunately, while Epic has been more willing to accept web3 games than Valve, that hasn’t been reflected in its support for web3-related infrastructure, like wallet connectivity.
Hyperplay potentially helps solve this problem by acting as a game launcher that connects to Metamask and bridges the wallet to any EGS game that wants it. Without this system, players would be on their own to figure out how to connect their EGS accounts or other in-game accounts to their wallets. This would force them to log into their EGS accounts through a web browser and link their wallets there. Interestingly, the Heroic Games Launcher is also compatible with GoG, the Steam Deck, and Linux in general. There’s also definitely a potential opportunity here for Hyperplay to similarly bridge to Steam should Valve become more allowing of web3 games.
Notably, this announcement itself was not a full launch but was intended to attract early developer attention. Hyperplay currently has an early access sign-up form and is planning on launching the actual product in February 2023. That does give developers on the Epic Games Store plenty of time to consider implementing this solution.
There are quite a few web3 games either already on or coming to EGS, such as Blankos Block Party, Grit, Superior, Forge Arena, and STG Football. As we evolve from web-based transactional games to full-fledged AAA desktop games, both Hyperplay and the Epic Games Store will give many teams a shot at developing the next breakout hit. We expect to see more games announced for the Epic Games Store before February, and we’ll be keeping an eye on whether Hyperplay gets adopted more next year.
#2: Shake-ups at Web3 Companies
As the macroeconomy and financial markets slowed down earlier this year, layoffs soon followed across many industries. Tech has taken an especially hard hit as many companies continue to reforecast their growth rates downward and cut their budgets as a result. While some crypto companies such as Coinbase fit this trend, many other web3 teams didn’t quickly follow suit because of their large cash infusions from prior investment rounds. As the months of “crypto winter” roll on, though, head counts at web3 companies are now starting to scale back as well.
Dapper Labs was the latest victim, which just announced a 22% reduction in its staff; even though gaming has started to lightly pick up for them, this is still unsurprising given the hype cycle NBA Top Shot has rolled through. The Dapper Labs cuts should come as a warning to others, given the company certainly wasn’t short on funding; raised more than $600M over the last 2 years and roughly grew its staff six-fold in that time. The cut is certainly not fatal, but it does show that these economic times are pushing industry leaders to reorient their optimism and build more efficiently.
A company with a bit more confusing circumstances is Mythical Games, the creators of Blankos Block Party. The company not only just laid off 10% of its staff, but it also suddenly lost three high-level executives (a Co-founder, SVP, and COO). It would be one thing to have one high-profile departure at a time, but three begs the question of what sparked these changes. None of the three gave any indication of being forced out, but all of them mentioned next ventures or staying in web3. There’s always the possibility that they are leaving to start a joint venture together, which may in some ways conflict with their positions at Mythical. It’s also curious timing since they are departing just when Mythical seems to be gaining momentum with its Blankos Block Party release on the Epic Games Store. And that’s not even the only project it has going, as it just released more information about two other games — Nitro Nation and NFL Rivals. We’ll be keeping a close eye on where these executives end up!
Despite these shifts, there are many indicators that the web3 space still lacks key talent, especially as funding to compete for that talent contracts. Combined with the sheer amount of major tech layoffs, we may see more leaders and developers take their shots at new startups. We anticipate that even in the event of a prolonged crypto winter, web3 in general will return needing a much stronger workforce than ever before.
Game Launch Radar
- Joyride Games launched early access of its Carrom Blitz game for Discord members. Link
- Spider Tanks officially launched on Gala and is free to play. Link
- MomoVerse announced an alpha test for its MoHome building. Link
- Sega detailed further plans and financial expectations around its “Super Game.” Link
- Star Atlas detailed gameplay foundations it considers important. Link
Other Game Announcements
- Aurory introduced play and earn reward systems. Link
- Monkey League developers UnCaged Studios revealed a platform token. Link
- Planet IX announced a partnership with ArcadeNFT to use its technology for esports. Link
- Grease Monkey Games announced securing a license for Nissan branded NFTs. Link
- The Sandbox hit a huge bump in recent activity as Season 3 began winding down. Link
- Blockchain Brawlers’ PVP mode went live, designed by famed game designer Richard Garfield. Link
- Premier League announced negotiations to bring its NFTs to Sorare. Link
- Phantom Galaxies launched its hyped up Astrafite Rush event. Link
- Champions Ascension released a new playable mini-game to help entertain early adopters. Link
- Genopets introduced new habitat features to help better manage inactive habitats. Link
- Guild of Guardians announced active staking for its GOG token. Link
- Imperium Empires launched a new gear system for spaceship upgrading. Link
- Arc8 announced a giveaway for its G-Bot NFTs. Link
- Red Door Digital released NFT minting information and a trailer for its upcoming game, Reign of Terror: Awakening. Link
- Gods Unchained announced a new casual mode to help engage less competitive players. Link
- NFT Panda released an update to its crafting system. Link
Funding Announcements
- Braavos raised $10M for its StarkNet self-custodial digital wallet in a round led by Pantera Capital. Link
- Modl.ai raised $8.4M to develop AI-driven play testing and QA bots in a round led by Griffin Gaming Partners and Microsoft’s M12 venture fund. Link
- RealFevr raised €10M for its GameFi sports ecosystem led by ADvantage. Link
Ecosystem Updates
- The Oasys blockchain launched phase 1 on Mainnet with plans for phase 2 on November 8th. Link
- GREE and Ava Labs announced plans to build web3 games by accelerating BLRD’s growth and run nodes on Avalanche. Link
- The Singaporean High Court declared that NFTs are considered property, with a Bored Ape NFT as the precedent. Link
- LooksRare reduced royalty fees to zero but is compensating through platform fees. Link
- Twitter revealed new NFT trading tools as NFT Tweet Tiles with marketplace linking. Link
- Google announced its new Google Cloud’s Blockchain Node Engine to help developers build and deploy new products on blockchain-based platforms. Link
- The Open Metaverse Alliance (OMA3) opened up membership to web3 builders and will be DAO-governed. Link
- GameStop’s NFT marketplace on Immutable X officially went live. Link
- Visa filed trademark applications for crypto wallets, NFTs, and the metaverse. Link
- South Korean game developer Wemade received a warning from crypto exchanges about exaggerated circulation numbers for its new stablecoin. Link
- Spielworks announced reaching over 3M users on its gaming platform. Link
- Square Enix reiterated its commitment to blockchain gaming in an annual report. Link
- Oasys announced a partnership with YGG Japan to help promote its game ecosystem. Link
- Polygon announced a deal with Instagram to directly support NFT creators. Link
Notable Market Moves
- Most tokens followed a fairly positive upswing in the general crypto market this week. There were two major outliers, though.
- ApeCoin was the only top 10 gaming token in the red thanks to the DAO approval of the $4.4M bug bounty program that will once again delay its staking program.
- Render Token (RNDR) was the major winner this week (+42%), finally overtaking PlayDapp to move into the top 10. Part of the gain can be attributed to rumors of the platform joining Solana, but much of the vertical climb may just be traders pumping without a significant underlying value change.
- SAND saw a strong 12% gain, giving it enough of a lift to swap places with MANA for the #2 spot. While The Sandbox Alpha Season 3 didn’t do a lot for the token, the season had a very strong finish that made participants a bit more bullish. However, it may not retain its spot between seasons as it’s still just slightly ahead of Decentraland. That said, both of these land-based virtual world platforms have an enormous amount to prove in order to justify their $1B+ valuations.
- As always, we encourage you to look long-term and keep your eyes on the horizon for web3 advancements. We’re hopeful that 2023 will bring about new games and platforms that shake up this list even more.
Content Worth Consuming
- Play-to-Die: New Crypto Gaming Model Makes Death in the Metaverse Real (BeinCrypto) - “Stanton put forward what seems to be a wild idea. It is play-to-die. He wants to build a system which allows a beloved character that dies in one game to die forever. The character is minted as a non-fungible token (NFT) that can be bought or sold on the open market. Once the character dies, it burns the NFT. ‘[I] believe that the value potential of NFT characters is much greater than traditional game characters,’ Stanton wrote in a blog. ‘Thus, introducing a concept of loss by dying in-game is much more interesting and engaging than before.’” Link
- Multiple GamesBeat Next Summit 2022 talks:
- Why Neal Stephenson is trying to make the open metaverse into a reality (VentureBeat) - “The metaverse was my conjecture as to what that might be. That came out in 1992, and it was really the next year that DOOM came out. I remember looking at it and just being shocked that someone had made a 3D space that worked on the hardware of that era. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible. The other thing that happened was the World Wide Web came out and created a demand from people wanting to use their computers not just to work with text documents and spreadsheets but to be able to look at pictures and movies and so on. That’s what really drove the cost of graphics hardware down over the next couple of decades to the point where practically anyone can have a very capable machine.” Link
- Can Web3 and dynamic NFTs unlock sustainable game monetization? (VentureBeat) - “‘NFTs are thought of by most people as these immutable collectibles. What we’re trying to do at Freeverse is move that discussion on,’ Evans said. ‘We’re trying to make dynamic NFTs — we call them living assets — whereby the user actions affect the NFT properties, and therefore affect its market value. What that does is change the discussion. We move away from this passive activity of collecting to an active engagement with the tokens and with the underlying game. There’s a massive opportunity there for the games industry, the metaverse, and brands in general.’” Link
- Trust and safety: Leaders from Roblox and EA say Web3 has learned from past lessons (VentureBeat) - “’Safety has to be a three-legged stool,’ said Tami Bhaumik, VP of civility and partnerships at Roblox. There has to be responsibility from a platform standpoint like Roblox, which provides safety tools. And because democratization and UGC is the future, they also have a vested interest in empowering creators and developers to create the cultural nuance for the experiences that they’re developing. The third leg of that stool is government regulation.” Link
- How user-generated content is changing the game industry for good (VentureBeat) - “Opening up content creation to users requires a continuous commitment to manage and support those creator communities. It can even evolve to the point where developers completely relinquish any creative control — and the more you relinquish control, the larger the audience will be. Developers need to ensure they’re investing in creating accessible, easily used tools that lower barriers to entry and encourage innovation from all corners.” Link
- The Changing Narrative Of Asset Ownership (Matt H Gaming) - “Sky Mavis are just the vanguard of this narrative shift. It will happen across the Web3 gaming space as developers realize just what giving players actual ownership of their items means. If you’re in this space because you believe traditional developers are greedy corporations simply out to squeeze as much money as possible from gamers, then you should be raging about what’s happening in front of your eyes. We’re seeing the promise of ownership eroded in real time, and it’s happening with barely a whimper. Don’t let it!” Link
- Game Monetization, Part 2 - Lessons to Learn for New Beginnings (MetaPortal) - “Engagement should always be your first point of contact when it comes to game management and monetization. Engagement is defined by how your playerbase interacts with your core game loop. Without any measurement on engagement, you won’t be able to drive any form of scalable and sustainable monetization. However, most operators are focusing only on surface levels of engagement such as player retention, session length, etc, all of which hardly give you any actionable tasks for optimization. We encourage developers to look at engagement by segmenting both game-centric items like player progression, play style, and/or meta-game activity and demographically-based items like age and location. The isolation of player profiles would be able to give you clearer parameters when adjusting game mechanics or design for optimization.” Link
- Battlebound: Ex-Riot Dev Dives into Web3 (The Metacast by Naavik) - “Why does a Rioter go start a web3 studio? Today’s episode is with Adam Hensel, CEO of Battlebound and the web3 studio making Evaverse, a universe of competitive racing and battler games. We chat the woes of web3 publishing, how he’s thinking about revenue share between the developer and player, and what’s next for Battlebound as he and his team build games that envision players adopting blockchain technology in a low friction and “less NFT hate” environment.” Link
