Yoda Labs Monthly Recap

As the magic of March draws to an end, Guild of Guardians is to launch globally in on Apple's and Google Play Store. Shrapnel introduces its first collection of partnership weapon skins.Nyan Heroes launched its early access playtest on the Epic Games Store. Illuvium announces its Beta 4 testing schedule, and Arena 0.3.6 update goes live with new Ascension System. Players of Gods Unchained go into battle as tournament is announced. Crypto Valleys on Base is earning players high yield, whilst Muchables on base got drained for over $60 million. Pixels Farm Land NFTs are now live on Ronin. Gunzilla Games secures $30 million funding and Gala Games is still relevant.

Also in our weekly digest:

• StepApp creator is launching a web3 combat game called 'Pixelverse'

• WAX and Amazon Web Services partner up

• Legends of Elysium launches its Closed Beta

• Ubisoft Expands Web3 Presence and joins XPLA 

• Square Enix plans to commercialize IP as NFTs

• Game devs should adopt AI, VR, and Web3 to stay relevant

• Shrapnel announced its STX2 event

• Immutable, and Polygon Labs launch $100 M gaming fund

The Future of Gaming: Layer 2 and 3 solutions 

Web3 Gaming News of the Week🎮

• Kirill Volgin, the creator of Move-to-Earn game StepApp, is launching a web3 combat game called 'Pixelverse'

• Guild of Guardians will launch globally in May for both Apple's iOS App Store and Google's Android Play Store

• Shrapnel has introduced its first collection of partnership weapon skins, available to Operator NFT holders until March 31st

• Nyan Heroes has launched its early access playtest on the Epic Games Store

• Mines of Dalarnia celebrates its anniversary with Modbots Season 2

• Illuvium announces its Beta 4 testing schedule, and Arena 0.3.6 update goes live with new Ascension System

• Life Beyond is introducing a new NFT called a Founder Watch, replacing the current Founder Key NFTs

• Gods Unchained announced its "Mid March Madness" tournament

• InfiniGods has partnered with Arbitrum to integrate the blockchain into King of Destiny

• Legends of Elysium has launched its Closed Beta, marking a significant milestone in its development journey

• WAX and Amazon Web Services have partnered to enable developers to launch side chains and testnets with just a few clicks

• Stratagems, an on-chain strategy game by Etherplay, is now live in alpha on the Base network

• Crypto Valleys is a game on Blast, combining high yield DeFi farming with gacha gameplay

• Wild Forest introduces league-based changes to improve matchmaking in the latest update

• Notcoin, a Telegram-based game created by Open Builders, attracted 30 million players and five million daily active users

• LUXON, backed by KAKAO and Line Games, has launched its first blockchain game, DESPERADO B218, on Immutable

• Munchables, an NFT-based game on Blast, has been targeted by a $63 million exploit, draining the protocol of 17,413 ETH

• Bitcoin Miner, an idle tapping game, gained popularity and logged over two million downloads

• Pixels is launching a $PIXEL airdrop, allowing Farm Land NFTs to be bridged to the Ronin Network

• Yield Guild Games has launched its native token, YGG, on the Ronin blockchain network to promote Web3 gaming growth

• Axie Classic Guild Leaderboards Season 1 ignites with 10,000 AXS prize pool

• Immutable partners with OKX for a web3 gaming launchpad whilst ScarQuest announces a partnership with Immutable

• PlayDapp has partnered with Avalanche for the mainnet launch of its Web3 gaming ecosystem, set to take place on April 11th

• MixMarvel and Yeeha Games have announced a strategic partnership at GDC 2024

• Avalanche is partnering with Alipay+ D-store and e-wallet partners to launch a Web3-enabled voucher program in Southeast Asia

• XPLA and Matter Labs have partnered to launch zkXPLA, a platform powered by zkSync technology

• Epic Games unveiled Unreal Engine 5.4 Preview 1 at GDC 2024, featuring major rendering performance improvements

• The Sandbox has increased the Builders' Challenge prize pool to celebrate reaching 1,000 creator-published Experiences

• The Beacon, a F2P action roguelite RPG, has announced its final event, The New Frontiers Quest, ahead of its Q3 2024 global launch

• Gala Games is set to launch Guilds in Common Ground World in late April 2024, powered by Node Workload NFTs

Gala Games Still Going Strong

After the recent founder turmoil, Gala Games is still very relevant in the Web3 blockchain gaming space. A $1 million GalaChain GDC 2024 Hackathon in collaboration with AWS and Alienware is being hosted to inspire creativity among developers. Alongside this, they've announced the return of Fuzzle NFTs, AI companions created by EndlessAI, to the GalaChain ecosystem, enhancing the gaming experience.

In a move towards decentralized governance, Gala Games has revised its Referral Incentive System proposal, allowing Founder's Node operators to vote on it. This aligns with their upcoming game, Last Expedition, which will feature an in-game economy with earnable currencies minted on GalaChain, blurring the lines between virtual and real economies. Furthermore, Gala Games has partnered with PlanX to create community-oriented, ownership-empowered gaming experiences, underscoring their commitment to liberating players and encouraging a sense of ownership within the gaming ecosystem. These initiatives remind us of Gala Games' pulling power in the blockchain gaming industry, offering opportunities for players, developers, and partners alike.

• Tymt™ is a game launcher that aims to transform gaming by providing a unified environment for various games

• TCG World and SKALE have partnered to enhance the metaverse experience by combining their innovative virtual environments

• Nexon has established two blockchain game subsidiaries in the UAE, Nexon Universe Global and Nexpace

• Parallel Studios has revealed details of their upcoming AI-driven survival sim, Colony, which will be integrated with Solana

• Last Remains, the stealth-based zombie battle royale, launched its second public alpha playtest for March

• Shrapnel announced STX2 event, offering exclusive early access to gameplay and 20 exclusive weapon skins

• Nexon's MapleStory Universe ditches Polygon and shifts to Avalanche for blockchain gaming expansion

• Sony is introducing super-fungible tokens to allow players to own, trade, and sell in-game assets

• Aptos Labs has partnered with Google Cloud to enable developers and companies to build more easily on its network

• Ubisoft Expands Web3 Presence and joins XPLA as a Network Validator

• Apeiron is launching its ecosystem token, $APRS, on the Ronin Network 

• Aether Games is holding its $AEG Launch Tournament from March 8th to April 8th

• Square Enix plans to commercialize NFTs featuring assets from its iconic series, Final Fantasy, and Tomb Raider

• Ubisoft is partnering with Ethereum NFT card game 'Cross the Ages' to introduce in-game cards inspired by its Watch Dogs series

• DeFi Kingdoms has partnered with Metis Labs to launch a 3v3 turn-based PvP gameplay on the Metis blockchain

• SkyMavis and Battle Bears have agreed to part ways in the Ronin chain

• Big Time has introduced craftable decorations for Forge and Armory owners, with new recipes added

• Improbable, the metaverse company behind Otherside, plans to host up to 40,000 users in a virtual area

Web3 Gaming Trends 🚀

• UNKJD Soccer is integrating AI with three new game modes, including the King of the Hill game mode

• Game developers should adopt AI, VR, and Web3 to stay relevant, according to industry experts

• LootRush has announced a new gaming subscription that allows users to access NFTs from over 500 games on its platform

• OXOA Network, the first Layer-3 gaming blockchain on Zk Sync, aims to grant $100,000 investment for web2 game studios

• Weiwei Geng believes blockchain can revolutionize the gaming industry by offering a more inclusive and vibrant gaming ecosystem

• Jimmy Zhao, Senior Solution Architect at BNB Chain, discusses the team's 2024 AI, DePin and focus on gaming plans

Web3 Funding News 💸

• Polygon Labs and Immutable are partnering to form the Inevitable Games Fund, a $100M Web3 gaming fund

• Elixir Games secured $14 million in seed funding to build a global gaming ecosystem

• Gunzilla Games secured a $30 million funding round led by Avalanche's Blizzard Fund and CoinFund

• Illuvium has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round to support its upcoming titles, including Illumium Arena and Illumium Zero

• Swiss gaming studio 7 Digital Labs has raised $4 million in seed funding for its free-to-play hero shooter, BloodLoop

• BlockGames secured a $6 million funding round for its decentralized "Universal Player Profiles" platform

Alpha Test, Early Access & Hands-On Gaming ⚒️

WOW Summit, Hong Kong, 26-27th March

PRIME token unlock (4.65%), 30th March

NFT NYC, 3-5th April

Hong Kong Web3 Festival, 6th April

Paris blockchain week, 9-11th April

Autonomous Anonymous fully onchain game event, Lisbon, 16-18th April

Southeast Asia Blockchain Week, Bangkok, 22-28th April

Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest news and announcements!

See you same place same time next week!

❤❤❤

Yoda