Yoda Labs Monthly Recap

Polygon's farming game moves aims for the sky and moves to the Ronin blockchain, Unioverse is incoming as as Random Games and Immutable partner up, builders can now integrate gaming assets code-free via Solana Labs' GameShift Dr Disrespect, disses his own game, Heroes of Mavia clears the path for an App Store release and FPS metaverse Shrapnel gaines major financial backing with a $20M funding round. Sega announces an upcoming mobile game and and XPLA blockchain comes to The Walking Dead mobile RPG-have blockchain games finally gone big time with household IP and serious funding?

Also in our weekly digest:

• New players can sample action game Hunters On-Chain for free

• Valve expresses skepticism about incorporating NFTs into its games

• Yuga remains committed to Otherside despite its restructuring

• Unity's Runtime Fee would have affected smaller studios

• NFL Rivals is close to 3M sign-ups

• Proof of Play CEO is committed to 100% on-chain gaming

• Animoca acquires Azarusthe blockchain game streaming platform

• French National Assembly passes Sorare Act regulating NFT-integrated games

The most comprehensive look at Gala Games!

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Web3 Gaming News 🎮

• Yoda's partner Symbiogenesis attends it's major backer Square Enix's Web3 event

• Pixels, a popular farming game from Polygon, has successfully moved to Sky Mavis' gaming blockchain, Ronin

• Random Games and Immutable are partnering to create a blockchain-based sci-fi universe, Unioverse

• Solana Labs launchs GameShift, the Web3 gaming API, enables developers to integrate blockchain assets into their games code-free

• Saga has launched its Pegasus incentivized testnet, marking the first step towards launching the Saga Protocol V1 mainnet in early 2024

• Iskra has partnered with Grampus CWC to launch two new Web3 games, 'Project F' and 'Juicy Adventure'

• Amazon Prime Gaming expands its presence and brings its large user base to Web3 games by partnering with WAX

• Dogami Academy upcoming early access release is to include Splinterlands Rebellion and Phantom Galaxies

• Rogue Nation offers a community event where players can earn Witch Hat NFTs as prizes for completing a level 8 or higher dungeon.

• Top 10 fully on-chain games announced include Alien Worlds , Dragginz, Gabby World, and Downstream by Playmint

• Bungie experiences a wave of layoffs, postponing highly anticipated releases like Destiny 2's The Final Shape DLC and Marathon

• The Machines Arena launches its beta season 2, featuring bug fixes, equippable character skins, a new game mode, and an in-game store

• Star Atlas is hosting a Worldwide Golden Ticket event with a weekly prize pool of $1.35M for players to craft and discover Golden Tickets

• NvirWorld and EMERGE Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on blockchain gaming development

• Ghostrunner 2 is a thrilling sequel to the popular cyberpunk game, offering bigger levels, faster action, and a more complex narrative

• Chain of Alliance has released its Alpha 3.0 update, featuring new features such as leaderboards, rewards, species, and classes

• Sweat Economy, the largest Web3 move to earn app, expands its reach to the United States and several other countries

• WAGMI Games appoints Ed Del Castillo as its strategic advisor to launch the franchise's first public product, WAGMI Defense

• Peter Molyneux launches Legacy, via 22Cans studio, where players can conceive and grow a town on lands sold in the form of NFTs

• Hunters On-Chain is now available for free to play, allowing new players to try out the quick-paced combat game

• NEOBRED, a horse racing game, will integrate with the Avalanche blockchain while players can breed and train horses to build stables

• Continuum World has announced the release date for Season Three of First Explorers, focusing on finding Birdums and collecting Eggs.

• The Forgotten Runiverse, a MMORPG from Bisonic, is integrating with Arbitrum's gaming and NFT ecosystem

• Jon Jordan interviews Kevin Chou, a Web3 game developer. Chou's latest project, Trophy, is a mobile gaming identity and loyalty platform

• The French National Assembly has approved the "Sorare Act," a law aimed at a regulatory framework for games integrating NFTs

• Valve's development team for Counter-Strike 2 expressed skepticism about incorporating NFTs into the gaming environment

• Deadrop's latest update, Snapshot VII, was unveiled in Las Vegas showcasing new cars and modes but Dr Disrepect is not happy with elements of the game

• The top 10 most anticipated blockchain games include Blocklords by Metaking Studios and Champions Ascension by Plai Labs

• Sky Mavis aims to capitalize on its Ronin blockchain to become the center of the next blockchain gaming revival

• Unity's Runtime Fee would have affected smaller studios but larger developers would have seen exemptions

• Rumble Arcade by Tribo Games announces its debut game launching on Avalanche-based L2 Beam, deployed by Merit Circle

• Heroes of Mavia online multiplayer strategy game is approved for release on the App Store with an official global coming soon

• GodsUnchained major expansion finally arrives - Tides of Fate with new cards mechanics, factional warfare, crafting and more

• Champions Ascension early access alpha playtest is live, bringing new player experiences, an opportunity to find bugs, and test the game

• NFL Rivals has close to 3 million signups, with increased active users, revenue per player is on the up

• The Walking Dead: All-Stars mobile RPG by Com2uS' has integrated the XPLA blockchain into its F2P mobile games

• Sega is developing an upcoming blockchain game based on the Three Kingdoms digital card series for mobile platforms

• Azuki has recruited a new game production manager, boasting previous experience with industry giants such as Ubisoft and Riot Games

• Immutable partners with Amazon Web Services to expand its startup accelerator programs

• Jon Jordan discusses the growth of SKALE as a platform for high-performance dapps like Untitled Platform, Gamifly, and StrayShot

• UAE embraces Web3 gaming as a means of economic diversification and cultural enrichment, positioning itself as a global leader

Web3 Gaming Trends 🚀

• Bandai Namco predicts that Asia will be the first region to see widespread adoption of Web3 and crypto games

• Tokenization is transforming the gaming industry by enabling players and developers to own in-game assets

• Web3 mobile gaming is becoming an impending reality, transforming the gaming industry by enabling a new transaction paradigm

• Blockchain gaming has seen a surge in funding, with three Web3 gaming projects raising significant amounts

• The five main components of Web3 gaming models are content, community, digital assets, currency, and a digital marketplace

• To enable interoperable items across games, and at scale, these are the hurdles that have to be addressed

The Dream of Interoperable Web3 Gaming

The concept of allowing players to use in-game items across multiple video games faces several key challenges. Lack of industry standards makes cross-game item usage difficult - developers use different coding languages and file formats for items, meaning an item from one game may not work in another. To enable interoperability, common data standards would need to be established.

In addition, business interests may pose a barrier, as developers and publishers want players to purchase items within their own games, rather than bring items from other games. Revenue-sharing models could help address this, where original item creators receive royalties when an item is used in another game.

Technical challenges also exist around balancing items across games and ensuring cross-game items do not cause gameplay problems. Developers collaborating and sharing best practices around cross-game item tools and APIs could help overcome the technical obstacles.

Legal and regulatory challenges around consumer protection and antitrust will need to be navigated. Overall, cross-game item usage faces challenges around lack of standards, business incentives, technical complexity, and legal compliance. With industry collaboration and revenue-sharing frameworks, the technical and business obstacles could potentially be solved, but standards and regulations would likely need to be established to enable interoperability and compliance.

• Proof of Play CEO Amitt Mahajan discusses the studio's vision for 100% onchain gaming, where all assets and game run on blockchain

• Industry giants like Sony are making moves towards blockchain gaming, filing patents for NFT gaming frameworks

• Web3 gaming must enhance user experience and financialization, as users are less concerned about the game's functionality and value

Web3 Funding News 💸

• Animoca Brands acquires US-based Azarus, a blockchain game streaming platform, for $5.8M in two funding rounds

• Saudi Arabia's NEOM initiative has proposed a $50M investment in Web3 gaming firm Animoca Brands

• Moonveil Entertainment has raised $5.4M in a seed round, co-led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Arcane Group

• Shrapnel the first-person shooter has raised $20M in Series A financing with Polychain Capital leading the round

• Forge has secured $11M in seed funding the platform, currently in beta, features a partnership lineup of dozens of games

• Upland has secured an additional $7M in its Series A funding round, led by EOS Network Ventures

• Despite crypto market volatility, blockchain gaming projects have attracted $2.3B in investments in the first three quarters of 2023

Exploring the Metaverse 🛸

• Spyglass Media Group and Sony have partnered to create an immersive horror metaverse experience called Survive Thanksgiving

• The Sandbox is launching a Game Jam in collaboration with US-based heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold

• Neal Stephenson has unveiled plans for an open metaverse in partnership with the Avalanche chain

• Bandai Namco has suspended downloads of its Gundam Metaverse game after rumors of leakage of design files

• Yuga Labs has completed a restructuring to focus on its upcoming metaverse project, Otherside

• The Open Metaverse Alliance is seeking a universal standard for creator royalties, a concept that has been a conflict in the industry

Alpha Test, Early Access & Hands-On Gaming ⚒️

AstroMust NFT drop on Ultra, 2nd November

The Sandbox Creators Day 2023, Hong Kong, 3rd November

Dogami Academy early access release, 7th November

PC-based Phantom Galaxies launches early access via Steam and Epic Games, 15th November

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

See you same place same time next week!

❤❤❤

Yoda Labs team