Farmville co-creator-led company raises $33M to create Web3 games

September 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Farmville co-creator-led company raises M to create Web3 games

Proof of Play raised $33 million to create fully on-chain games that “quickly immerse players in fun gameplay.“

Proof of Play, a company led by Farmville co-creator Amitt Mahajan, raised $33 million to create Web3 games, according to a Sept. 21 announcement. Majahan is the CEO of Proof of Play, and Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear is a board member.

The funding was co-led by Chris Dixon at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Neil Mehta at Greenoaks. Investors Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan and the founders of streaming platform Twitch also participated, as well as Web3 firms Anchorage Digital, Mercury, Firebase, Zynga and Alchemy.

Proof of Play released a closed beta of its first game, Pirate Nation, in December 2022.

*Pirate Nation Web3 game. Source: Proof of Play*

In its announcement, the company claimed it can overcome many roadblocks players commonly encounter when attempting to play Web3 games. It stated that it possesses “a set of technological and product innovations” that will “quickly immerse players in fun gameplay” without learning about blockchain first.

Proof of Play also stated that it is committed to decentralization. Pirate Nation is a “Forever Game” that can be run without external servers or creator intervention, adding that the company intends to open-source its technology framework in the future to decentralize further.

The Proof of Play team includes members from several large gaming and web companies, including Epic Games, Zynga, EA, Activision and Google.

Multimillion-dollar funding rounds from Web3 companies have become the norm in 2023. EVE Online developer CCP Games raised $40 million in March to develop a new spinoff EVE game, and Hyperplay raised $12 million in June to further develop its distribution platform and Steam competitor.

Play-to-earn games are the reason ‘real’ gamers hate crypto: Atari founder

September 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Atari

Crypto games have garnered a bad reputation among traditional gamers, but the future of Web3 games and blockchain-based worlds is far from over, says Nolan Bushnell.

It’s no secret that traditional gamers harbor a strong sense of disdain for crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in their games. The reason for this is clear, says Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, it all started with the insane rise of play-to-earn games.

“I can tell you clearly where this disdain for crypto comes from,” Bushnell said. “The hatred comes from these play-to-earn games that pioneered blockchain gaming.”

“Good gamers don’t like to grind. Grinding is shitty. What gamers want is fun, and unfortunately these play-to-earn games are 100% dependent on the greater fool theory to work.”

Speaking to Cointelegraph in a wide-ranging interview, Bushnell — known as the “godfather of video games” — shared his many perspectives on the current gaming landscape and the role blockchain technology will play in the sector moving forward.

While it could be seen as outlandish if someone said that they had “invented video games” — for Bushnell, this was just a part of his long career, including founding the gaming system Atari and the American dining chain Chuck E. Cheese. He is also one of the few people in the world to have counted Steve Jobs as an employee.

*Released in 1977, Atari 2600 was the first home video game console produced by Atari. Source: Wikipedia*

Bushnell believes the future of Web3 gaming depends on a major shift away from play-to-earn dynamics and a renewed focus on building convincing virtual worlds through the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.

The mass adoption of these new worlds, Bushnell explains, will be entirely dependent upon the human need for socialization as well as a permanent sense of “place and time” in the new economy of virtual worlds.

“How do you meet people? Where do you meet them? Where do you meet them? That’s the connective tissue of Web3 and the metaverse. If you can provide this sense of real place and real time in virtual worlds, that’s when I think we've really got something.”

Presently, Bushnell serves as the chief knowledge officer at Moxy, a new blockchain-based esports company, where he describes three pillars where blockchain can provide modern gaming with a much-needed upgrade.

I'm excited to be speaking at the DELF event. We've chosen Hong Kong for https://t.co/GNemkV0YDf's entrance to the Asian Market https://t.co/phUuANd9LB
— Nolan K Bushnell (@NolanBushnell) August 15, 2023

The first and most important value proposition Bushnell says is the ability to transfer seamlessly and securely.

“We want to turn gaming into a platform for competition and in order to have good competition, you need to be able to securely transfer funds simply and easily,” he explained.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, there needs to be a way for people to ensure that actions and expectations are aligned with outcomes.

“Number two, and it's a close two by the way, is the utility of smart contracts. Smart contracts don’t just have value in games but in all human interactions, because so much of what we do in life is establish relationships and then set the terms of those relationships.”

The third key area is the ability to securely store the value of digital assets in the form of currencies and tokens.

First introduced to cryptocurrency by Tether co-founder Brock Pierce, when Bitcoin (BTC) was hovering around the price of $50, Bushnell said he didn’t take too much notice of crypto at first.

However, like many others, he changed his minds when the price of Bitcoin began to surge, and suddenly Bushnell realized that there might be something more going on in the world of blockchain.

While Bushnell admits that he doesn’t have much material exposure to cryptocurrencies due to the volatile nature of prices, he concluded that anytime humans are capable of sharing a perception of value en masse, “we’re usually in the clear.”

Web3 Gamer: GTA owner joins Web3, Bitcoin casino, Sunflower Land review

Google Play Store officially allows NFT games, but not gambling ones

July 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

App Store

The store’s team said games can offer NFTs for sale or to earn, but developers must declare this feature in their game's descriptions and must not allow gambling.

The Google Play store now allows video game publishers to sell nonfungible token (NFT) games in its store, according to a July 12 blog post from the store’s group product manager, Joseph Mills. In the post, Mills states that Google Play is “pleased to share that we’re updating our policy to open new ways to transact blockchain-based digital content within apps and games on Google Play,” including “boosting user loyalty through unique NFT rewards.”

1) A new blockchain-based content policy that states that devs must complete a declaration for apps that enable users to transact blockchain-based digital content. Additional requirements apply for NFT gamification. pic.twitter.com/kGhMPaWCi0
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 12, 2023

Google Play banned crypto mining apps from its store in 2018 and removed the Bitcoin Blast video game for “deceptive practices” in 2020. Apple’s App Store stated in October that NFTs purchased outside of the App Store cannot offer any special benefits to users in a game, or else the game will be banned. In addition, NFTs sold through Apple’s App Store version of a game must pay a 30% fee to Apple.

These actions and statements caused many industry experts to believe that mobile NFT games were under attack. However, the new policy from Google Play makes clear that these games are welcome on Android devices, as long as they follow a few rules.

According to the post, developers must clearly state if a game allows users to earn or buy NFTs or cryptocurrencies. In addition, game developers are not allowed to “glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities,” nor can they sell loot boxes or otherwise allow players to gamble.

As long as they abide by these rules, games can offer tokenized assets as part of the gaming experience, including by “reimagining traditional games with user-owned content,” the post said. Google Play indicated that it set these guidelines in cooperation with Web3 gaming leaders and will “continue to engage with developers to understand their challenges and opportunities.”

Web3 games have also been banned by the world’s largest PC game distributor, Steam. However, Steam’s competitor, Epic Games, launched NFT card game Gods Unchained in its store on June 22.

Polygon, Immutable zkEVM to tackle ‘huge incumbents exploiting players’

March 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain gaming

Web3 gaming developers will be able to build on a new zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine that aims to increase ownership rights for players and take on the big gaming corporations.

Gaming developers are getting a new platform on which to build Web3 games, with a tie-up between Polygon Labs and Immutable set to launch a new zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM).

The partnership sees the two Ethereum layer-2 firms create an “Immutable zkEVM” — a Polygon (MATIC)-powered zkEVM fully supported on Immutable’s Web3 game development platform.

Scheduled for a March 27 mainnet beta launch, Polygon’s zkEVM enables the validation of mass amounts of transaction data by bundling them up into one transaction that’s then confirmed on the Ethereum network. The same technology will feature on Immutable’s zkEVM solution.

Polygon Labs president, Ryan Wyatt, told Cointelegraph that the technology would allow game developers to focus on building a “great game” rather than needing to divert resources toward building the game on-chain.

“This massively simplifies the choices for developers and helps us focus on what really matters — which is taking on the huge incumbents who are exploiting players on a daily basis.”

In a separate statement, Immutable co-founder and president Robbie Ferguson stated that billions of dollars worth of in-game skins is sold each year with no rights to players.

“We’re changing that so players are in control, and ownership is the expectation,” he said.

How it started vs how it's going.

We won't stop until digital property rights for gamers are the expectation - not a headline. pic.twitter.com/uac4VHODBA
— Robbie Ferguson | Immutable (@0xferg) March 15, 2023

Wyatt told Cointelegraph that the partnership came together despite Immutable and Polygon Labs being in competition, adding that the technology “really quickly aligned us” and it was “good for gamers and game developers.”

A ChainPlay survey of blockchain gamers last August revealed that 81% are prioritizing a positive and fun in-game experience after 89% reported losing money in the crypto winter of 2022.

Wyatt said that currently, devs are too focused on how to “actually build a game on-chain,” which pulls focus away from “making a really great game.”

We surveyed the participants, what factors investors want to see in future GameFi projects. The results are not too surprising. 71% of investors say that “Interesting Gameplay” will keep them hooked to the industry. pic.twitter.com/dhb19kmpCf
— ChainPlay.GG (@Chainplaygg) July 20, 2022

“You shouldn’t really have to worry about these different parts of the infrastructure stack and game development,” he said. “This stuff should come easy. You should be able to plug and play very easily with it.”

The testnet is expected to be released at the end of Q2 and “some” interfaces for building on the zkEVM will be available on March 20. MATIC will be the “staking token,” with Immutable’s IMX token the “core gas currency.”

Ferguson said they chose to build for the Ethereum-based gaming ecosystem because “it would be much better to scale the thing that everyone already wanted to use [...] rather than try and compete directly with Ethereum.”

“The right way to onboard the next billion players is not by competing with Ethereum but by building on it and scaling with it,” he said, adding that crypto could triple its monthly users “overnight” if Web3 gaming is successful with a “breakout” gaming title.

“What that requires is incredibly seamless infrastructure and a platform where users can get real ownership of their items without even knowing it's Web3 under the hood.”

Ferguson added he hopes the success of the platform means that “digital property rights in the game are the norm” so that games are owned by “all players rather than giant corporations.”

What are Web3 games, and how do they work?

February 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Web3 games are decentralized, blockchain-powered, and offer true ownership of in-game assets.

The future of Web3 gaming

The future of Web3 gaming is exciting and promising, as it offers new opportunities for players to truly own their in-game assets and currencies, as well as new revenue streams for developers.

Incorporating blockchain into gaming has changed the industry, democratizing it by removing centralized parties and creating new ways of monetization with more social and community-oriented gaming experiences — all of which further enhance the social and entertainment aspects of gaming.

However, it is unlikely that Web3 games will completely replace traditional games, as they offer different experiences and target different audiences. However, Web3 games have the potential to create new opportunities and revenue streams for the gaming industry and provide unique gameplay experiences.

Furthermore, as the technology and infrastructure for Web3 gaming continue to develop, we can expect to see more innovative and immersive games, increased adoption of cryptocurrency payments, and more opportunities for players and developers to participate in the decentralized gaming ecosystem.

Examples of Web3 games

There are many blockchain games and decentralized applications (DApps) in the modern Web3 gaming universe like CryptoKitties, Axie Infinity, and Decentraland.

Each game has its unique features and game mechanics, but they all use the power of blockchain technology to create innovative gaming experiences not possible on traditional centralized gaming platforms.

Here are some examples of Web3 games:

CryptoKitties is one of the first massively popular Ethereum-based games where players can collect, breed and trade unique digital cats. The game uses blockchain technology to ensure the uniqueness and ownership of each digital cat.
Axie Infinity is a Pokemon-inspired play-to-earn metaverse game built on the Ethereum-linked Ronin sidechain developed by Sky Mavis, where players can collect, raise and battle creatures called Axies. Web3 tools allow players to own and trade their Axies and in-game assets.
The Sandbox is a virtual world where players can build and monetize their virtual worlds, in-game assets and digital currencies using blockchain technology.
Decentraland is a virtual world allowing players to create, explore and monetize their virtual experiences.
Gods Unchained is a digital collectible card game that uses blockchain technology to allow players to own and trade their cards. The game uses the Ethereum blockchain to ensure the authenticity and scarcity of its digital cards.

Risks of Web3 gaming

As attractive as the Web3 game space can be, it is still nascent and niche, with some significant challenges. There are issues associated with user adoption and mainstream acceptance.

Web3 can be complex, lacking user-friendly interfaces for non-crypto-savvy players. Developers, alongside the communities, should work to raise awareness and educate players about the advantages of Web3 games.

Web3 games are built on decentralized networks, which are generally more secure than centralized ones. However, Web3 games are still vulnerable to hacks and cyberattacks, which can lead to the loss or theft of game items. Gamers should take precautions to protect their private keys and use secure crypto wallets to store their digital assets.

Furthermore, there is a risk of missing something special — the “fun” element that is key to the overall gameplay experience. Web3 games may focus more on financial incentives than providing a fun and enjoyable experience. Web3 game developers must prioritize the fun gameplay element in design to attract a wider audience and compete with the major Web2 companies.

And last but not least, there is a regulatory risk since the legal and regulatory environment surrounding Web3 games is still evolving. There may be uncertainty around taxation, licensing and Anti-Money Laundering regulations. Developers and players should be aware of these risks and work to comply with the relevant rules.

Web3 games vs. Traditional games

Web3 games and traditional games have several key differences, including how they are built and played.

Here are some of the main differences between traditional and Web3 games:

Traditional games vs. Web3 games

Unique features of Web3 gaming

Web3 gaming offers several unique features like high transparency and greater control not possible on traditional centralized gaming platforms.

First, Web3 games provide high transparency since peer hosting ensures the players have all information, without a centralized third party limiting or hiding access. These games are effortlessly accessible to gamers. Buying cryptocurrency and setting up a wallet to start playing is simple, even for non-tech-savvy users.

Another important benefit of blockchain-based gaming is that it gives players greater ownership and control over their in-game assets, such as virtual land, currencies and characters. With Web3 technology, players can truly own and trade their digital assets — which can have real-world value — and exercise greater control over their gaming experience.

Web3 gaming creates innovative in-game economies where players are rewarded for gaming skills and simultaneously opens new monetization methods. For instance, in P2E games, players can generate income while playing and earn real money for their in-game achievements, like completing quests. This can create a more resilient and reliable ecosystem for players and developers.

Web3 gaming also ensures greater interoperability between different games and platforms. Players can use their assets in various contexts and settings, and easily transfer or trade them between different games.

Web3 game developers show how a new gaming ecosystem thrives on personalized player experiences, prioritizing immersive, engaging gaming processes with the best incentives for players. The P2E model is a big motivator for many gamers, and games are often designed with the player in mind.

Blockchain provides a way to track the provenance of digital assets. This means that developers and players can easily track the owners of specific assets and transaction history, resulting in greater transparency in the game’s economy.

Web3 gaming allows for digital scarcity, which means that in-game assets can be made unique, rare and valuable. In traditional gaming environments, this is tough to achieve. Developers can print more copies of rare items or give them to players as rewards, which can lead to inflation.

In Web3, game developers can ensure that in-game items are scarce and not subject to inflationary pressure. Items are stored on the blockchain and cannot be replicated or tampered with.

Features of Web3 gaming

How do Web3 games work?

Web3 games use blockchain technology to enable decentralized ownership of in-game assets and currencies, allowing players to earn, trade, and use these assets outside of the game. They also often incorporate cryptocurrency payments and smart contracts for secure and transparent transactions.

Web3 games are built on decentralized blockchains, allowing for greater transparency, security and user control compared with traditional centralized gaming platforms. Blockchain technology provides a tamper-proof ledger of all transactions and ensures that verifiable algorithms rather than centralized servers determine game outcomes.

Web3 gaming components

Another key component of Web3 games is smart contracts, which are programmed to execute specific actions automatically when certain conditions are met, such as when a player buys or sells an asset. In Web3 gaming, they manage the ownership, transfer and trading of in-game assets.

Web3 gaming platforms utilize digital cryptocurrency wallets to house players’ in-game collectibles and assets. Crypto wallets are an important part of Web3 gaming architecture and a necessary tool for interaction with blockchain-based services.

Also, players can own and trade in-game assets, such as virtual items or currencies, which are stored on a blockchain and can be easily transferred or traded. NFTs or other digital assets often represent these assets.

Web3 games often involve high collaboration and co-creation between developers and players. The decentralized nature of the platforms allows for greater input and feedback from the community, which can help shape the game’s direction and evolution.

Gaming DAOs help create a player-driven gaming ecosystem to manage gaming communities and decentralized gaming platforms. Types of gaming DAOs include grant DAOs, gaming guilds, incubators and accelerators.

What are Web3 games?

Web3-based gaming, also known as blockchain gaming, refers to gaming that utilizes distributed ledger technology to offer greater transparency, security, democratization and user control over in-game assets.

Web3 games are based on the decentralized, peer-to-peer architecture of blockchains, and include cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Blockchain enables players to own and trade in-game items — like NFTs and other digital assets — and transfer them without third-party intervention. The assets are managed and traded on decentralized marketplaces using smart contracts.

Decentralization offers the gaming industry and players lots of unique benefits. Alongside the increased transparency and security a blockchain provides, decentralized gaming gave rise to the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming model, where players earn cryptocurrency for playing and leveling up in games.

Web3 gaming contributes to the gaming industry’s financial strength through innovations like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), crypto-secured gaming wallets and the metaverse.

Game developers expect to work on Web3 games in the future: Survey

December 20, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A new survey showed that developers believe that integrating Web3 will have an impact in terms of user acquisition and retention.

As blockchain gaming gains broader adoption, 3 out of 4 game developers are expecting to work on Web3 game projects in the future, according to a recent survey.

Blockchain entertainment firm Coda Labs commissioned a survey, targeting game developers to have a peek at their thoughts about Web3. After conducting the survey, the researchers found that a majority of the respondents believe that Web3 gaming is on its way to their firms. 75% of the participants expect to work on Web3 projects in the future.

Apart from this, more than half of the survey participants believe that Web3 will revolutionize the gaming industry. Some believe that Web3 will have an impact in terms of user acquisition and retention. 40% anticipate that implementing Web3 will bring more new users, while 36% believe that Web3 integration will enable games to retain users better.

Sekip Can Gökalp, the CEO and founder of Coda Labs, also commented on the survey results. Gökalp noted that Web3 games’ potential is always debated, but the upside for developers is always obvious. He explained that:

"This survey shows that a majority of developers have already dipped their toes into Web3 game development, driven by benefits such as additional funding, new revenue streams, and player retention.”

Apart from getting new users and retaining them, developers also recognize that Web3 brings new revenue streams. 47% of the survey participants highlighted that one of the main benefits of Web3 is nonfungible token (NFT) sales, while 43% believe in crypto tokens as a source of additional revenue.

However, not everyone is convinced that Web3 is here to stay. The survey results also show that 32% of participants think that Web3 games are just a fad and will not be around for long.

While developers who participated in the survey believe in NFTs and crypto tokens as new sources of revenue, another recent survey showed that gamers are more interested in earning Bitcoin (BTC) while playing games.

Gamestop NFT Marketplace Is Now Live on Immutable X, Market Features Web3 Games

November 1, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Nifty News: Zilliqa teases Web3 gaming console, Funko teams up with Warner Bros. and more…

September 23, 2022 Coin Telegraph

chain

Specifications on Zilliqa’s "user-friendly" console are yet to be revealed, but a prototype design resembling an Xbox console has been released.

Blockchain company Zilliqa is launching a Web3 focused console with a cryptocurrency wallet and mining capabilities, along with featuring gaming titles from the company.

On Sept. 23, prototype images were released showing an array of ports including HDMI, Ethernet and USB connections, although full hardware specifications and the price of the unit remain guarded. The console itself looks similar to something from Xbox, but has two green panels on the top.

The #Zilliqa gaming console seems to be taking a page form the OG Xbox playbook by putting letter into the hardware design.$ZIL #web3 #playtoearn pic.twitter.com/mln1kiUrwD
— ChaseRaz (@ChaseRaz) September 22, 2022

Zilliqa has said the console is geared toward user-friendliness and similar to conventional gaming titles will incentivize users to complete gaming missions, quests and tasks to mine its native token ZIL as a reward.

Beta testing on the console starts in October, with units expected to be available for pre-order in the first quarter of 2023. Zilliqa is a layer-1 blockchain designed for creating smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps), it has 15 gaming projects according to its website.

In July Web3 gaming startup Polium announced its similar console, “Polium One”, supporting gaming non-fungible tokens (NFT) across eight blockchains, although the Polium One isn’t set for release until Q3 2024.

Funko and Warner Bros. collab on Walmart exclusive NFTs

Pop culture brand Funko has partnered with entertainment company Warner Bros. to offer bundled physical and NFT collectables exclusively through American retail giant Walmart.

The bundle includes a physical comic book cover and Funko figurine for DC Comics “The Brave and the Bold,” known amongst fans for introducing the concept of the popular “Justice League” superhero team, along with a matching Funko “Digital Pop!” NFT.

*Funko's "Brave and the Bold" physical bundle. Source.*

The collection is limited to 30,000 units and will debut during Walmart’s Collector Con in October, the NFTs will mint on the WAX blockchain.

Funko has continued to expand the NFT counterpart of its flagship “Pop!” figurine line which started in Aug. 2021 with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection. Funko CEO Andrew Perlmutter has stated the company is creating NFTs to meet demand from younger collectors who value digital goods and assets.

New England Patriots get Web3 partner in Chain

Web3 software company Chain has become the official blockchain and Web3 sponsor of the National Football League (NFL) team New England Patriots, professional soccer team New England Revolution and both team's home ground, Gillette Stadium.

Chain has partnered in a multi-year deal with Kraft Sports + Entertainment, the owner of both professional teams and the stadium, to develop what it calls “state-of-the-art Web3 experiences” using Chain’s product suite, but didn’t provide exact details on its plans.

Chain CEO Deepak Thapliyal did state however that the company is aiming to “build cutting edge experiences for stadium visitors” as part of Chain’s product lineup includes support for NFTs.

Christina Aguilera files for NFT and Metaverse trademarks

Filings shared by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis show singer Christina Aguilera has filed trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for multiple NFT, Metaverse and crypto related products.

The filings reveal plans for the star to create audio, video and music files “authenticated by NFTs” along with “blockchain based non-fungible assets” such as virtual avatars, clothing, beauty products, other virtual merchandise and “crypto collectibles.”

Part of the application also mentions Aguilera providing musical performances, concerts and games “in the Metaverse and other virtual environments.”

More Nifty News:

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced the implementation of OpenRarity on Sept. 22, a protocol that provides verifiable rarity calculations for NFTs within its platform. The protocol uses a transparent mathematical approach to calculating rarity.

Web3 tech firm nameless is set to launch an NFT software product that enables developers to test their NFT smart contracts on fully private test nets.

web3 games