AAA Game Studios Are Joining Web3. Is This A Turning Point for Blockchain Gaming?

Blockchain gaming has been a source of excitement, speculation, and anticipation for years.  While it’s true that a number of blockchain games have been released, for the majority an uncomfortable truth has emerged:  A lot of blockchain games just aren’t very good.

But why is this?  The short answer is pretty simple: blockchain games that are created first to sell something, be it a token, NFTs, etc., rarely focus on game playability.  Instead of a “fun” factor, many Play-2-Earn (P2E) games are more about revenue and less about gaming.  However, there have been a few good examples of games that use blockchain elements like tokens and NFTs to make a good game even better, and this is an important milestone.  Blockchain has exactly what is needed to take gaming to the next level, innovating in ways that have never been done before.

So how do we best combine blockchain and gaming to get to this next level?  We need two things.  First, we need continuing Web3 gaming platforms that create the foundation for game development.  These allow game developers to take their vision and make it a reality much faster than building from the ground up.  Next, we need a stronger representation from established game developers.  The AAA gaming companies need to be involved to create the momentum required for the mass adoption of Web3 gaming, because these are the organizations that best understand what the mainstream gaming community wants.

Fortunately, both of these things are making great strides.  Blockchain gaming platforms are continuing to build, to innovate, and to explore how Web3 can enhance the gaming experience.  AAA companies are making big commitments into the Web3 arena, and we will soon see examples of what the Web3 gaming experience should look like.

AAA Gaming Enters The Field

One of the biggest announcements for Web3 gaming as a whole has been Ubisoft’s development of Champions Tactics™ Grimoria Chronicles, in partnership with Web3 gaming platform Oasys.  This is a new PVP, tactical RPG that will allow users to create and assemble their own team of champions, then compete in battles against other players while discovering the lore behind the world of Grimora.  Noted by Ubisoft as an “experimental game”, this testbed will explore the boundaries of Web3 utility in a gaming format, and see what truly works and what doesn’t.  The fact that a major game developer like Ubisoft is stepping into the Web3 industry speaks volumes about how much Web3 has matured and the potential for mainstream games to use Web3 elements.  The type of game is ideal for this type of exploration, as users get to enjoy the best of gaming that folds neatly into the natural strengths of Web3.  Users first create their own characters, called champions, each with unique skills and abilities.  With a collection of champions, a user can assemble a team of their own, challenging the user to balance out the various team members’ skills, weaknesses, and overall effectiveness.  The user can enter PVP tournaments with other players, battling in a skill-based contest where the teams of champions fight in a lively RPG environment.

The champion building, the graphics for each character (displayed as a digital game piece on a pedestal), the animation and sound effects, all make for a fun stand alone game.  A solid rule for any Web3 game design is this:  If there were no Web3 elements, no P2E or gamification aspects, would this game still be fun to play?  For Web3 gaming to succeed, this litmus test should be given to all games hoping to make their way onto a Web3 platform.  

Where the Web3 elements come in for this game are natural entry points based on the type of game and where the most excitement is for the players.  Creating new characters lends itself nicely to minting new NFTs.  This can be either straightforward, with options ranging from free minting (minus gas fees) to paying more for either style or substance.  However, there is a risk for any game to allow users to pay for increased abilities, as this quickly becomes a pay-for-play problem, leaving out skill-based winning.  For Champions Tactics, this is not the case, with each champion having a wide variety of characteristics, and the skills needed to win focus on building a well rounded team and using them wisely to counter the opponent team’s strengths.  Instead, the game utilizes gamification techniques, such as a limited offer of 9,999 unique “warlords”, characters that allow a user to mint five champions for free.  This isn’t required to play the game, but adds an element of fun and collectability for those who want it.  This illustrates a successful balance in game development, offering sources of revenue for the game but never at the expense of playability.  Holders of the warlords will gain other perks that don’t directly affect gameplay, such as “VVIP status” and in-game perks and bonuses to make the experience more enjoyable. 

Web3 Gaming Possibilities

As Ubisoft continues its development, the blockchain is expanding far beyond simple token purchases and NFT minting.  While Oasys is not the only gaming blockchain platform, its partnership with Ubisoft and other top gaming companies (validators for Oasys include Ubisoft, SEGA, and Yield Guild Games) which primes it for many possibilities.  The various blockchain platforms are addressing the gaming challenges in their own ways, with Oasys choosing to set up a two-layer design with L1 as a Hub layer, and L2 hosting the developers’ dApps.  The key features,

Efficiency must include the speed of transactions, and consensus methods such as PoS in order to minimize user costs.  Gas fees, especially highly volatile gas fees, could ruin the most promising Web3 game, as could limitations to on-chain processing.  The underlying Web3 structure should be invisible to the game itself, allowing it to be as fast as it desires, with near zero gas fees. 

While the industry has evolved on numerous chains to create a strong, fast, and cheap foundation, the ability to become interoperable has not been solved across the board.  This could be the strongest draw to Web3, and hopefully we can see it evolve on AAA games.  The widespread adoption of the ONFT (Omnichain Fungible Token) Standard opens up opportunities never experienced in gaming, though the dream has been visualized in movies such as Wreck-It Ralph.  Creating a character, a weapon, a map, or any other asset, as an ONFT would mean that other games could utilize these assets in their own games if they build this capability.  This transforms how we think of gaming, making collaborations between gaming houses not only possible, but perhaps an expectation in the near future.  This creates an amazing experience that transforms gaming:  it extends playability, creates more demand for in-game minting purchases, re-defines secondary markets for assets, and likely introduces possibilities we haven’t even considered yet.  We will be watching early collaborations between Ubisoft, Oasys, and others who are defining what gaming will look like going forward.