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Where are all the new Web3 games this year? — Illuvium founder
Kieran Warwick, the co-founder of Illuvium, had an eye-opening moment this month when he had a sudden realization about how few Web3 games have launched in 2024.
“There should be more games out by now,” Warwick tells Web3 Gamer, although he adds that building good games takes a long time. Warwick knows first-hand how long from his own experience building open-world fantasy battle and role-playing game Iluvium over the past four years. The highly anticipated game launched its beta version on July 25.
“We delayed our launch quite a few times, and we’re still only in open beta, meaning we plan to add many new features to our games over the next 12 months,” he says.
It’s not the only big game to drop a taste of the action this year — the eagerly awaited blockchain-based extraction shooter game Shrapnel released early access gameplay back in February. The full game won’t be out until 2025.
As for full game releases, Warwick’s favorite release so far in 2024 is Heroes of Mavia, a blockchain-based strategy game built on the Ethereum blockchain.
“It is the first polished mobile game I have played. Its focus is on gameplay first and economy second, which is the right approach,” Warwick explains.
“It was entertaining, and I played for quite a few hours,” he says, adding that he then had to get back to work running a gaming company with a $354 million token market cap.
“I’m never a long-term player in those types of games, so I stopped playing after a while.”
The sci-fi competitive card game Parallel is another 2024 release that Warwick says is a solid game, though he admits it’s not really his “type of genre.” The aim of Parallel is to reclaim control of Earth by battling opponents and building your card deck collection. Players get ahead by draining their opponents’ health to zero before they can do the same.
“It went after Hearthstone players, and although it has a long way to go, it was the first time I saw mainstream streamers say they would switch to Parallel, mainly because of the cards’ ownership model,” he says.
Tired of losing crypto airdrops to bots? This could be the solution
Will Confiction Labs’ new system finally eliminate bots from Web3 games, or will bots find yet another way to sneak back in? Only time will tell
Proof of Exposure is a new non-fungible (NFT) allowlist verification system developed by Confiction Labs — the team behind the co-op rogue-lite shooter Riftstorm — in an effort to wipe out the mounting number of bots in Web3 gaming.
With Proof of Exposure, gamers and bots in disguise will be thoroughly checked through third-party APIs, data queries and user submissions to confirm they’re real people wanting to join Confiction’s Fict One community.
Basically, it’s a “deep profiling system” where gamers share their career history, education, and writing skills with Proof of Exposure to show they’re real people with…feelings and a heartbeat.
Bots might boost the numbers like cringy extras at a birthday party, but they’re pretty awful for genuine, organic growth.
“Long-term, bots are very damaging to the health of any game’s community, and letting them roam freely within any ecosystem will always hinder new entrants,” Conviction Labs CEO Arief Widhiyasa.
“The player counts that games achieve with bots are nothing more than vanity metrics,” he adds.
“The only benefit that bots can offer to projects is a short-term image boost. In other words, a publicity stunt.”
Data shows that bots are usually the ones grabbing most of the airdrops in games, which might explain why you haven’t been able to quit your day job yet.
Around 70% of crypto airdrops end up in bot accounts, according to a study by Web3 marketing platform Cookie3. The problem of bots exploiting airdrops has been a recurring complaint within the Web3 industry for years.
Meanwhile, 40% of Web3 service users, including those involved in NFT allowlists and Web3 games, have been flagged as bots, according to bot prevention service Jigger.
“This is why it’s so important that we don’t just give rewards to real users, but quality users most of all,” Widhiyasa says.
Who knows? If it works, you might see more of your favorite Web3 games actually tackling bots and you could end up earning bigger airdrops.
PGA hopes Web3 will bring more people to golf
Golf, one of the oldest sports, is getting its own Web3 game as part of a collaboration between gaming developer Stratton Studios and the PGA Tour, the biggest golf tour in the world.
“We believe Web3 has the potential to introduce new people to our sport,” Tom Jeffs, vice president of media business development at the PGA Tour, tells Web3 Gamer.
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“PGA TOUR RISE” is a blockchain mobile game launching its first mini-game later in 2024, where you start as an amateur golfer and work your way up to the PGA.
You’ll get to play in online tournaments and can drop some white lies to your real-life friends about playing on legendary courses like Valhalla Golf Club.
Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse than a day on the golf course, even with my best mates. I’m not a fan of cricket either, but I enjoy cricket video games, so maybe this could be a gateway for me to have some golf in my life.
The full game drops in 2026, and we’ll apparently hear more about what blockchain it will be based on soon. While it teases perks like winning “Legend Bucks,” we don’t yet know how Web3 elements like earning crypto or NFTs will play into the game.
“Web3 allows our fans to ‘own’ their experience in the game. In doing so, we’re looking toward Web3 technology as a path to unlock all sorts of new creative ways for fans to engage with the PGA TOUR,” Jeffs says.
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Even though this will be the first official big-name blockchain golf game, you can practice with other blockchain-based golf games like Crypto Golf Impact, Blocklete Golf, and Birdie Shot before it launches.
Other News:
— Online gaming platform The Sandbox announced that Italian football club SSC Napoli will enter the metaverse for the first time via its platform. The partnership offers fans a chance to connect and create memories with SSC Napoli fans worldwide.
— Blockchain network SKALE just announced SKALE Swell, a new interactive adventure game that’s set to boost community involvement and reward players, aiming to welcome millions into the Web3 space.
— Uprising Labs, the team behind Uprising L2 blockchain, has sold out its Genesis NFT collection with 1,111 NFTs in a matter of minutes.
— Autoverse Studios just raised $8 million to develop the social drag-racing Web3 game Auto Legends, which will feature everything from hosting tournaments to collecting and racing cars.
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Ciaran Lyons
Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He’s also a standup comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.