Author: Zen, PANews
At the beginning of this year, the game public chain Immutable launched the preview version of the Immutable zkEVM mainnet supported by Polygon, and its ecosystem’s rapid development officially kicked off. Entering the second quarter, with the release of “Guild of Guardians” and the launch of the “Mainline Missions,” the largest Web3 game mission and reward program with rewards exceeding 50 million USD, Immutable Passport, the integrated game player identity solution, achieved tremendous growth, officially surpassing 1 million registered users, doubling in May alone.
Immutable zkEVM aims to provide dedicated chains to game developers, combining the advantages of zk-rollup technology with the Ethereum ecosystem, featuring EVM compatibility, low costs, massive scalability, and enterprise-level security. In addition to supporting game infrastructure, Immutable has also started providing funding to game developers. In March of this year, Immutable, in collaboration with venture capital firm King River Capital and Polygon Labs, established a 100 million USD Web3 Game Fund “Inevitable Games Fund” (IGF). Immutable and Polygon Labs will seek investment opportunities, while King River will manage the investment process and deploy funds in game studios and Web3 infrastructure companies.
Thanks to its technical foundation and funding support, Immutable zkEVM quickly attracted a large number of game developers to join. According to Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson, in the first five months of this year, Immutable signed contracts for over 147 well-funded games, exceeding the total for the entire year of 2023. In the next five months, they plan to launch over 60 more games. Among these over 200 games, the ten-plus games related to “Mainline Missions” are clearly the focus of their current layout. What are these games? What are their standout performances? In this article, PANews will take stock of these games.
Illuvium
A game world composed of multiple games, including simulation management game Zero, open-world adventure game Overworld, auto chess strategy game Arena, and NFT collection game Beyond. Each game has unique gameplay mechanisms to target different player groups, but by mining and utilizing resources across different games, these four games are interconnected. The blockchain game Illuvium launched its Open Beta testnet at the end of May and is available on the Epic Games Store, offering Windows and macOS versions. Illuvium has completed four rounds of funding, with a total funding amount of 65 million USD, including investors such as IOSG Ventures, Framework Ventures, Animoca Brands, Spartan Capital, and Polygon Ventures. In addition, Illuvium raised approximately 72 million USD through the sale of Illuvium Zero land in 2022.
Guild of Guardians
A rogue-lite mobile role-playing game inspired by “Diablo” and “Dungeons & Dragons,” developed by Stepico Games and distributed by Immutable. Guild of Guardians was globally released on May 15th and launched on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. The game had over 1 million pre-registered players before its release, with a daily active user growth of over 20 times on the first day, and briefly ranked in the top ten in the Android and Apple app stores in the United States, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Hunters On-Chain
A top-down casual PVE action-adventure game available for free on the web, Android, and iOS. Developed by blockchain game developer and publisher BoomLand, the team members have collectively been responsible for releasing over 200 games, with over 1.5 billion downloads to date. Hunters On-Chain offers various gameplay modes based on PvE and PvP, including fast-paced hunting, cooperative modes, special challenges, dueling, and a 10-player battle royale mode “Bounty Hunter.” Hunters On-Chain recently launched the Play To Airdrop event, consisting of two seasons, each lasting one month, with a total prize pool of 25 million $BOOM tokens.
Baby Shark Universe
An underwater open-world role-playing game where players can create their own in-game content such as items, maps, and interact with other players, expanding the game based on their choices and actions. The game developers have over ten years of experience at South Korean gaming company Nexon. Baby Shark Universe will offer various metaverse-based gameplay, including combat, collection, crafting, and NFT trading between users. It will also support user-generated content (UGC) features, allowing users to create and contribute their own content. In May, Baby Shark Universe announced a seed funding round with an estimated valuation of 34 million USD, with investors including Animoca Brands, CREDIT SCEND, Sui Foundation, Comma 3 Ventures, among others.
Storm Warfare
A free collectible card game with a World War II theme, already available on Windows and macOS, with plans to release on iOS and Android mobile platforms soon. The game features different types of cards including units, vehicles, artillery, and support, each with unique attack and defense attributes, as well as different characteristics and abilities. Storm Warfare has an in-game marketplace where players can buy, sell, or trade NFT cards and items. From June 28th to July 12th, Storm Warfare will launch a tournament offering over 50,000 IMX tokens and a prize pool of over 50,000 USD.
Space Nation
A large-scale multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with a space opera theme, funded with 50 million USD in development, supported by partners and VCs such as Foresight Ventures, Lighthouse Capital, SevenX Ventures, HashKey Capital, and Arcane Group. The game is set in the fictional Telikos star cluster, a deep space frontier inhabited by various races of builders, warriors, and survivors. Players take on the role of starship captains, embarking on adventurous journeys, facing deadly pirates, traversing dangerous environments, and discovering secrets and wealth. Space Nation is currently hosting the Space Odyssey 101 event, offering rewards including 1 million OIK, closed beta test 2.0 access codes, and fuel.
Katana Inu
A battle game featuring humanoid Shiba Inu as the main characters, with various combat styles including martial arts, magic, and melee for different roles. The game modes include a large-scale battle royale for up to 60 players in an open-world environment, as well as 1v1 and 3v3 arena battles. The game utilizes a “P2E” mechanism, where the in-game NFT market allows players to exchange in-game items for the native token $KATA. As of June 25th, the fully diluted valuation of the KATA token is approximately 40 million USD, with a recent decline of about 32%. Katana Inu recently announced a collaboration with the popular meme token Baby Doge on BNB, jointly launching a limited NFT series of 1000 units, set to be released on June 27th.
Rebel Bots: Epic War
A casual game combining MOBA mechanics and collectible card gameplay, available on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. In the game, players control unique robots, each with specialized abilities and roles, to outsmart and defeat opponents. The game emphasizes teamwork and strategy, requiring players to make decisive decisions that can turn the tide in an instant. The game’s uniqueness lies in integrating collectible cards, allowing players to collect various robots, abilities, and enhancement items, each of which is a unique NFT. By participating in matches and achieving victory, players can earn loot boxes containing random cards and items.
Battle Bears Heroes
A top-down 3v3 shooting game containing mini MOBA, death match, battle royale, and campaign modes. The game’s predecessor, the “Battle Bears” series, has accumulated over 40 million downloads, including Battle Bears -1 and Battle Bears 1: Zombies. BBH is a revamp of the 2010 classic BB GO, featuring new heroes, PvP modes, and a new version of Battle Bears -1 with the same nostalgic cutscene animations. BBH chose to part ways with Ronin in March of this year and announced that it will be released on Immutable zkEVM a month later. It is expected to be officially launched in July and is currently open for pre-registration.
Zoids Wild Arena
Zoids Wild Arena is a collectible card game developed by ACT Games, launched in the Immutable ecosystem in May of this year. The game is inspired by the ZOIDS anime series from the well-known toy manufacturer TOMY Company, Ltd. The cards feature dinosaur and animal-designed mecha robots, which can be traded, collected, and battled with. Specifically, players use 30 cards to build decks for 1v1 battles, with each player using their pre-built deck. In matches, players use different strategies and their cards in turns, aiming to reduce the opponent’s health to zero to win.
Paradise Tycoon
A simulation multiplayer role-playing game developed by game studio Empires Not Vampires. Its game mechanics are similar to “Stardew Valley,” where players own a tropical island and must make it prosperous through organization, crafting, and decorating. In February of last year, Empires Not Vampires completed a 1 million USD funding round, with investors including Shima Capital and Zee Prime Capital, among others. The game is currently in version 2.0 of the public beta, supporting in-game resource trading and NFT trading for crafting items and blueprints. Paradise Tycoon was originally developed on Avalanche and later transitioned to Immutable. Its second season of Play-to-Airdrop is set to launch on June 27th, allowing players to participate for free.
Arena of Faith
A 5v5 MOBA game themed around battles between gods and humans, developed by VORTEX LABS, already available on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. The basic gameplay is similar to MOBA games such as “Honor of Kings,” where 10 players are split into two factions to battle, with the first to destroy the opponent’s crystal winning the game. The game’s outcome is determined by factors such as economic development, lane control, and confrontations, with each match lasting about 15 minutes, requiring a combination of player personal skills and teamwork. In May of last year, Arena of Faith announced the completion of a 1.75 million USD seed funding round led by Chain Hill Capital.
Astra Nova
A story-driven Web3 role-playing game built on Unreal Engine 5. Astra Nova’s gameplay combines exploration, combat, strategy, and community-driven storytelling. Players can customize their characters and choose from races and professions that survived the destruction of five worlds. The game challenges players to explore Astra Nova’s vast landscapes, from treacherous wilderness to ancient civilization ruins. Astra Nova landed on the Steam store in March of this year and announced the completion of a 1 million USD funding round in April, with major investors including Hashgraph Ventures, Oxbull, and MoonEdge. Astra Nova is currently undergoing the first chapter of the “Fall of Saerinda” series game update, with the second level expected to be released at the end of this month.
