According to Discord’s CEO and creator Jason Citron, the company’s plans for NFT and cryptocurrency integration have been scrapped.
He tweeted, “Thanks for all the perspectives everyone.” “At this time, we have no intentions to ship this internal concept.” For the time being, we’re concentrating on safeguarding users against spam, scams, and fraud. Web3 has a lot of excellent features, but it also has a lot of issues that we need to address at our scale. Soon, there will be more.”
Rumors about the integration plans started circulating earlier this week after an outdated poll about NFTs that was given to Discord users emerged online. Citron then followed up with a screenshot of an unannounced integration for two separate cryptocurrency wallet apps on Twitter. These features were part of a normal company-wide “hack week,” according to an official statement to TechCrunch, and were not in active development.
I hope leaders can humbly listen the chorus of vehement moral disgust this teaser has already invited. this sincerely does not have to happen. https://t.co/JZZBI2npVs
The survey and screenshot were not well received, with multiple people on Discord’s subreddit pleading for users to cancel their Discord Nitro memberships and numerous people on social media encouraging them to do so.
“We’re enthusiastic about the possibilities for web3 technology and the wonderful ways these communities are coming together on Discord,” Discord told TechCrunch. “Especially those organized around environmentally friendly, creator-focused projects.” “However, we also understand that there are some issues that need to be addressed.”
Following Citron’s remarks, some current Discord employees came to Twitter to express their displeasure, implying that bitcoin inclusion was not embraced by everyone at the firm. Another employee remarked, “I hope leaders can humbly listen to the chorus of vehement moral contempt this teaser has already invited.” “This does not have to happen,” says the speaker.
just got my heart broken and the last thing I need is people DMing me threats regarding any NFT-related content. I have nothing to do with any of that. leave me alone
While it appears like Discord isn’t moving through with the wallet integration just yet, there’s still a potential that NFTs and crypto will make an appearance on the platform in the future. It’s unclear what triggered the u-turn, though the Nitro boycott and response from its own employees are unlikely to have gone unnoticed.
Ubisoft, EA, Zynga, and Square Enix, among others, have lately begun to discuss their approaches to NFTs and blockchain games. Given the level of ambiguity in the domain, the reactions to the announcement have been divisive. Last month, the designers of a game based on Netflix’s Squid Game show defrauded early adopters out of $3.4 million.
The NFT (non-fungible token) train continues to gain traction in the mainstream, with more big names in entertainment and games jumping on board, including Japanese gaming powerhouse Square Enix.
Square Enix is planning a “strong entry into blockchain games” after an extremely successful toe-dip into the NFT sector.
In March, through cooperation with blockchain firm Double Jump.tokyo, the home of the highly successful game franchises Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider, among others, made a test entry into NFT sales.
This culminated in a series of collectible cards based on the Square Enix gaming and anime property Million Arthur, which sold out quickly when they were released on October 14.
This achievement appears to be all the proof the gaming company needs to pursue NFTs further, as it has revealed it is currently working on a “full commercialization stage” for tokenizing its licensed content. This involves a foray into the world of pay-to-win gaming.
According to a recent Square Enix briefing session report, “games are further extending from centralized to distributed models.” “We will focus on blockchain games based on token economies as a form of decentralized content, in addition to the type of content creation we have traditionally engaged in.”
It remains to be seen whether its blockchain-based content and tokenomics will be extended to its existing large titles and franchises, such as the upcoming Final Fantasy 16, below.
Meanwhile, Square Enix has joined a growing list of renowned gaming firms in stating that NFTs and play-to-earn models will play an essential role in future strategy.
Ubisoft (which has invested in crypto-gaming powerhouse Animoca Brands), Electronic Arts (which calls it “the future of our business”), and Take-Two Interactive, which owns Rockstar Games (of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead infamy), are among the most prominent companies recently pumping up the sub-sector.
Solana’s value has increased by 17% in the last seven days while falling by roughly 4% in the last 24 hours after reaching an all-time high of $260. According to Coinmarketcap, the ‘Ethereum Killer’ is now the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the market, ahead of Cardano, which has slid to sixth place.
Solana flipped Cardano on November 2nd, and it has been on a ‘to the moon’ rising trajectory, aiming for Ether, the token that controls the Ethereum blockchain. However, the market valuation of the two companies is still $526 billion apart.
Despite this, investors and fans are becoming more certain that Solana will eventually overtake Ethereum as the preferred blockchain platform for smart contracts. Binance Coin, Ether, and Bitcoin are the only other cryptocurrencies that rank higher than Solana at the time of writing.
Solana’s stock has risen to $246.16 after its investment arm, Solana Ventures, unveiled a new $100 million fund to increase blockchain gaming in collaboration with Lightspeed Venture Partners and the derivatives exchange FTX, which just received $420 million, valuing it at $25 billion.
The funds will be utilized to assist gaming studios, technological businesses, and other ventures that combine “blockchain” with “gaming.”
Solana’s Connection To Blockchain Gaming
Solana’s appeal has waned in the age of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible currencies (NFTs). It’s popular among developers who don’t want to cope with Ethereum’s fluctuating transaction fees, with Solana promoting itself as a more cost-effective and efficient option. It’s one of the main reasons Ethereum wants to upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 by the end of the year.
NFTs are also the connecting thread between the crypto and blockchain gaming worlds. To authenticate digital things, NFTs, like cryptocurrencies, use digital ledgers called blockchains.
Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain game that is presently the world’s largest NFT project, valued at approximately $3 billion, according to CryptoSlam’s statistics. It’s not just Pokemon-like pets that have piqued developers’ interest. Spaceships, land plots, jetpacks, and other goods are among the game’s assets.
Solana Doubles Value On Blockchain Gaming
Although none of the gaming initiatives on Solana are nearly as large as Axie Infinity, Star Atlas, which aims to develop its own metaverse analogous to the Sandbox, is expected to outperform it.
Faraway, one of the world’s most well-known blockchain firms, has acquired $30 million in seed funding to build browser-based games on the Solana network. As the first live multiplayer game on Solana, it plans to launch its blockbuster browser-based game, Mini Royale: Nations, a first-person shooter.
According to Newzoo, a games and esports analytics business, the global gaming industry is presently worth $175 billion and is expected to reach $200 billion by 2023. In addition, blockchain gaming investments have been increasing.
According to data compiled by Invest Game, crypto gaming companies closed 24 deals in the first half of 2021, more than double the number of deals in the entire previous year, for a total value of $476 million.
Solana’s price could have more room to run and hit a new all-time high by the end of the year if demand for NFTs and DeFi continues to grow.
Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows that the gaming industry has been on fire recently. It’s one of the sectors that has reaped significant benefits from the COVID-19 pandemic. The average investor, on the other hand, might not be aware of the following growth figures:
The worldwide gaming sector is now worth $180 billion, making it the world’s fastest-growing form of entertainment. In terms of annual sales, the global film industry is about $100 billion, while all North American sports combined are worth $73 billion.
Experts predict that by 2025, the number of online game broadcasters would have risen to one billion, or one out of every nine individuals.
Three of the top four most-watched sporting events in the United States in 2018 were not even traditional sports. They were esports competitions. The League of Legends title, for example, attracted 30 million more viewers than the AFC Championship and 45 million more than the NCAA Football Championship.
Last April, Travis Scott gave a live concert in the popular online game Fortnite. According to TechCrunch and GamesIndustry.biz, it had over 12.3 million views and earned Scott over $20 million. So, what exactly is going on here, and where is all of this expansion coming from?
Much of this can be attributed to technological advancements and exponential development. Technology continues to change the way we communicate, collaborate, create and consume information, transfer value, and develop online communities.
With his coffee shop concept, Howard Shultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, popularized the idea of a “third physical location.” He believed that outside of the office and at home, humanity required a “third location” to congregate. The answer was Starbucks.
This identical concept is being played out among today’s youth, however the new common area is digital and is known as the Metaverse. These are the places where kids are progressively congregating these days. They go there to socialize, listen to music, or play video games with their friends. This can be seen of as the next generation of online communities, following AOL chat rooms, Myspace, Facebook, and finally the Metaverse.
Now there are concerts in the Metaverse. Burning Man has been captured on film. And this is only the beginning.
History of Gaming
The first video game, a rudimentary tennis game akin to Pong, was produced in the late 1950s. In 1977, the popular Atari 2600 home video gaming machine was debuted. Nintendo began producing successful arcade games such as Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and others in the early 1980s, with later games such as The Legend of Zelda being re. Later on, Nintendo’s own home platform, Nintendo Entertainment System.
It’s worth noting that the business model has evolved considerably over time. We used to buy a game for $60 at a store like GameStop and then go. It was a one-time fee that allowed for limitless play. Games were advertised and released in the same way that Hollywood films are promoted and released. The first two weeks would bring in 90% of the revenue.
This model is currently available. The freemium model is here to stay. Users are enticed to make in-game payments in order to upgrade skills, dress up avatars, acquire weapons, improve animations, and so on. Today, we see this in games like Roblox, Fortnite, and others.
For game developers, this is a lot more successful straThis consumers engaged and constantly for game developers upgrading so they can compete with their peers. We’re getting closer to a world where social signaling occurs in the Metaverse among younger generations via an in-game avatar, the weapon they wield, and the skins they own. Hello, and welcome to the future.
Reasons Gaming Will Move To Blockchains
The majority of today’s gaming takes place over closed data networks. Users will not be able to own their in-game assets as a result of this (skins, avatars, abilities, etc.). They are owned by the platform. Axie Infinity is upending this model by allowing users to own their assets on Axie, like as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and sell them for profit in a free market gaming economy. Since May of this year, Axie Infinity users have earned the following revenue:
Annualized revenues for an open and permissionless pay-to-play blockchain game total $2.7 billion per Token Terminal. Important note: Blockchain technology is the means by which players can obtain ownership of their in-game assets. This is not achievable with today’s technology.
Gaming economies can grow naturally thanks to blockchains. Users can be compensated for their participation. Axie Infinity is leading the charge once again. To begin playing, Axie users must invest in the Axie NFTs and the AXS native token. From there, individuals can play and compete to acquire the Smooth Love Potion (SLP) token, which can subsequently be swapped for other crypto assets or fiat currency, among other things.
Many users in the Philippines are earning several times their monthly wage merely by playing Axie Infinity, which is really remarkable considering the economic difficulties caused by COVID-19. Let me ask you a question: Which would you prefer: being paid to play a blockchain game or not being paid to play a non-blockchain game? “Show me the incentives, and I’ll show you the result,” Charlie Munger says.
Public blockchains are permissionless and open to everyone. Do you have a cell phone and access to the internet? Cool, you’re welcome to join in. In today’s closed data architecture, this isn’t the case, especially if you don’t live in the United States.
You can not only participate in a blockchain but also earn money. We should expect more people to access crypto- and blockchain-based games in the near future as smartphone penetration continues to spread out with the growth of 4G and 5G technology in emerging areas.
Existing technologies’ costs are collapsed and compressed by open protocols. Public blockchains are protocols that are available to the public. Ethereum is a protocol that is free to use. On Ethereum, anyone can create games. By doing so, one is essentially outsourcing a large portion of their operating and capital expenditures to the Ethereum foundation layer blockchain, making it much easier for entrepreneurs to create a game. Low entrance barriers encourage competition. The end-users benefit as a result of this. This has happened many times throughout history. Blockchains are merely the next step in the evolution of open-source software.
Decentralization. Anyone can build on blockchains because they are open and permissionless. This indicates that blockchain games built on top of layer-one blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, Cosmos, and others should be expected in the future.
Users will be able to switch games quickly and easily, bringing their assets with them, such as NFTs in the form of skins, avatars, or weapons. This is something that is not currently achievable. Furthermore, users will be able to earn from trading their NFT assets, or perhaps they will wish to develop NFTs? You don’t need to own a gaming platform to participate.
Gaming economies are the way of the future, and they’ll be built on top of blockchains.
Pikmin Bloom has arrived, and Niantic and Nintendo’s new mobile game is off to a strong start. On October 26, Pikmin Bloom was released. The Pikmin spin-off, which is more of a fitness app than a game, has a chance to succeed on a new platform and expose new fans to the Pikmin series. That appears to be the case with the brand new augmented reality game.
With Pikmin Bloom being such a new game, there is a lot to be thrilled about. Players can grow and harvest Pikmin, collect seeds, send Pikmin on adventures, and more in this variation on the Niantic AR walking game idea. After only a few weeks, there looks to be a lot of enthusiasm for the game.
Pikmin Bloom has been downloaded 2 million times since its release two weeks ago, according to Sensor Tower data. With 864 thousand downloads, Japan, a country that loves the Pikmin series, accounted for a large share of those. As a result, Japan has the most downloads for Pikmin Bloom, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom.
While Pikmin Bloom has not yet surpassed Pokemon GO’s 75 million downloads in its first two weeks, the franchise is significantly less well-known. While the game may not be the international success that Pokemon GO was and continues to be, it can achieve significant milestones. Pikmin is also a lesser-known IP than Harry Potter, which received 12.4 million downloads in its first two weeks after being developed by Niantic.
Pikmin Bloom made $473 thousand in its first two weeks, according to Sensor Tower data. Those stats aren’t as impressive as some of Niantic’s other games, but it’s likely that Nintendo and Niantic expected Pikmin Bloom to fall short of something like Pokemon GO.
Dr. Mario World, a completely distinct Nintendo mobile game, was recently shut down. In its early phases, the game had a lot of downloads, but the design formula didn’t allow it to be financially successful and sustainable, therefore Nintendo pulled the plug on it. Pikmin Bloom is expected to stay around for a long time.
Many video game developers, including Remedy Entertainment, had to adapt their workspaces to the changing conditions as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic. Control, released in 2019, and Alan Wake Remastered, released recently, are only two of the developer’s popular video games.
Remedy Entertainment has undergone considerable modifications in the last year in order to continue developing video games. One of those developments is the company’s current hybrid work paradigm, which combines in-office and remote work. The company has announced that, in addition to adopting the hybrid model, it will open a new Swedish subsidiary in 2022.
While job openings for Remedy Entertainment games were posted in October, the company is still looking for creative game developers from Sweden. New developers will be able to join the Swedish subsidiary in producing new games.
According to the post, several Swedish developers have already been working with Remedy for over a year as part of a pilot operation in Stockholm directed by Johnny Mang, the company’s Vanguard project’s General Manager.
“Remedy is a state of mind, not a place in Finland,” Mang added, referring to the company’s evolving workspace in reaction to the pandemic. Remedy Entertainment has indicated that by the end of 2022, it plans to hire up to 25 developers in Sweden. As part of the company’s hybrid approach, the company plans to create a new workspace for its Sweden-based developers in the first half of 2022. This will allow them to meet in the office as needed.
According to James Salt, a game director for Remedy Entertainment in Sweden, the company recognizes that each developer is unique and has their own preferences for how they work on video games.
He gives examples of how certain days are best spent with employees working diligently. In contrast, development teams might benefit from in-person meetings to cooperate on a project, such as planning. The hybrid model, according to Salt, is about allowing developers to choose which way works best for them on any given day.
Remedy Entertainment is excited to continue the trial effort in Sweden, as the firm wants to expand its footprint in the Nordics from there, according to the article. It advises potential Sweden-based developers to keep an eye on the business’s Careers page, as the company is hiring for future Remedy initiatives.
The Game Awards 2021 are approaching shortly. With dozens of game debuts and announcements to be made, host Geoff Keighley is already hyping up this year’s show as the largest ever. The fundamental objective of The Game Accolades, its awards, can sometimes be eclipsed by the spectacle of large game reveals. That’s why, despite the fact that The Game Awards 2021 airs in less than a month, there are still no nominations. That, however, is about to change.
Nominations for this year’s Game Awards have been confirmed to be announced next Tuesday, according to an announcement on The Game Awards’ official Twitter account. The Game Awards’ original message was simple: “Next week: The nominations for @thegameawards are coming!” Nominations will be announced Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. PT/Noon a.m. ET, according to a follow-up statement. In a livestreamed event, Keighley will disclose the candidates for each category.
The show will showcase 30 different prizes this year. In comparison, the Video Games category at The Game Categories 2020 contained 26 accolades, including significant awards like Game of the Year, genre awards, and platform awards.
Two of the prizes, Most Anticipated Game and Player’s Voice, were solely decided by public vote. Esports has its own category at the Game Prizes 2020, with only six awards, including Best Esports Game and Best Esports Athlete. To put it another way, The Game Awards span a lot of territory.
According to the organization, the Game Awards nominees and winners are determined by a combination of media and public participation. The winners are believed to be determined by a balance of media and public input of roughly 90% and 10%, respectively. More than 18.3 million people are estimated to have voted in the 2020 election. The actual procedure for selecting winners, on the other hand, has never been made public.
So far, the sole tease has been that this year’s Game of the Year award will include six nominees. It’s unclear what they’ll be. Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Chicory, It Takes Two, Deathloop, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart are among this year’s favorites. Fans should be prepared for some surprises, though.
The Game Awards have evolved into one of the year’s most important events. The Game Awards have helped fill a December lull with a celebration of the year’s games and major announcements. The Game Awards 2021 will not be one to be missed by game fans. It will premiere on December 8th.
Ninjala’s vibrant environment drew a lot of attention in the run-up to its Switch console exclusive release in 2020. Many gamers compared the game’s bright environment to the Nintendo exclusive third-person shooter Splatoon. While Ninjala, a free-to-play game, hasn’t yet reached the same degree of popularity, it has amassed a sizable following on the site. Ninjala’s creators are aiming to expand into other media outlets besides gaming as a result of its success.
Ninjala’s designers shared updates on the colorful brand as part of GungHo Online Entertainment’s 19th developer diary. One of the most notable updates was the announcement of a planned anime based on the story. According to the creators, this new anime will expand the lively world of Ninjala and bring fresh tales for its characters.
The creators also provided viewers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the anime’s development. Several pieces of concept art were unveiled, offering gamers a glimpse of how Berecca and Burton would seem in the program. Lucy’s artwork was also on display. The series is set to debut in January 2022, and the creators have promised that more information about the project will be released in the coming months.
This isn’t the first time Ninjala’s locations and characters have been reinvented as anime. Since the game’s release, many episodes of a cartoon anime based on the game have been posted on YouTube. In March of 2020, a 3D animated short film was released, showing what happened before the events of the video game.
The makers also revealed information on Season 8 of the Ninjala video game, in addition to the announcement of this new anime. The next season’s theme, according to the creator, is “Animals.” They also confirmed that it would begin on December 2 and end on March 9. A new mode, competitions, and weaponry are among the new features coming with the new season. Several new Shinobi Cards have also been added. Iron Bind, Life Recovery, Reduced Cooldown, and Explosion are the cards in question.
Tencent recently acquired Ninjala’s development studio, thus this new developer diary is timely. It will be interesting to see how the firm leverages this new anime to expand the Ninjala franchise as a result of this commercial decision. Regardless, the future show will most likely have the same lively spirit as the video game.
A new live-action trailer for Halo Infinite has leaked on the official Halo Twitter page, with less than a month until release. The movie, which serves as an in-universe UNSC Archive transmission, depicts what happened when a group of colonial miners volunteered to collect ore that would be utilized to improve Master Chief’s armor while a cave collapsed around them.
The Halo Infinite clip, which runs just over three minutes and features a group of miners stranded beneath the ruins of a cave, has a gloomy and frightening tone to it. With no apparent route out, one miner begins singing in a way that suggests he and the rest of the company have accepted the fact that this is likely where they will spend their final minutes alive. As they wait for the tunnel’s inevitable final collapse, the miners look to each other with equal parts pain and serenity.
The trailer closes with rubble falling from above the miners and light beaming through, hinting that something or someone, most likely Master Chief himself, has arrived to save them. The camera then focuses on the phrase “From The Soil, To The Stars,” which one of the miners had scratched into the wall. The video depicts the hardship of ordinary people caught in the middle of a never-ending galactic conflict, selflessly doing all it takes to bring Master Chief what he needs to defeat his opponents in Halo Infinite.
This trailer arrives at a time when fan anticipation for Halo Infinite is at an all-time high, with new press impressions revealing the start of the story campaign, as well as mounting evidence that Halo: Infinite’s multiplayer component will be released before the game’s expected December 8th release date. It’s plausible that Microsoft and 343 Industries are hoping to leverage the success of the free-to-play multiplayer as free publicity for the complete game’s debut.
[Incoming UNSC Archive transmission] After the bombardment of a UNSC excavation site, colonial miners volunteered to extract an ore critical to the Master Chief's exoskeleton despite threat of the cave collapsing. #Become#HaloInfinitepic.twitter.com/vHPDyaiNFQ
From the Halo 3 trailer, which showed Master Chief picking up his helmet on the battlefield in the middle of a firefight, ready to take on his enemies, to the Halo 4 E3 2011 trailer, which showed Master Chief returning from the dead for more adventures with Cortana, Halo has a reputation for great trailers.
Of course, the always wonderful Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn live-action mini-series, which offered fans a taste of what live-action Halo could really look and feel like, is difficult to forget. Hopefully, Halo Infinite’s actual campaign can convey this level of emotion alongside heart-pounding action.
Epic Games continues to secure major cross-promotional cosmetics for its battle royale game Fortnite, with a popular Star Wars figure set to debut next month. While several Star Wars avatars are currently accessible in Fortnite, this fan-favorite has the potential to become the most popular.
Boba Fett, a fan favorite Star Wars figure, will be making his Fortnite debut next month, according to Epic Games and IGN. On December 24, also known as Disney Plus Day, the renowned Star Wars bounty hunter will be added to the Fortnite item shop. The skin will be included in a package, and it will be available at 7 p.m. EST.
Despite the fact that Epic Games has stated that Boba Fett will be joining the Fortnite roster shortly, the graphic used to promote the skin included another well-known character. Fennec Shand, who appears in The Mandalorian, is seated on the right armrest of Boba Fett’s throne. Shand was photographed with a Fortnite Shield Potion in her lap and a hologram in her right hand in the advertising image.
The presence of Fennec Shand in the Fortnite promotional image depicting Boba Fett could hint at something more that will be released alongside the Star Wars makeover. When Boba Fett is added to Fortnite, the hologram in Shand’s hand could be an Emote that flashes the Mythosaur emblem, as major skins are notorious for coming in bundles with other Fortnite cosmetics like Emotes, Harvesting Tools, Back Blings, and so on. The skin will also come with a Tusken Raider’s Gaffi Stick Harvesting Tool, according to the Fortnite image of Boba Fett.
Epic Games decided to include the main character from the Star Wars franchise during Chapter 2 Season 5 – Zero Point after the success of The Mandalorian in 2019. Fortnite Zero Point introduced the popular reward system to Fortnite, which has since remained in the battle royale. The Mandalorian was a key feature of the Season 5 Battle Pass, which provided new armor pieces for the popular Star Wars character, unlike Boba Fett’s entrance to Fortnite.
Kylo Ren, Rey, and an Imperial Stormtrooper are among the other popular Star Wars characters who have skins in Fortnite. Fans of Fortnite previously had access to a Mythic lightsaber melee weapon that came in a variety of colors and dealt a lot of damage. J. J. Abrams, the director of the Star Wars films, has already appeared in Fortnite during a live event to reveal a clip from one of the films.
The Fortnite skin release is part of the pre-release promotion for Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, which will be released on Disney Plus on December 29. It’s unknown what other cosmetics will be released alongside Boba Fett next month, but the promotional image previewing various items suggests he’ll get a package. Given the popularity of Star Wars in Fortnite, this Boba Fett skin may not be the last Star Wars-themed cosmetic to be released to Epic Games’ battle royale game.
