By Zen, PANews
At the beginning of this year, the game public chain Immutable launched the early experience version of the Immutable zkEVM mainnet supported by Polygon, officially kicking off the rapid development of its ecosystem. As we enter the second quarter, with the release of “Guild of Guardians” and the launch of the “Mainline Missions” with rewards exceeding 50 million USD, claiming to be the largest Web3 game mission and reward program in history, the integrated game player identity solution, Immutable Passport, has seen tremendous growth, with the number of registered users officially surpassing the 1 million mark, doubling in just May alone.
Immutable zkEVM is designed to provide game developers with a dedicated chain, combining the advantages of zk-rollup technology with the Ethereum ecosystem, featuring EVM compatibility, low cost, scalability, and enterprise-level security. In addition to supporting game infrastructure, Immutable has also started providing funds to game developers. In March of this year, Immutable, together with the venture capital firm King River Capital, and Polygon Labs, established the 1 billion 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 technological foundation and financial support, Immutable zkEVM quickly attracted a large number of game developers to join. According to Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Immutable, in the first 5 months of this year, Immutable has signed contracts with 147 well-funded games, exceeding the total for the entire year of 2023. In the next 5 months, they plan to launch more than 60 games. Among these more than 200 games, more than ten games related to “Mainline Missions” are clearly the focus of the current layout. What are these games? What are their outstanding performances? This article by PANews will take an inventory of these games.
Illuvium
A game world composed of multiple games, including the simulation management game Zero, the open world adventure game Overworld, the auto chess strategy game Arena, and the NFT collection game Beyond. Each game has a unique gameplay mechanism to target different groups of players, but they are linked together through resource extraction and utilization between different games. The blockchain game Illuvium launched its Open Beta testnet at the end of May and is available on the Epic Games store, offering versions for Windows and macOS. Illuvium has completed four rounds of financing, with a total funding amount of 65 million USD, with investors including IOSG Ventures, Framework Ventures, Animoca Brands, Spartan Capital, and Polygon Ventures. In May of this year, Illuvium raised approximately 72 million USD through the sale of Illuvium Zero land.
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, and on the first day of the launch, daily active users increased by more than 20 times, ranking 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 web, Android, and iOS. Developed by the blockchain game developer and publisher BoomLand, the team members have collectively been responsible for the release of over 200 games, with downloads exceeding 1.5 billion. Hunters On-Chain offers various gameplay modes based on PvE and PvP, including fast-paced hunting, cooperative modes, special challenges, duels, and a 10-player battle royale mode called “Bounty Hunter.” Hunters On-Chain recently launched the Play To Airdrop event, which will include two seasons, each lasting one month, with a total prize pool of 25 million BOOM tokens.
Baby Shark Universe
An open-world underwater-themed role-playing game where players can create their own in-game content such as items, maps, and interact with other players and expand the game based on their choices and actions. The game developers have over ten years of experience at the Korean game 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) functionality, allowing users to create and contribute their own content. In May of this year, Baby Shark Universe announced a seed round financing of approximately 34 million USD, with investors including Animoca Brands, CREDIT SCEND, Sui Foundation, and Comma 3 Ventures.
Storm Warfare
A free collectible card game based on the theme of World War II, currently available on Windows and macOS and planned to be released on iOS and Android soon. The game features cards of units, vehicles, artillery, and support, each with its own attack and defense attributes, as well as different characteristics and abilities. Storm Warfare has an in-game market where players can buy, sell, or trade NFT cards and items. From June 28th to July 12th, Storm Warfare will launch a tournament, offering airdrops of 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, the game has been supported by partners and VCs due to its vast futuristic world, complex characters, and intricate narrative. The game has received a total investment of 50 million USD in development, with supporters including Foresight Ventures, Lighthouse Capital, SevenX Ventures, HashKey Capital, and Arcane Group. The story is set in the fictional Telikos star cluster, a deep space frontier inhabited by various races of builders, warriors, and survivors. Players will take on the role of an interstellar ship captain, embarking on an adventurous journey, facing deadly pirates, crossing dangerous environments, and discovering secrets and wealth. Space Nation is currently conducting the Space Odyssey 101 event, offering rewards including 1 million OIK, closed test 2.0 access codes, and fuel.
Katana Inu
A battle game with humanoid Shiba Inu as the main characters, featuring various combat styles such as martial arts, magic, and close combat. The game modes of Katana Inu include a battle royale that allows up to 60 players to battle in an open-world environment and 1v1 and 3v3 arena battles. The game uses a “P2E” mechanism, where the NFT market allows players to exchange in-game items for the native token $KATA. As of June 25th, the fully diluted value of the KATA token is approximately 40 million USD, with a decrease of about 32% in the past month. Katana Inu recently partnered with the popular meme token Baby Doge on BNB to release a limited NFT series, limited to 1,000, and will be released on June 27th.
Rebel Bots: Epic War
A casual game that combines MOBA mechanics with collectible card gameplay, available on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. In the game, players control their unique robots, each with special abilities and roles, to outsmart opponents and defeat them. The game emphasizes teamwork and strategy, requiring players to make decisions that can turn the tide of battle in an instant. What sets the game apart is the integration of 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 obtain loot boxes containing random cards and items.
Battle Bears Heroes
A top-down 3v3 shooter game, with various game modes such as mini MOBA, deathmatch, battle royale, and campaign. The previous game in 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 classic BB GO from 2010, including new heroes, PvP modes, and a new version of Battle Bears -1 with the same nostalgic cutscenes. BBH chose to part ways with Ronin in March of this year and announced its release 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, which joined the Immutable ecosystem in May of this year. The game is inspired by the highly acclaimed ZOIDS anime series under the Japanese toy manufacturer TOMY Company, Ltd. The cards feature mech robots designed with dinosaur and animal themes and can be traded, collected, and battled with. Specifically, players will use 30 cards to build a deck for 1v1 battles, and each player can use their pre-arranged deck. In matches, players take turns using their cards and employ different strategies to reduce their opponent’s life points to zero to win.
Paradise Tycoon
A simulation multiplayer role-playing game developed by the game studio Empires Not Vampires. Similar to “Stardew Valley,” players own a tropical island in the game and must make it prosperous through a series of operations such as tidying up, crafting, and decorating. In February of last year, Empires Not Vampires completed a 1 million USD financing round, with investors including Shima Capital and Zee Prime Capital. The game is currently in the 2.0 beta phase, supporting in-game resource trading and NFT trading for items and blueprints. Paradise Tycoon was initially developed on Avalanche but later moved to Immutable. Its second season of Play-to-Airdrop will be launched on June 27th, allowing players to participate for free.
Arena of Faith
A 5v5 MOBA game based on the theme of divine battles, developed by VORTEX LABS and available on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. The basic gameplay of Arena of Faith is similar to that of MOBA games like Honor of Kings, with 10 players divided into two factions for battle, aiming to destroy the opponent’s crystal first to win the game. The game’s outcome is determined by factors such as economic development, lane control, and skirmishes, with each match lasting about 15 minutes, requiring a combination of player personal skills and team coordination. In May of last year, Arena of Faith announced the completion of a 1.75 million USD seed round financing led by Chain Hill Capital.
Astra Nova
A story-driven Web3 role-playing game built on the Unreal Engine 5 game engine. Astra Nova’s gameplay combines exploration, combat, strategy, and community-driven storytelling. Players can customize their characters and choose from races and professions that have survived the destruction of the five worlds. The game challenges players to explore the vast landscapes of Astra Nova, from treacherous wilderness to ancient civilization ruins. Astra Nova landed on the Steam store in March of this year, and in April, it announced the completion of a 1 million USD financing, with major investors including Hashgraph Ventures, Oxbull, and MoonEdge. Astra Nova is currently undergoing the series game update of the first chapter “The Fall of Saerinda,” with the second level expected to be released at the end of this month.
