Polygon x Immutable Partnership Highlights a Big Week for Web3 Gaming at GDC
Many people flocked to SF to hear about new developments in the gaming industry, and the web3 gaming space was well represented.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC), which is one of the biggest events in the gaming industry, took place in San Francisco from March 20th to March 24th.
The event featured some of the biggest names in the industry, but also included plenty of web3 gaming content from both games to infrastructure as well. The strong presence of blockchain gaming at a premier event only increases its momentum and legitimacy to the gaming community at large.
Representatives from popular smart contract platforms for gaming such as Polygon, Immutable and Avalanche all made their presence felt at the conference, with Polygon and Immutable announcing a major partnership that dominated the headlines from the conference.
Here are some takeaways from the big announcements at the conference:
1. Polygon x Immutable Partnership
Last week, Polygon Labs launched its zkEVM, an EVM-compatible zero-knowledge rollup that will help in scaling Ethereum. At GDC, Immutable announced that they would be building their own zk-rollup powered by Polygon’s technology. Immutable believes that this is the key to unlocking mass adoption within blockchain gaming and stated the following in a blog post about the announcement:
“Immutable zkEVM is the first EVM-compatible solution for games with enforceable royalty fees, allowing game developers to protect and grow their revenue while empowering their communities with asset ownership all on one of the largest web3 gaming ecosystems.”
What this means:
While zkEVM is still in its infancy, as the recent release was the mainnet beta, its deployment is a promising sign of what is to come. Zero-knowledge proofs have long been seen as having major potential for scaling Ethereum, but also as particularly difficult to deploy with EVM-equivalence. Therefore, a zk-rollup going live without any major hiccups marked a big step for the crypto community as a whole.
2. WeMade claims there is a “paradigm shift” in blockchain gaming
The Korean blockchain and gaming company was a diamond-level sponsor for the GDC event, and showed enthusiasm for the future of web3 gaming.
They talked about how the importance of designing experiences and economies within a game’s ecosystem and envisioned a future in which blockchain games, services, and the real-life economy are connected.
What this means:
While it seems like a grandiose view of the future, it is rather clear that WeMade is extremely excited about the future of blockchain gaming, and their presence at GDC along many other web3 gaming platforms and companies shows many believe this paradigm shift to be true.
3. Eve Online developers CCP raise $40 million in a funding round led by a16z
Eve is a space-based MMORPG that has been around since 2003 that is hugely popular and its developers, CCP, are now making a pivot toward blockchain with their newest project.
The blockchain game will be separate from their current projects and the blockchain spinoff will be named “Project Awakening”.
Details on the game are yet to come, but it will surely be something people look out for.
What this means:
Not only does this show that VCs are continuing to see blockchain gaming as a potential gold mine with its investments, but also it is another example of a famous web2 game maker beginning to see value in a blockchain model. There are positive signs for the long-term prospects of the web3 gaming industry.