By creating an alternative financial system with extraordinary flexibility and innovation in less than ten years, Web3 has astounded the globe. Economic and cryptographic primitives such as smart contracts and consensus mechanisms have helped to create an open-source system to conduct and authorize financial transactions. However, the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem cannot support straightforward contracts like an apartment lease because it lacks a native Web3 identity. This article aims to demonstrate how even modest advances toward social identity representation with soulbound tokens could circumvent these constraints and reroute Web3 to an authentic, more transformational path. What are soulbound tokens (SBTs)? …

In the rapidly expanding world of NFT gaming, new projects are racing to redefine what can be done both within the games themselves and in the broader economic ecosystem in which these games exist. One new project, Tachyon Domination, has moved the arena to space, inviting users to compete with each other for galactic supremacy while offering numerous opportunities to earn on their efforts. Tachyon Domination has taken a somewhat unusual approach to blockchain gaming. Rather than requiring players to purchase access to the game via NFTs or tokens, the game is free-to-play. Players are transported some 300 years into …

Web3 gaming protocol Heroic Story raised $6 million in a seed round led by Upfront Ventures with participation from Multicoin Capital and Polygon Technology, the company announced on Nov. 17. The funds will be used to hire talent, market the live beta and develop on-chain technology for a massively multiplayer role-playing game (RPG) world, the company told Cointelegraph. The round brings Heroic Story’s total financing to $7.4 million. Other investors included strategic angels, such as a16z Games Fund One founding investor Jonathan Lai, Team Liquid CEO Steve Arhancet and Quantstamp CEO Richard Ma, alongside Miramax head of film Wolfgang Hammer …

The inaugural edition of the GAM3 Awards — a new web3 gaming awards event hosted by Polkastarter Gaming — is set to take place on December 15, according to an announcement provided to Cointelegraph on Nov. 14. Awarding the best gam3s 16 categories. 30+ industry leaders. $300k prizes. 15 December 2022. Save the date. Voting starts soon ⬇️https://t.co/p0niqHYzHw pic.twitter.com/8n0ArqZXS1 — GAM3 AWARDS | 15th Dec (@PolkastarterGG) November 14, 2022 The awards ceremony intends to recognize this year’s best web3 games, highlight the developers behind them, and showcase blockchain as a net plus to the gaming industry. In the announcement, the …

On Nov. 11, NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Spaces hosted by Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond, met with Thomas Webb, the founder of the interoperable avatar game Worldwide Webb, to discuss the integration of interoperability in Web3 and the Metaverse. By definition, interoperability is a feature of Web3 whereby a product or system can work seamlessly across platforms with other products or services. Webb defines interoperability simply as "creating a token— a nonfungible token (NFT)" since, at its most basic level, no one can control it besides the creator. But how does interoperability function presently in Web3, and what is …

When I worked for Riot Games as its head of player acquisition in the European Union, I learned about player onboarding and long-term retention. Both are crucial to the success of gamer acquisition. I’ve seen the mechanics of user retention in gaming, and what I’ve learned is that most cryptocurrency games today lack the mechanics to keep players interested for even a short period of time. Why haven’t more top-tier games introduced real-world rewards into their games? These are the titles where 99.9% of gamers are not professional esports athletes and enjoy no monetary rewards for the thousands of hours …

GameFi's constantly evolving model could make "today's AAA game companies look like peanuts", said Jack O’Holleran, CEO of Skale a multichain Ethereum native network that powers Web3 games. In fact, blockchain-based games and metaverse projects are showing resilience amid a winter that has dragged down many players in the crypto industry, with $1.3 billion raised in the last quarter, as reported by DappRadar. Finding a sustainable GameFi model, however, remains a challenge. User experience ranks amid the top struggles in the industry, mainly because of gas fees and the complexity of buying, owning and trading NFTs. "Charging users fees every …

The GameFi industry is set to unleash its massive potential within the next six years. According to Absolute Reports data, its estimated value will grow to $2.8 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.4% in the same period.It’s a quieter perhaps less scandalous branch compared to the more newsworthy centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) spaces, but this hasn’t impacted its force nor its promise. Even in the depth of crypto winter — read: a bear crypto market — blockchain-based games have continued to register a steady uptick in daily active users and transactions month …

Learning by doing is a powerful yet simple educational concept: the best way to discover how something works is by giving it a try. PetaRush — a racing game featuring NFT characters — is positioning itself as a shining example of how this can work in practice. Designed to be friendly and welcoming to Web3 beginners, this game can be enjoyed even if players don't have a crypto wallet or understand how blockchain works. PetaRush also wants to reach people who have never owned an NFT before — giving them a chance to log in for free and experience the …

Traditional ideas about gaming, coming from both the firms developing the games and the players themselves, could slow down adoption of Web3 games, according to WAX co-founder and CEO William Quigley. Speaking to Cointelegraph at a Web Summit panel in Portugal on Nov. 3, Quigley said “trying to build a video game using a blockchain is a pain in the ass,” clarifying that many of the products on the market are based on browsers but utilize in-game digital assets on the blockchain. The WAX CEO added that nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, had given independent developers an edge in gaming, allowing …

Nonfungible token (NFT) gaming is getting a face lift. A new collaboration between Laguna Games, a Web3 R&D entertainment developer, and Lens Protocol allows players to connect across multiple gaming experiences. These new decentralized gaming IDs will allow players to connect their profiles across Crypto Unicorn’s web and mobile NFT gaming platforms. The Lens integration is binder which takes profiles on its network and connects them with the avatar system behind Crypto Unicorns. This opens up new avenues for logging into games, accessing leaderboards, along with benefits and rewards in the ecosystem. Aron Beierschmitt, the CEO and co-founder of Laguna …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how NBA superstar Stephen Curry filed a trademark application for his own metaverse, the Curryverse, where users play-to-earn nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Check out why TV streaming providers should start to incorporate NFTs into their programming. In other news, find out how an NFT vending machine made digital art more accessible at a London event. Last but not least, Nifty News highlighted NFT markets that are scrapping royalties and the launch of GameStop’s new NFT marketplace. Steph Curry files trademark for the Curryverse, where players earn NFTs National Basketball League (NBA) megastar Stephen Curry filed …