The GUNZ testnet has been running for nearly a year, processing 27 million transactions and accumulating over 2.2 million registered wallets.

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Chain games are not doing well, which has become an unspoken consensus after the previous market downturn, leading to the demise of most game projects.

However, not all practitioners are bearish on the gaming sector.

For instance, recently, Delphi Venture partner Piers Kicks posted in support of game developer Gunzilla Games and its upcoming flagship game Off The Grid.

According to Piers' post, Delphi Ventures has made a significant investment in Off The Grid, marking it as the largest investment in their gaming portfolio. The game has also undergone five years of development by a team of 300 people, with a total investment reaching 90 million USD.

As a side note, the estimated cost of the game Black Myth: Wukong was previously revealed by the game producer to be around 300-400 million RMB, which roughly means Off The Grid's investment cost is even higher than that of Black Myth.

But as the saying goes, "When a whale falls, all things rise." In the realm of chain games, the situation might be that when all things fall, a whale is born.

In the context of many chain game projects failing, what makes Off The Grid stand out?

It is reported that Off The Grid plans to launch simultaneously on PC and console platforms (PS5/XBOX) within the next 60 days, which is a first for chain games.

Moreover, let's not forget that PC and console platforms are often the territory of core players, who cannot tolerate any signs of gold farming or the stench of blockchain. For chain games to succeed, they must find a good balance in gameplay, graphics, on-chain economy, and marketing.

In a time when chain games are generally viewed unfavorably, can Off The Grid truly set an example for "good games"?

Let the big shots script and create special effects to attract VC investments

In the gaming industry, a successful product fundamentally relies on two key elements: people and money.

The former refers to the development team, while the latter points to financial support.

What does Gunzilla Games, the developer behind Off The Grid, have to offer?

Founded in 2020, Gunzilla Games is a relatively young company, but its team composition and scale are impressive. Currently, the company has about 340 employees, including many seasoned professionals from the gaming industry.

The core development team primarily comes from the former Crytek Kyiv studio. This team was involved in the development of the popular online shooter Warface, which attracted over 140 million players and generated over 1 billion USD in revenue. Additionally, team members have participated in the development of well-known game series such as Far Cry and Crysis, as well as the development of the CRYENGINE game engine. At its peak, CRYENGINE pushed the frontier of game graphics and provided technical support for many major titles.

Interestingly, the company has also hired Neill Blomkamp as co-founder and chief creative officer. Blomkamp, known for directing sci-fi blockbusters like District 9 and Elysium, brings a unique visual style and profound social insights to Off The Grid, enhancing its visual experience and narrative design.

Additionally, the game's 60-hour campaign storyline is written by renowned sci-fi author Richard Morgan. Morgan is the author of bestsellers like Altered Carbon, which has been adapted into a popular Netflix series.

This differs from previous chain games, as there is a focus on investing in the script and special effects, aiming for a high-quality single-player game experience.

However, the level of completion can only be determined after the official release, as we cannot know whether the big names are merely attached or genuinely involved in the production.

As for the financial aspect, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, Delphi Ventures invested 6 million USD, becoming the largest validator and node operator for Gunzilla's GUNZ blockchain platform (funding source: Coindesk).

In March of this year, Gunzilla Games completed a round of financing amounting to 30 million USD. This round was led by CoinFund and Avalanche's Avalanche Fund, with participation from well-known institutions such as Republic Capital and Morningstar Ventures.

With money backing it, how well has this game been polished?

Cyberpunk Battle Royale, Battle Royale Gameplay + On-Chain Items

The core gameplay of Off The Grid is essentially a battle royale, akin to the classic mode in PUBG. A group of players competes for resources on a meticulously designed map and strives to be the last one standing.

However, this game incorporates more sci-fi and cyberpunk elements.

The game is set in a dystopian future on a massive battlefield known as "Teardrop Island," where contestants from around the world participate in a brutal "reality show" for a huge cash prize.

In the game setting, all contestants must amputate their limbs to utilize the advanced prosthetic technology available on Teardrop Island. This is not just a unique setting but also the core of the game mechanics. Players can switch out different prosthetics to gain various special abilities, such as grappling hooks, reconnaissance drones, or quick dashes. This design adds unprecedented tactical depth and flexibility to the game.

In terms of map design, OTG has created the largest battle royale map to date. Players can use their character's jetpacks and special prosthetic abilities to navigate between skyscrapers, enabling rapid aerial movement. This highly flexible movement system not only increases the excitement of the game but also encourages a more aggressive playstyle.

But what does this have to do with being on-chain?

OTG introduces an Extraction Royale mode. Players collect HEX cubes on the map, which represent blueprints for weapons, attachments, or prosthetics.

Players need to bring these cubes to specific extraction points for decoding, all while defending against opponents who covet their loot. Once successfully extracted, these items will be "3D printed" into the player's inventory, effectively minting the assets onto the blockchain in the background.

To put it simply, this gameplay is akin to off-chain battle royale + on-chain loot box mechanics.

As the main gameplay, players will open loot boxes after winning, with the items being minted as NFTs and other assets on-chain, while also being account-bound and setting up a trading logic.

The game does not have a traditional in-game store; all items entering the economic system and peer-to-peer market are obtained and minted on-chain by players through the in-game extraction mechanism.

This design not only ensures the scarcity and true ownership of items but also brings more dynamism and player engagement to the game economy.

It is worth mentioning that OTG adopts a seamless integration strategy to handle on-chain issues. The parts of the game involving encryption become optional rather than mandatory, gradually attracting players to go on-chain in a completely optional manner.

Although the final product of the game has yet to be seen, common designs such as social logins, built-in wallets, hidden deposit and withdrawal gateways, and abstracted gas fees are likely to be present.

Prospects of the On-Chain Economic System

In OTG, players obtain in-game item NFTs through the aforementioned HEX cube extraction operations. This process cleverly combines game mechanics with blockchain technology, making asset minting a natural extension of the gaming experience rather than a disjointed external operation.

At the same time, the GUN token is the core of the OTG economic system. As the native token of the game, GUN plays multiple roles in the game ecosystem:

• a) Medium of exchange: Players can use GUN to buy, sell, or trade NFT items in the in-game market.
• b) Governance rights: Players holding GUN tokens can participate in important game decisions, such as voting on new features or adjusting economic parameters.
• c) Staking rewards: Players can stake GUN tokens to earn additional in-game rewards or privileges.
• d) Creator incentives: Content creators can earn GUN tokens by creating game content (such as custom skins or maps).
• e) In-game fees: Certain premium features or services may require payment in GUN tokens, such as speeding up manufacturing processes or unlocking special areas.

It is noteworthy that the game has its own blockchain network, GUNZ, which is essentially a subnet based on Avalanche. By establishing a dedicated subnet, it ensures fast and low-cost transactions, leaving room for future expansion and optimization.

Public data shows that the GUNZ testnet has been running for nearly a year, processing 27 million transactions and accumulating over 2.2 million registered wallets.

In the GUNZ subnet, validator nodes play a crucial role. They are responsible for verifying and confirming all in-game transactions while collectively maintaining the security and stability of the entire network, with specific functions as follows:

• a) Verify transactions: Nodes are responsible for verifying and confirming all in-game transactions, ensuring the security and reliability of the economic system.
• b) Maintain the network: Nodes work together to maintain the operation of the GUNZ network, ensuring the continuous and stable operation of the game economy.
• c) Participate in governance: Some nodes may have voting rights to participate in important network decisions.
• d) Reward mechanism: Participants running nodes may receive GUN tokens as rewards, further incentivizing community participation in network maintenance.

In the current design, the core of the ecosystem consists of 10,000 validators responsible for processing transactions and minting all in-game items. From an investment perspective, these validator nodes are attractive because players must pay them a minting fee for in-game items in USD; additionally, validators earn a commission from all transactions of the items they mint on the secondary market.

Supporting the Off The Grid game is a complete set of Gunzilla ecosystem tools, including a wallet (available on iOS and Android), a marketplace, and a blockchain resource explorer. Interested players can check the real-time data displayed by the GUNZ testnet browser here.

Currently, those who want to play the game in advance can only do so by filling out a form and answering questions through the official website's "Pioneer Program." After selecting their gaming platform (console or PC), they must wait for the game officials to screen them before receiving a trial invitation.

Finally, it must be emphasized that until the game is seen in its final form, it cannot be said to have completely moved away from the "lowbrow" nature of gold farming.

In fact, the crypto world doesn't even require purely games; however, if the on-chain economic system can serve as a mature "loot box model" without overshadowing the gameplay, then Off The Grid can still be looked forward to.

After all, with a free game available on PC and PS5/XBOX, there will still be players willing to give it a try.

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