Amitt Mahajan—founder and CEO of Proof of Play, the developer of crypto game Pirate Nation—predicts that eventually there’ll be hundreds of dedicated blockchains that every make stronger individual positive factors.
This comes after his abilities constructing the viral Fb game Farmville. All over his time developing the casual farming simulator, Zynga operated approximately 64 databases simply to end the game from crashing. To Mahajan, the blockchain is ravishing a elaborate database.
“At peak, [Farmville] changed into at about 30 million on each day foundation energetic users. So in talk in confidence to scale a game to that, we had like 64 databases,” Mahajan suggested Decrypt‘s GG. “In this world, the blockchain is our database. We’re if truth be told the exercise of the chain as our knowledge store. So in talk in confidence to scale to any desire of loyal utilization, we possess now got to separate transactions all the very best diagram thru chains.”
Previously, Pirate Nation changed into constructing on Ethereum scaling network Polygon, but moved to Arbitrum Nova due to rising Polygon gas fees. On the opposite hand, the project noticed an argument in counting on shared networks as a new project launching may well perchance enhance gas fees for all and sundry on the chain.
In February, Pirate Nation eyed up the change of launching chains for itself and other developers the exercise of Arbitrum—in a project called Multichain.
The on-chain role-taking half in game Pirate Nation is now crusing by itself utility-particular chain, Apex, and the founder believes that right here is the loyal logical future for other apps too.
“As rapidly as you may well perchance very properly be an utility with any stage of scale, you possess to be in a role to predictably preserve a watch to your gas fees,” Mahajan suggested Decrypt. “My prediction is that there goes to be hundreds and hundreds of chains, as of us split off from these shared layer-2s to utility-particular chains.”
We have already viewed this pattern all the very best diagram thru multiple blockchain networks. Several games constructing on Avalanche are the exercise of their very receive dedicated subnets, to illustrate, equivalent to Shrapnel and the upcoming Off the Grid with its GUNZ network. In one other example, Treasure is constructing its receive Arbitrum-essentially essentially essentially based Treasure Chain that can characteristic an online of “Infinity Chains,” or dedicated gaming networks.
Since launching by itself app-particular chain, Mahajan stated that Pirate Nation has began to contain up the chain with transactions—with the group already eyeing up a second chain for make stronger.
“We’ve if truth be told reached the skill of Apex,” Mahajan explained. “Now, in talk in confidence to proceed to scale the game, we possess now got so that you may well add the B-chain, the C-chain, the D-chain,” he added. “We’re going to be adding more chains in the extinguish so as that we can proceed so that you may well add and scale the need of users in the game.”
The Proof of Play Apex chain is now are living w/ Pirate Nation!
Pirate Nation is now the first fully onchain game deployed to its receive Mainnet chain.
Right here is the commence of the Multichain: an infinitely scalable constellation of chains that permits us lift onchain gaming to millions. pic.twitter.com/tlVFPWlAeS
— Proof of Play (@ProofOfPlay) February 29, 2024
Desiring multiple chains may well perchance sound irregular or referring to. But for Mahajan, who has abilities constructing games in the enviornment of Web2, this isn’t one thing new. It’s ravishing a new riff on the identical premise of needing scalable architecture to make stronger increasing games.
Mahajan worked for Zynga from 2009 to 2011, all over this time he headed the reach of Farmville. In the Web3 dwelling, pretty than caring about current blockchain games crashing, developers ache about rising fees due to network congestion.
Lend a hand when Pirate Nation changed into on Polygon, the company stated it changed into paying as a lot as $4,000 a day in gas fees to abstract them a long way flung from gamers—but that wasn’t sustainable for a startup. Although launching four or more chains ravishing to bustle one crypto game may well perchance seem like a gargantuan bother, Mahajan sees an upside to the added muscle.
“It changed into inconvenient to want to bustle 64 databases for Farmville,” he stated. “Or not it’s inconvenient for us, because we’re the first of us doing it. But then it becomes a product.”
Welcome to Pirate Nation, an on-chain RPG by @ProofOfPlay, built on the intersection of casual gaming, web3 abilities, and shared ownership & incentives.
A thread 🧵 maintaining what you must take cling of about our game, ecosystem, & group.
Let’s bounce in. 👇 1/many pic.twitter.com/aS9e4OvAuJ
— Pirate Nation (@PirateNation) July 5, 2023
Mahajan again uses Web2 to effect apart this into standpoint. Ideas like load balancing and caching needed to be invented, the founder explained, in direct for a product like Fb to be built.
If we can invent a game that reaches a million on each day foundation energetic users (DAU), which reach that you may well perchance well be produce one other dapp or a photograph-sharing role or one thing else that can maybe reach a million DAU as properly.
—Amitt Mahajan, founder and CEO of Pirate Nation
Right here is phase of Pirate Nation’s multichain offering, all over which Apex is the first network to be launched. Multichain plans to commence up for other game and dapp developers to initiating their very receive networks powered by Arbitrum Orbit, an Ethereum scaling abilities.
“Or not it’s coming. There may well be positively been passion,” Mahajan stated. “We desire to resolve our receive skill[factorssoonerthanwetakeclingofonothers”[issuesbeforewetakeonothers”
Dedicated gamers
Pirate Nation’s growth plans come after the game launched its PIRATE token in June. Its itemizing on Coinbase noticed the Ethereum token’s fee bounce, but label isn’t what the founder is anxious about in the case of the token initiating.
As a change, he wished to focal point on the 80% of claimed PIRATE tokens on the second staked by users, in accordance with a Dune dashboard. By staking these tokens, users effect Proof of Play (PoP) Points which promise to unlock extra advantages all over the ecosystem. In phase, this high share is thanks to PIRATE tokens not being locked when staked, and permitting users to aloof expend with out any penalties.
To the founder, the high share of staked tokens is a gamble of confidence by the group and a signal that the game isn’t attracting farmers who ravishing are desirous to dump the token.
“Staking is surely but every other for folks to re-verify that they are in it for the long-term,” Mahajan explained, “so the indisputable reality that so many folks, in this form of high volume, possess executed it’s encouraging.”
And for these dedicated gamers, the excellent on-chain tournament is ravishing all the very best diagram thru the corner.
In the impending month, the second World Boss tournament will happen. This is in a position to maybe look gamers be half of arms to defeat bosses collectively, but also compete for his or her transaction to be the extinguish shot. Avid gamers may well perchance well be rewarded for his or her smash dealt and given a 1-of-1 NFT in the event that they landed the extinguish shot.
This tournament may well perchance well be the greatest in-game tournament that Pirate Nation has ever viewed. With this, the network is probably to be strained, especially with the developers already eyeing up a second chain to separate transactions. Will it stretch the Apex chain to its limits?
“We’ll look,” Mahajan spoke back with a smile.
Edited by Andrew Hayward