In-Depth Research on Blockchain Games: Is it a Bubble or a Revolution, Centered on Native Encryption?

1. Introduction: What is a full-chain game?

Recently, the Pass card of the all-chain game Sky Strife has sparked a frenzy of 21,000 ETH on the test network, attracting the attention of many non-all-chain gamers. Since the release of "Pong" in 1972, the gaming industry has continuously evolved, from 8-bit classic games to today's complex online games, and gaming has long surpassed the mere positioning of simple entertainment.

With the development of blockchain technology and encryption, the gaming industry is undergoing unprecedented changes. From Axie Infinity, which closely integrates gaming with the encryption economy, to Stepn, which is centered around social innovation, blockchain games are seen as the hope for the large-scale application of cryptocurrency. People are beginning to explore new ways to combine games and blockchain; apart from asset on-chain, can more elements be put on-chain? Thus, full-chain games have emerged.

What is the difference between on-chain games and traditional games?

In traditional games, all game logic, data storage, digital assets, and game states are stored in centralized gaming companies. The subsequent asset-on-chain games (, commonly known as Web2.5 games ), put assets on-chain, allowing players to have ownership of assets and improving asset liquidity. However, when the game shuts down, the game assets still lose their circulation value.

The highly anticipated full-chain games will put all interactive behaviors and states of the game on the chain, including game logic, data storage, digital assets, and game status, all handled by blockchain to achieve true decentralized gaming.

The main features of blockchain games are:

1. The authenticity of the data source is ensured by the blockchain. The blockchain is not just an auxiliary storage for data, but the true source of all key data.

2. The game logic and rules are implemented through smart contracts. Various operations in the game can be executed on-chain, ensuring the traceability and security of the logic.

3. Game development follows the principles of an open ecosystem. Game contracts and clients adopt an open-source model, providing creative space for third-party developers.

4. The game is independent of the client. Even if the core developer's client disappears, the game can continue, achieving true decentralization.

2. Why do humans need full-chain games?

1. Current Situation of the Traditional Gaming Industry

The gaming industry has produced many excellent works during our growth, whether it is FPS, RPG, MOBA, or card games, all occupy an important position in entertainment life. According to data, the global gaming market size was $249.55 billion in 2022, and it is expected to exceed $280 billion in 2023 and surpass $600 billion by 2030. In contrast, the global film and entertainment industry size was $94.4 billion in 2022. It is evident that gaming holds an important position in economic development, with many areas worth exploring in its commercialization depth and type breadth.

The number of gamers worldwide has exceeded 2.5 billion, approaching 3 billion. The reason games can attract so many participants is mainly because they meet various aspects of human needs:

1. Escape reality and restart life: The game provides a place to escape daily pressures, allowing people to have a second life in a virtual world.

2. Burden-free socializing: Multiplayer online games provide a friendly social platform for socially anxious individuals.

3. Timely feedback rewards: The game offers a rich rewards system, allowing players to quickly acquire new skills and unlock new levels after putting in effort.

4. Low-cost free exploration: The game offers a rich virtual world for players to explore, satisfying humanity's desire for adventure.

5. Pursuing achievement and self-actualization: Satisfying the desire for success and recognition by completing tasks and goals.

Games can cleverly meet the needs and preferences of different users, excelling in covering a wide audience and providing a Depth of immersive experience.

2. The Dilemma of the Traditional Gaming Industry

However, traditional games face two major dilemmas:

1. Game release is subject to licensing restrictions.

Game license numbers are specific licenses that some countries or regions require to be obtained for publishing games, aimed at regulating game content. For example, China implements a strict game license number system, and games must obtain a license number to be released in the market. During the license approval stagnation from July 2021 to April 2022, many small and medium-sized game companies faced bankruptcy.

2. High pre-issue costs can easily lead to sunk costs.

In the Web2 game development model, the development phase requires bearing the initial human resources and infrastructure costs. During the approval phase, there is idle time cost, and profits can only be obtained after the release. A large amount of cost is incurred in the early stage, and if there are issues in the development, approval, or user acquisition phases, the initial investment becomes a sunk cost. The long development and release cycles result in a lengthy profit cycle, with a higher risk of not achieving expected returns.

3. Attempts to Break the Stalemate of Web2.5 Games

Faced with these two major dilemmas, Web2.5 games take the lead in breaking the deadlock:

1. Targeting global users, bypassing domestic version number restrictions.

2. By issuing NFTs and tokens, revenue can be generated during the game testing and startup phases, lowering the capital threshold.

In Web 2.5 games, popular games like Axie and Stepn have emerged, but as the economic models have broken down, it has been difficult to maintain their popularity. Developers are starting to explore new directions; some are turning to AAA titles, while others are beginning to explore the possibilities of fully on-chain games.

3. Analysis of the Current Status of the Full-Chain Game Industry

Currently, the whole-chain gaming is in its early stages, with gaming projects and related infrastructure still under development. The industrial map of the whole-chain gaming field can be roughly divided into four categories: whole-chain gaming projects, whole-chain gaming engines, whole-chain gaming chains, and whole-chain gaming distribution platforms.

1. Full-chain game projects

Currently, all blockchain game projects are in a very early stage. There are early well-known projects like Dark Forest, as well as recent ones like Loot Survivor, Sky Strife, Imminent Solace, Loot Rayale, etc. Most of the projects that can be experienced are still in the testing phase, and the number of playable blockchain games on the market does not exceed double digits. The overall focus of the games is on strategy type (SLG), with some projects attempting to simulate management direction.

The following introduces several representative playable full-chain games:

1. Dark Forest

Dark Forest is a representative work of the full-chain game, a decentralized strategy game created using zkSNARKs on Ethereum. Developed by MIT graduate Brian Gu( under the pseudonym Gubsheep), it is partly inspired by Liu Cixin's science fiction novel "The Dark Forest."

As a space conquest strategy game, players start exploring the universe from their own planet, discovering and occupying other planets and resources to develop their empire.

Main highlights of Dark Forest:

• Game logic, data, and states are all on-chain, centralized individuals cannot independently control the outcome of actions.
• Free and open highly composable gaming ecosystem: The open-source, fully on-chain gaming model enables permissionless interoperability, fostering a thriving derivative creation ecosystem ( plugin )
• Use zk-SNARKS technology to achieve information hiding, ensuring the playability of strategy games.

Dark Forest redefines the possibilities of Web3 games and is seen as a perfect case at the intersection of gaming and encryption, with a cumulative player count exceeding 10,000+. It is not just a game, but rather a spiritual totem of on-chain gaming, showcasing the possibilities of freely open combination gameplay and a prosperous secondary creation ecosystem in on-chain games.

2. Loot Survivor

Loot Survivor is a game developed by the BibliothecaDAO team and is an important part of the Loot ecosystem. Loot is an NFT project released by Dom Hofmann in August 2021, presented in a white text on a black background format, with very open rights for interpretation, attracting a large number of ecosystem contributors and derivative projects.

Loot Survivor is a text-based dungeon/Roguelike game that made its debut at the All-Chain Game Summit in May 2023. The gameplay is simple, involving text interactions to fight monsters until death, and it features a leaderboard to encourage players to challenge themselves.

Overall, the game's scale and playability are relatively small, and it inherits more from the Loot ecosystem in terms of game creation, adding game-like narratives to the Loot ecosystem.

3. Imminent Solace

Imminent Solace is a recently launched battle royale game based on ZK War Fog, developed on the MUD engine. Developed by PTA DAO, it combines PVP looting, autonomous world exploration, and PoW resource mining, with gameplay similar to Dark Forest but easier to operate and providing a better experience.

The ultimate goal of the project is to create a war simulation game similar to EVE, where players will suffer actual resource and asset losses and face strategic challenges. Imminent Solace is a highly playable game in the recent full-chain games, with relatively good game interaction and experience.

In addition, games such as Sky Strife, OPCraft, Word3, Framed, Loot Royale, and Genki Cats are exploring blockchain gaming, most of which are still in the testing phase.

Currently, all-chain games are basically web-based games, with almost no PC and mobile versions. This is related to the characteristic of all-chain games not requiring a client; web development is faster and cheaper, making it the optimal choice for developers. All-chain games are still in the concept validation stage, and how to quickly produce a playable MVP version to validate the game's value is key.

2. Full Chain Game Engine

The core purpose of the full-chain game engine is to provide developers with universal code and simplify the game development process. Compared to traditional game engines, the full-chain game engine places greater emphasis on issues such as contract and client state synchronization, continuous content updates, and interoperability with other contracts.

The main current full-chain game engines include MUD, Dojo, Argus, Curio, and Paima, among which MUD and Dojo are the two most mainstream, forming a dual competition between the EVM-compatible ecosystem and the Starknet ecosystem.

1. MUD

MUD is the first full-chain game engine released by Lattice in November 2022. As one of the earliest full-chain game engines, MUD currently has the largest developer ecosystem. In addition to the early Dark Forest, it has also given rise to OPCraft, Sky Strife, Word3, and the most.