Ecological players exceed one million, inventory of 13 games currently promoted by Immutable

Author: Zen, PANews

At the beginning of this year, Immutable launched the early access version of the Immutable zkEVM Mainnet powered by Polygon, officially kicking off the rapid development of its ecosystem. Entering the second quarter, with the launch of Guild of Guardians and the release of the largest Web3 game quest and reward program in history: "Main Quest", its all-in-one gamer identity solution, Immutable Passport, achieved a huge rise, officially surpassing the 1 million mark in registration, which doubled in May alone.

Immutable zkEVM aims to provide a dedicated chain for game developers, combining the advantages of zk-rollup technology with the Ethereum ecosystem, featuring EVM compatibility, low cost, massive scalability, and enterprise-grade security. In addition to supporting game infrastructure, Immutable is also starting to provide funding to game developers. In March this year, Immutable, in collaboration with the venture capital firm King River Capital and Polygon Labs, established a $100 million Web3 game fund, 'Inevitable Games Fund' (IGF). Immutable and Polygon Labs will seek investment opportunities, while King River will manage the investment process and deploy funds in game studios and Web3 infrastructure companies.

Thanks to its technical foundation and financial support, Immutable zkEVM quickly attracted a large number of game developers to settle in. According to Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Immutable, in the first five months of this year, Immutable signed contracts with a sufficient amount of games, reaching 147, exceeding the total for the entire year of 2023. In the next five months, they also plan to launch more than 60 games. Among these more than 200 games, it is obvious that the focus of their current layout is on more than ten games related to the 'main missions.' What are these games? And what outstanding performances do they have? PANews will take stock of these games in this article.

Illuvium

A game world composed of multiple games, including the simulation business game Zero, the open world adventure game Overworld, the auto battler strategy game Arena, and the NFT collection game Beyond. Each game has unique gameplay mechanisms to cater to different groups of players, but they are connected through the extraction and utilization of resources between different games. The blockchain game Illuvium launched the Open Beta version of the testnet at the end of May and is available on the Epic Games Store, offering versions for both Windows and macOS. Currently, Illuvium has completed four rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of 65 million US dollars, and investors include IOSG Ventures, Framework Ventures, Animoca Brands, Spartan Capital, and Polygon Ventures, among others. In addition, Illuvium raised approximately 72 million US dollars through the sale of Illuvium Zero land in 2022.

Guild of Guardians

A rogue-lite mobile role-playing game inspired by Diablo and Dungeons & Dragons, developed by Stepico Games and published by Immutable. Guild of Guardians was globally released on May 15th this year and is available on both the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. Prior to its release, the game had over 1 million pre-registered players. On the first day of launch, the daily active users increased by over 20 times and it briefly ranked among the top ten in the Android and Apple app stores in the United States, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Hunters On-Chain

A top-down perspective casual PVE action adventure game, available for free on web, Android, and iOS. Hunters On-Chain is developed by blockchain game developer and publisher BoomLand, whose team members consist of experienced gaming professionals claiming responsibility for releasing over 200 games with over 1.5 billion downloads to date. Hunters On-Chain offers various gameplay modes based on PvE and PvP, including fast-paced hunting mode, cooperative mode to protect the king, special challenges to hunt bosses, dueling mode to compete with other players, and a 10-player battle royale mode called 'Bounty Hunter'. Hunters On-Chain recently launched the Play To Airdrop event, which will consist of two seasons, each lasting one month, with a total prize pool of 250 million $BOOM tokens.

Baby Shark Universe

An open-world underwater ocean-themed role-playing game where players can create their own game content such as items and maps, interact with other players, and expand the game based on their choices and actions. The game developers have over ten years of experience working at Nexon, a South Korean game company. Baby Shark Universe will offer various metaverse-based gameplay, including combat, collection and crafting, as well as NFT trading between users. It will also eventually support user-generated content (UGC) where users can create and contribute their own content. In May of this year, Baby Shark Universe announced a seed round financing of $34 million, with participating investors including Animoca Brands, CREDIT SCEND, Sui Foundation, Comma3 Ventures, among others.

Storm Warfare

A free collectible card game based on World War II, which has been launched on Windows and macOS platforms and is planned to be released on iOS and Android mobile platforms in the near future. The cards in the game are divided into four different types: units, vehicles, artillery, and support. Each card has its own attack and defense attributes, as well as different characteristics and abilities. By collecting cards and building decks, players will simulate deploying troops on the battlefield of World War II and engage in battles with other players, with the goal of reducing the enemy commander's life points to zero to achieve victory. Storm Warfare features an in-game market where players can buy, sell, or trade NFT cards and items. From June 28th to July 12th, Storm Warfare will launch a tournament, offering a prize pool of over 50,000 IMX tokens and $50,000.

Space Nation

A large-scale multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with a space opera theme, the game stands out with its vast future world, complex characters, and intricate narrative, garnering strong support from partners and VCs. The game has received a total of $50 million in funding, with supporters including Foresight Ventures, Lighthouse Capital, SevenX Ventures, HashKey Capital, Arcane Group, etc. The story is set in the fictional Telikos star cluster, a deep space frontier inhabited by builders, warriors, and survivors of multiple races. Players will play as an interstellar spaceship captain, embark on adventurous journeys, face deadly pirates, traverse dangerous environments, and discover secrets and treasures. Space Nation is currently conducting the Space Odyssey 101 event, offering rewards including 1 million OIK, access codes to Closed Beta 2.0, and fuel.

Katana Inu

A battle game with a humanoid Shiba Inu as the main character, with different characters having longest fighting styles such as martial arts, magic, and melee combat. Katana Inu's game modes mainly include Battle Royale, which allows long up to 60 players to play against each other in an open-world environment, as well as Arena Battles with 1v1 and 3v3 battles. The game employs a "P2E" mechanic, and its NFT marketplace allows players to trade in-game items such as skins, hats, and clothes for the game's native Token $KATA. As of June 25, KATA's Token Fully Diluted Valuation was about $40 million, an increase of about 32% fall in the past month. Katana Inu recently partnered with Baby Doge, a popular meme token on BNB, to launch a limited edition NFT collection of 1,000 pieces, which will be released on June 27.

Rebel Bots: Epic War

A casual game that combines MOBA mechanics and trading card gameplay, has been launched on the Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. In the game, players will control their unique robots, each with special abilities and roles, to outsmart and defeat opponents. The game emphasizes teamwork and strategy, requiring players to make decisions that can turn the tide of battle in an instant. What sets this game apart is its integration of collectible cards, which allows players to collect various robots, abilities, and enhancement props, each of which is a unique NFT. By participating in matches and winning, players can obtain loot boxes containing random cards and items.

Battle Bears Heroes

It is a top-down 3v3 shooting game that includes various game modes such as mini MOBA, deathmatch, battle royale, and campaign mode. The previous game in the series, Battle Bears, has been downloaded over 40 million times, including Battle Bears -1 and Battle Bears 1: Zombies. BBH is a revised version of the classic BB GO from 2010, which includes new heroes, PvP mode, and a new version of Battle Bears -1 with the same nostalgic cutscenes. BBH decided to part ways with Ronin in March this year and announced that it will be released on the Immutable zkEVM a month later. It is expected to be officially launched in July and is currently open for pre-registration.

Zoids Wild Arena

Zoids Wild Arena is a trading card game developed by ACT Games and joined the Immutable ecosystem in May this year. The game is inspired by the popular ZOIDS anime series from TOMY Company, Ltd., a well-known Japanese toy manufacturer. The cards in the game are designed as dinosaur and animal-themed mecha robots, and can be traded, collected, and battled. Specifically, players will use 30 cards to build their decks for 1v1 battles, and each player can use their pre-arranged deck. In the match, players take turns using their cards and aim to reduce their opponent's life points to zero to win.

Paradise Tycoon

A simulation multiplayer role-playing game developed by the game studio Empires Not Vampires. Its game mechanics are similar to "Stardew Valley", where players own a tropical island in the game and must make it prosperous through a series of operations such as tidying up, crafting, and decorating. In February last year, Empires Not Vampires completed a $1 million financing round, with investors including Shima Capital, Zee Prime Capital, etc. The game is currently in the public beta version 2.0, supporting in-game resource trading and NFT trading for crafting items and blueprints. Paradise Tycoon was initially developed on Avalanche, and later migrated to Immutable. Its second season Play-to-Airdrop will be launched on June 27th, and players can participate for free.

Arena of Faith

ArenaofFaith is a 5V5 MOBA game developed by VORTEX LABS with the theme of battles between gods and humans. It has been launched on Apple iOS App Store and Google Android Play Store. The basic gameplay of ArenaofFaith is similar to other MOBA games such as King of Glory. In the game, 10 players are divided into two teams to battle against each other. The first team to destroy the opponent's crystal wins the game. The outcome of the game is determined by factors such as economic development, route control, and battles between the two sides. Each match lasts about 15 minutes and requires both personal skills and teamwork. In May last year, ArenaofFaith announced that it had completed a seed round of financing of $1.75 million led by Chain Hill Capital.

Astra Nova

A story-driven Web3 role-playing game built on the Unreal Engine 5 game engine. Astra Nova's gameplay blends exploration, combat, strategy, and community-driven storytelling. Players can customize their character, choosing from races and classes that survived the destruction of the five worlds. The game challenges players to explore the vast landscapes of Astra Nova, from treacherous wilderness to the ruins of ancient civilizations. In March of this year, Astra Nova was released on Steam; In April, Astra Nova announced the closing of a $1 million funding round with major investors including Hashgraph Ventures, Oxbull, MoonEdge and others. Astra Nova is currently working on a series update for the first chapter, "The Fall of Saerinda", and its second level is expected to launch at the end of this month.