In summary
- Gunzilla Games partnered with Delphi Ventures to create the GUNZ foundation and launch the GUN token.
- Off the Grid implemented NFT items in the background and will use the GUNZ mainnet on Avalanche.
- Delphi Ventures highlighted the potential of Blockchain gaming by 2025 with favorable market conditions.
Gunzilla Games, the creator of the popular crypto battle royale game Off the Grid, has partnered with investment firm Delphi Ventures to advise on the creation of the nonprofit GUNZ Foundation, which will oversee the upcoming launch of the GUN token and the GUNZ mainnet.
Off the Grid entered public early access in October to rave reviews from players, with a flood of viral videos showcasing its unique gameplay. The game places players in a reality television environment, where the show’s participants have their arms and legs replaced by robotic limbs with special powers. These players then battle it out in a battle royale, with pull-out gameplay elements.
“This partnership marks a significant milestone as we prepare for the launch of the GUNZ mainnet and its GUN utility token, setting the stage for a new era in gaming,” Gunzilla co-founder and CEO Vlad Korolev told Decrypt. in a statement.
For now, the game’s crypto elements have been running in the background. A wallet is created on the GUNZ testnet for each player when they first launch Off the Grid, and all in-game items are represented as NFTs that will be transferred to the future mainnet. GUNZ is built as a dedicated L1 network on the Avalanche blockchain.
But Off the Grid’s next steps will make the shooter’s Cryptocurrency application more powerful and more notable, with the launch of the GUNZ mainnet providing more user control over ownership of items as the GUN token gains real value.
“Having generated enormous attention from both the gaming industry and within the crypto ecosystem, the launch of the token alongside the GUNZ mainnet represents a critical milestone,” Delphi Ventures Founding Partner Piers Kicks told Decrypt.
This is because it will allow players to invest real money into the ecosystem to buy the best weapons—or potentially make money by selling mined hexes.
While this is similar to Web2 concepts like Valve’s Steam marketplace, it will allow players more freedom in how they trade their assets, such as through third-party platforms like OpenSea. Off the Grid’s user-owned items are more than just player outfits and avatar skins (aka skins), and include things like rare in-game items.
This presents potential challenges to the game, opening the door to a potentially toxic economy that worsens the gaming experience, rather than enhances it. The formation of the GUNZ Foundation seeks to reduce this possibility, and Delphi will also help advise other studios choosing to build games on the GUNZ network in the future. Kicks is also expected to join the Foundation’s advisory board.
“With the launch of the GUNZ Foundation, we are excited to advise the team on best practices for the token economy, market strategies and combining game elements in the on-chain economy in a way that excites players,” Kicks told Decrypt.
Delphi Ventures is the venture capital arm operating alongside Delphi Digital, a research-driven digital asset firm. Delphi Digital has worked with cryptocurrency industry giants such as Coinbase, Aave, and Lido, while the venture capital firm has invested in prominent crypto games such as Axie Infinity, Pixelverse, and Nyan Heroes.
The firm, which is the largest validator on the GUNZ testnet, believes that next year is the perfect time for a blockchain game to enter the mainstream and demonstrate the crypto model.
“Crypto gaming as a sector has a lot at stake in the next 12-18 months,” Kicks explained. “A window of opportunity has opened for favorable market conditions, an aggressively pro-cryptocurrency US, and many games entering their third and fourth years of the development cycle.”
As such, Gunzilla Games is looking at Q1 2025 as a possible timeline for launching the GUN token and GUNZ mainnet, although nothing has been officially finalized as of this writing.
“Off the Grid represents the biggest opportunity yet to turn the tide with mainstream gamers,” Kicks concluded.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to clarify Delphi Ventures’ role in the formation of the GUNZ Foundation.
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