Sky Mavis Inks Four New Web3 Gaming Deals, Announces Upgrade to Ronin Network
In Brief
Directive Games, Tribes Studio, Bowled.io, and Bali Games will be building and launching blockchain games on Ronin.
Most of the new games will not be using Axie Infinity’s IP.
The Ronin blockchain has upgraded to Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS).
After recovering from the infamous Ronin network breach that happened last year, Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis is back with four new web3 gaming deals and an upgrade to the Ronin blockchain as it aims to create a gaming ecosystem.
Previously operating on a proof-of-authority consensus model that selected validators based on credibility, the delegated proof of stake (DPoS) will allow anyone with a minimum of 250k RON to become a validator and take part in block production. At the same time, any RON holder can stake their tokens and participate in validator selection. RON staking opens today, with rewards starting on Apr 12.
The meteoric rise of Axie Infinity has demonstrated Sky Mavis’ ability to scale its gaming infrastructure, and now the company is rolling out its technology to other gaming studios. The first batch of game studios that will be building on Ronin are Directive Games, Tribes, Bali Games, and Bowled.io. While the partner gaming studios have the opportunity to access Axie IP for their titles, most of them are building entirely new games with original IPs.
- Founded in 2014 by veteran game developers from CCP Games, DICE, LucasArts, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and Tencent, Directive Games is launching its multiplayer shooter game “The Machines Arena” on the Epic Games Store to Ronin users. Directive’s Chief Product Officer Kent Byers told Decrypt that players could jump in the game without thinking about tokens or NFTs and would still be rewarded with assets as they level up in the game. Web3 features for the game will be rolled out in the coming months.
- The second partner studio, Tribes was created by a former executive at King and Scopely, who oversaw Player Experience and Community at titles such as “Candy Crush Saga”, “Walking Dead”, and “Star Trek”. The gaming studio will launch community-led gaming titles based on their IP, Tribesters. The studio will be launching an open-world MMO “Tribesters: Island of Solas”.
- Built by makers of the Korean smash-hit “Anipang” series, which achieved $1.8 billion gross revenue and over 130 million downloads, Bali Games is the only studio of the four that’ll be leveraging the Axie Infinity IP for its puzzle games, with an aim to expand the Axie lore in Korea. The studio has previously expanded major IPs, including Disney Pop, Snoopy Puzzle, and BT21.
- Lastly, Sky Mavis is tapping into the sports gaming market in India with a partnership with Bowled.io, a sports-based social gaming platform where fans can discover and play games, own in-game sports assets, and interact with their favorite sports influencers. The platform will first launch a cricket game, with basketball and soccer games to follow.
While last year’s Ronin network breach dealt a $625 million blow to Sky Mavis, the partnership deals with gaming studios are an indicator of the company’s bounceback. Following the incident, Sky Mavis has worked towards becoming a fully antifragile, zero-trust organization. The company said in a newsletter that it had implemented rigorous internal security measures to prevent future attacks and that all code had been fully reviewed and optimized, with security experts auditing the entire architecture.
Speaking about how Sky Mavis managed to restore confidence from its partners after the hack, Sky Mavis COO and co-founder Aleks Larsen told Fortune: “They trust us more because we’ve gone through some hardship, and we actually solved the problem so well compared to so many others.”
After conducting three audits since the hack, Sky Mavis reopened the Ronin network in June last year with all user funds fully backed 1:1 by the new bridge.
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About The Author
Cindy is a journalist at Metaverse Post, covering topics related to web3, NFT, metaverse and AI, with a focus on interviews with Web3 industry players. She has spoken to over 30 C-level execs and counting, bringing their valuable insights to readers. Originally from Singapore, Cindy is now based in Tbilisi, Georgia. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications & Media Studies from the University of South Australia and has a decade of experience in journalism and writing. Get in touch with her via cindy@mpost.io with press pitches, announcements and interview opportunities.
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Cindy is a journalist at Metaverse Post, covering topics related to web3, NFT, metaverse and AI, with a focus on interviews with Web3 industry players. She has spoken to over 30 C-level execs and counting, bringing their valuable insights to readers. Originally from Singapore, Cindy is now based in Tbilisi, Georgia. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications & Media Studies from the University of South Australia and has a decade of experience in journalism and writing. Get in touch with her via cindy@mpost.io with press pitches, announcements and interview opportunities.
