Full-chain game track research report: the past, present and future of full-chain games

Author: [email protected], Support: ICC Camp

With the rapid rise of blockchain technology, the global blockchain game market is receiving widespread attention and continuing to grow. Its market value has reached tens of billions of dollars.

Comparison of the market value of BTC and game tokens

Full-chain games as a new The game form has also gradually received widespread attention. Full-chain games realize all logic and status of the game on the chain, and have the inherent advantages of blockchain technology such as decentralization, openness, and interoperability, providing players with a new gaming experience.

This article defines what a full-chain game is, outlines the origin and development process of full-chain games, then analyzes the significance of full-chain games, and provides an overview of the current market situation and main competitors of full-chain games. and representative projects, analyzing the technical and design challenges faced by full-chain games, and finally looking forward to the future trends and possible innovation directions of full-chain game development.

What is a full-chain game? Origin, definition and underlying technology

1.1 The origin of full-chain games

Although full-chain games are still in their early stages, people’s imagination and related development have continued for more than ten years. time, covering people’s ideals of creating autonomous game worlds.

Dark Forest

2012: SatoshiDice comes out, becoming the first Bitcoin-based Gambling games mark the origin of full-chain games. The game allows players to place bets using Bitcoin and uses preset odds and a random number generator to determine winners and losers.

2013: HunterCoin, as the prototype of a full-chain game, runs on its own blockchain, and players’ operations are submitted in the form of transactions, but the value of its token HUC dropped to almost zero in 2015.

2015: The Ethereum mainnet is launched, introducing more generalized full-chain games, including gambling games such as vDice and Etheroll.

2017: Crypto Kitties creates the first crypto game, allowing players to collect and breed virtual kittens, enriching the possibilities of blockchain gaming.

2018: Axie Infinity puts assets on the chain as NFT and creates an open-flow SLP economy, bringing more interaction and economic innovation to full-chain games.

August 7, 2020: Dark Forest released its first beta version, combining zero-knowledge proof technology and on-chain game logic to create a platform that can hide information, have no entry barriers and is scalable. Full-chain gaming, but it also caused Ethereum performance issues.

2021: The Loot Project is released and becomes a symbol of base-layer IP, spawning numerous games and applications that incorporate Loot into gameplay and storylines.

2023: New full-chain games and autonomous worlds are developing rapidly as emerging industries. Major public chain ecosystems are actively cultivating the full-chain game field, including LootRealms, GO L2 on Starknet, SUI8192 on SUI and other foundations Facilities are also growing rapidly.

With the arrival of 2024, we are full of expectations for full-chain games. Major public chain ecosystems are also constantly cultivating the field of full-chain games, and the infrastructure continues to be improved and improved. Full-chain games are not only the evolution of entertainment methods, but also the innovative application of blockchain technology, providing players with more interactive and economic opportunities. Full-chain games will continue to explore and innovate, bring more surprises to players, and become an indispensable part of the game entertainment field in the digital era.

1.2 Definition of full-chain game

Full-chain game is a game model based on blockchain technology that uses smart contracts to realize all the logic of the game. In full-chain games, the entire game exists in the blockchain network in the form of a contract. The state storage and logic execution of the game are completely completed on the chain, which is in line with the basic characteristics of decentralization, permission-free and composable of the blockchain. .

The features of full-chain games include but are not limited to:

Game logic and status on the complete chain: Full-chain games integrate all game logic and status, including assets and other information. Stored on the blockchain and implemented through smart contracts. This means that the core operation and management of the game are on the decentralized blockchain network, ensuring a transparent, tamper-proof and trustless gaming experience.

The true source of blockchain data: The data of full-chain games does not rely on dedicated servers or auxiliary storage, but is obtained directly from the blockchain. This includes not only asset ownership, but all meaningful data in the game. This approach enables games to take full advantage of the programmability of blockchain, enabling permanent storage of data and transparent interoperability.

Open ecosystem principles: Full-chain games are developed using open ecosystem principles, and both game contracts and clients are open source. This encourages community engagement and innovation, and third-party developers can customize and fork new gaming experiences through plug-ins, third-party clients, and interoperable smart contracts.

The game has nothing to do with the client: the full-chain game does not rely on a specific game client, because the logic and data of the game are stored on the blockchain. This means that even if the client provided by the core developer no longer exists, the game will still be playable and the community can interact through smart contracts to ensure the continuity of the game.

Interoperability with valuable things: Full-chain games are interoperable with digital assets in the blockchain, which makes the value connection between the game world and the real world closer. Players can own, trade and utilize digital assets in the game, which enhances the depth and meaning of the game and connects the game world with real life.

In order to better develop full-chain games, developers need to continuously improve blockchain technology and consider how to optimize game design to reduce the burden on the blockchain. Proxies and layered architectures can also be used to help improve performance, but this may reduce some decentralized features.

1.3 Why we need full-chain games

Full-chain games have huge potential and importance in the gaming industry. By ensuring the eternal existence of game information, promoting open collaboration and decentralization, and promoting interoperability between games, full-chain games provide players with a better gaming experience, enhance players' sense of investment and participation, and at the same time It also brings new opportunities for innovation and growth in the game industry.

The eternal existence of game information: In traditional games, when the game server is stopped or the service is terminated, the user's game assets and progress are usually lost, which may lead to huge dissatisfaction and losses for the players. However, full-chain games achieve the eternal existence of game information by recording all game logic and game status on the blockchain. Once deployed on the blockchain, these games will become permanent. Players can continue playing anytime and anywhere, as long as there is support from the blockchain network, without having to worry about game suspension or asset loss.

Open collaboration and decentralization: The full-chain game adopts open source code and a permissionless structure, giving players the ability to customize and modify their favorite game content, transforming from passive consumers to game creators By. This not only brings more participation and investment in the success of the game, but also stimulates player creativity and community building. Democratizing the game development process reduces development costs while increasing the potential for innovation. The openness of the full-chain game means that players can contribute to the core game as well as external things, promoting wider cooperation and innovation.

Interoperability between games: A revolutionary concept is the transferable PoGW Token, which allows players to transfer value between different game worlds. This concept will revolutionize the gaming industry, no longer focusing on the portability of assets, but instead emphasizing interoperability and general reputation. Players can invest time and effort in one game and then transfer it to another, while also trading these PoGW Tokens with other players and even using them as a method of payment for goods and services. This economic superstructure will be shaped by the intricate and interdependent relationships between individuals, assets, NFT bundles, and various other smart contracts, connecting the various game economies together through the synergies they generate. This interoperability provides great potential for games to create more derivative products and gameplay, enhances connections and cooperation between games, and provides players with more choices and experiences.

Full-chain game development, market overview and overview of major competitors

2.1 Full-chain game engine

MUD

The current mainstream full-chain game engines include: MUD, DOJO, World Engine (Argus), Keystone (Curio), Paima Engine, etc. The current full-chain game engine has the following characteristics:

Adopts the Entity Component System (ECS) architecture: ECS is a data-oriented game development architecture that can improve development efficiency and operating performance. Mainstream full-chain game engines such as MUD, Dojo, World Engine, etc. all adopt this architecture.

Provide on-chain data storage and state management: The engine will provide standardized data storage and state management on the chain, such as MUD's Store, simplifying the complexity of developers developing games on the chain.

Support high-performance on-chain computing: optimized for game scenarios, supporting higher TPS and lower latency, such as the customized chain design in World Engine.

Attach importance to developer experience: provide convenient development tools and prefabricated contract modules, lower the development threshold, and allow more developers to participate in full-chain game construction.

Highly modular and open: Third parties can extend and customize based on the interface, and can also develop plug-ins to enrich game functions.

Compatible with mainstream blockchains and languages: It can be deployed on mainstream blockchains such as Ethereum and StarkNet, and supports languages ​​such as Solidity and Cairo.

Some have their own Layer2 solutions: MUD and World Engine have integrated their own rollup solutions to achieve higher performance.

2.2 Full-chain game developer tools

Despite the huge potential in this field, full-chain game development has encountered many challenges. Developers often have to deal with technical complexity and resource constraints when creating such games. In order to overcome these difficulties, although the industry is still in its early stages, many innovative development tools have emerged to simplify the production process of full-chain games and improve efficiency and feasibility.

PixeLAW: PixeLAW is characterized by its layered architecture design, covering the core layer and application layer. The core layer is responsible for providing basic systems and components, while the application layer calls the interface of the core layer through smart contracts for game development. This architecture allows a game development environment to be built in minutes, and through the front-end and back-end separation strategy, developers only need to focus on writing back-end smart contracts, significantly simplifying the complexity of full-chain game development.

With PixeLAW, developers can reuse the core system it provides, avoiding duplication of development work on underlying functions, and focus on the development of game logic contracts.

The development cycle is greatly reduced, and the game can be developed and released directly without waiting for the development of the front-end and back-end interactive interfaces.

By adopting a layered architecture and open source code, PixeLAW supports the parallel development work of different developers, promotes a wider range of game innovation and combination, and brings unprecedented flexibility and efficiency to the full-chain game development field. .

ZKWASM: ZKWASM, innovated by Delphinus Labs, is a zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) specially designed to execute wasm code and generate zkSNARK proofs of corresponding execution traces. It provides infrastructure for the development of Provable Games. Traditionally, fully deploying game logic on the chain will be challenged by the limitations of the computing power of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), thus affecting the feasibility of game development. Through the strategy of "off-chain execution, on-chain verification", ZKWASM uses the generated wasm code execution proof to simultaneously improve game performance and ensure its credibility.

Developers can use Rust to write the core logic of the game and generate wasm code, and then ZKWASM is responsible for executing these codes and generating execution proofs. These proofs can then be submitted to the blockchain to verify game calculations occurring off-chain, optimizing game performance and enabling more complex game designs.

ZKWASM opens up a new path for full-chain game development for developers, allowing complex game logic to be proven off-chain while ensuring that the on-chain verifiability of game data is maintained.

The Zinity solution provides developers with a convenient path to develop games using C# in game engines such as Unity, compile them into wasm, and run them on ZKWASM, which greatly simplifies the entire chain game development process. .

Web3Games.com: Web3Games.com is positioned as a decentralized encrypted game ecosystem and blockchain network, using Layer2 technology to realize the full chaining of games. The platform is committed to accelerating the deep integration of the gaming industry with Web3 technology, aiming to give players "ownership" in the gaming world, thus enhancing the transparency and participation of the game. It has created a comprehensive infrastructure for developers including game-specific blockchain, development toolkits and developer communities to support the development of full-chain games.

By providing a Layer2 blockchain network, Web3Games.com enables developers to easily deploy games onto the network. Based on Layer2 technology, the platform provides a secure and efficient on-chain environment to meet the needs of modern game development.

The development kit includes a variety of auxiliary modules, which greatly reduces the technical threshold for game development. These modules cover wallet services, contract templates, virtual goods stores, and gas cost optimization, etc., aiming to simplify the development process and allow developers to focus more on game creation itself.

In addition, Web3Games.com has also established a vibrant developer community, providing rich learning resources and communication platforms, and accelerating developers' learning and development process through tutorials, forums, etc. This community not only helps developers master the skills of full-chain game development, but also promotes knowledge sharing and the exchange of innovative ideas.

2.3 Full-chain game chain

Starknet

Full chain The development of games is inseparable from high-performance, low-cost public chain infrastructure. The current more mainstream choices include:

Layer2 public chain daily transaction volume data

Layer 2 solutions: Arbitrum, Optimism, ZKSync, etc. provide higher transaction throughput and lower fees than the Ethereum chain, lowering the threshold for full-chain game operations. This is also the choice of many current full-chain games.

Customized public chains for games: Some teams have developed customized game public chains based on the existing public chain framework, and have introduced mechanisms such as Tick to better meet the needs of games. For example, World Engine based on Cosmos, Curio based on OPStack, etc. This type of public chain can further unleash the potential of full-chain games.

A new generation of general computing public chains: For example, Starknet provides high-performance computing capabilities and can also provide support for full-chain games. However, general public chains also have certain deficiencies in customization.

In addition, full-chain games also need ecological support. In addition to public chain infrastructure, they also need services such as asset trading, deposits and loans, social networking, and distribution. Some centralized gaming platforms are also actively embracing blockchain, which brings user and traffic dividends to full-chain games.

Generally speaking, full-chain games are still in their early stages, and public chain technology and ecology need to be further developed. But the future potential is huge and worth looking forward to.

2.3 Full-chain game projects

Full-chain game projects are currently facing challenges in exploration and development. Although some researchers and developers are already involved, a large-scale market has yet to emerge. Representative full-chain game projects are still relatively rare for ordinary users. Even senior developers may only be familiar with some early projects, such as "Dark Forest", while other projects are mostly in the testnet stage, trying to imitate and draw on traditional Web2 game models.

Briq

Dark Forest: the iconic game of the full chain of games, a space strategy game , using zkSNARKs to achieve information confidentiality and active community ecology.

Loot Survivor: Adventure game, using Cairo language to write smart contracts, Play2Die economic model.

Treaty: A strategy game on the Sui chain that can sign smart contract treaties, resource development and trade.

Wolf Game: Resource collection and breeding game, risk agreement mechanism, pledge and delegation modes.

GoL2: is a Game of Life simulation built on StarkNet that can be combined with AI-generated content technology.

LootRealms: It is an infinite strategy game on StarkNet. Players need to run the country and build an army to protect resources.

Briq: Allows the creation of NFT building blocks on StarkNet.  

SUI 8192: It is a mobile game, all logic and state changes are on the Sui chain.

NoGame: It is a space-themed MMORPG game.

SkyStrife: Featuring fast-paced RTS combat, the community can develop Three Kingdoms games and more based on it.

In this exploratory stage, full-chain games need to strengthen the development of infrastructure, including full-chain game engines and related facilities, such as Starknet. However, what is more important is to improve user experience and expand user scale to promote the continued growth of the chain game market.

2.4 Full-chain game platform

Unlike mature fields such as DeFi, the number of full-chain game platforms is relatively limited, making it difficult to help users easily explore and choose projects that suit them. For full-chain game enthusiasts, discovering new full-chain games often relies on word-of-mouth and the spread of word-of-mouth in some small communities.

0xPARC

matchboxDAO is a platform for incubating games in the Starknet ecosystem. It supports developers by hosting events and is also directly involved in incubating game projects.

Cartridge is a Starknet game aggregation platform, similar to Steam, that provides both gaming experience and gaming infrastructure. It aggregates multiple Starknet games and advances Dope Wars development.

0xPARC was founded by the founder of Dark Forest and focuses on the frontier exploration of full-chain games.

Composable Hub is an aggregation platform under Composablelabs that focuses on full-chain games. It is an early platform that focuses on full-chain games.

Challenges faced by full-chain games

Just like any emerging technology, full-chain games bring unprecedented opportunities but also face a series of major challenges.

These challenges not only involve technical aspects, such as network performance and expansion issues, but also include game design, user experience, privacy protection and other aspects. The resolution of these challenges is not only crucial to the development of full-chain games, but will also have a profound impact on the future of the entire gaming industry.

Performance and expansion issues: A core challenge of full-chain games is that because they rely entirely on blockchain technology, they can easily lead to network congestion and delays, which seriously affects the gaming experience. To address this challenge, developers need to explore and implement scaling solutions such as Layer 2 solutions (Layer 2) and sharding technology. Such technological innovations help improve the processing capabilities of blockchains, especially in terms of transaction throughput and confirmation speed.

Game design limitations: The performance limitations of current blockchain technology mean that full-chain games may not be able to implement complex game mechanics and real-time interaction, which limits the diversity of game types and gameplay. For example, game types that rely heavily on real-time interaction, such as multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA), first-person shooters (FPS) or real-time strategy games (RTS), are difficult to implement in the existing full-chain environment. Therefore, strategy games are currently more suitable for full-chain games, while there are still technical and infrastructure limitations for game types with higher real-time requirements, such as RPG, action games (ACT), and MOBA.

User threshold and transaction cost: Compared with traditional games, full-chain games have higher user thresholds. For example, players need to learn and use encrypted wallets. In addition, each game operation needs to be submitted as a blockchain transaction, resulting in corresponding handling fees (such as Ethereum's Gas fee), which undoubtedly increases the cost of participation for players.

Risk of privacy leakage: The open and transparent nature of the blockchain may cause player data and transaction information in full-chain games to face the risk of privacy leakage. To solve this problem, it may be necessary to introduce technologies such as zero-knowledge proof and private computing to protect players' private information.

The balance between decentralization and game playability: Although complete decentralization brings innovation and freedom, it may also lead to instability in game experience and quality. Therefore, the full-chain game team needs to provide players with enough space for innovation and game expansion while maintaining the fun and stability of the core gameplay. This means that a balance needs to be found between complete centralization and decentralization to ensure that the game can maintain high quality while encouraging player participation and innovation.

Looking ahead to the future of full-chain games

The future of full-chain games is full of exciting possibilities.

The role of AI in games and its impact on reality: With the development of full-chain games, artificial intelligence (AI) plays an important role in it. AI not only improves the gaming experience, but more importantly, it can provide valuable data and insights into the real world by analyzing players’ interactions and decision-making processes in games. For example, in strategy simulation games, player decisions and strategies can be used to optimize real-world decision-making models, especially when simulating complex economic or social systems. At the same time, blockchain technology enables players to truly control their own data and gain benefits through on-chain interactions, which increases user participation and may have a positive impact on real life.

Innovative gameplay of full-chain games: Full-chain games are expected to lead many innovative core gameplays, which may not only affect the field of DeFi (decentralized finance), but may also provide new inspiration for traditional game design. The full-chain game not only breeds new game mechanisms and gameplay, such as creating a trading system based on real economic principles, but also reconstructs the player incentive mechanism so that game achievements have value in the real world. In addition, the decentralized governance model of full-chain games, such as a DAO-like structure, improves transparency and fairness while encouraging community members to more actively participate in the game’s decision-making process. These games also promote the development of user-generated content by giving players more creative freedom and asset ownership, thereby enriching the gaming ecosystem and enhancing community activity.

The trend of openness and decentralization of full-chain games: Full-chain games may be more closely integrated with the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) governance structure in the future. As development tools mature, ordinary players may be able to use these tools to realize their own unique ideas. This increase in openness and ease of use may accelerate innovation in the gaming ecosystem and bring new business models and opportunities to the gaming industry.

Full-chain games represent the future development direction of the game industry. They not only innovate game mechanisms and gameplay, but also redefine the game’s incentive mechanism and community governance. As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see more innovations and breakthroughs, and full-chain games will continue to bring new business models and opportunities to the gaming industry while providing players with more freedom and control, allowing them to Create unique experiences in the game world, a future filled with endless possibilities.