⚽ 500 shots on goal

Hey frens! This week is pretty much all gaming news, in case you haven’t caught onto that yet. 

Mysten Labs and the Sui Foundation are making big plays in the gaming space — their Tuesday side event during GDC was in the same building but on different floors as a large Steam event. 

It felt fitting that they both rented the same building. The Sui ecosystem wants to put Valve’s Steam Deck to the test with its own upcoming handheld, the SuiPlay0x1. More on that soon.

— Kate Irwin

P.S. Let me know how you’re liking The Drop! Send me an email at [email protected].

🕹️ Immutable opens up after signing 500 games

Immutable — the gaming-focused crypto company with titles like Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians — is learning from its years in crypto. 

The firm now oversees 500 games from different developers. Simply put, that’s a lot of shots on goal.

I sat down with Justin Hulog, Immutable’s Chief Studio Officer, to get the latest on its ecosystem. Hulog previously worked at Riot Games. 

He admits Immutable’s massive roster makes it harder to give each game a lot of attention — and even more games are coming.

“What I’ve seen at Immutable over the past three years is a really significant maturation,” Hulog told me. 

He wishes Guild of Guardians could have had a better launch with its use of key opinion leaders (KOLs), and would have liked more data around wallet spending to inform decisions. 

But he sees the free-to-play pixelated MMORPG Ravenquest as a success. Ravenquest saw its land sale sell out in December and launched this month. 

“We’re pushing a lot more of the games towards zkEVM,” Hulog said of Immutable’s newest chain. “A lot of that has to do with where we think the market is gonna go, and the value of L2s, and what’s the use case, right? So I think for us, it’s really that Immutable zkEVM really is the future of where we’re pushing things.”

Immutable is also more open now to the idea that a walled garden isn’t necessarily the answer, either, in part because there are so many different gaming chains — many with their own dedicated wallets. In Immutable’s case, there’s a dedicated single sign-on Passport wallet, as well as a dedicated NFT marketplace.

“I think our first hypothesis three years ago used to be that all of these things had to be in one ecosystem and in one gated ecosystem. And there was a point in time when we realized that not only doesn’t work for every game, it doesn’t work for every gamer,” Hulog said.

I pointed out that if the goal was to have a walled garden to fight the competition, it may not have worked because Immutable’s competitors like Ronin, Sui, and others haven’t exactly given up — or stopped growing. And if each gamer has to have more than four wallets just to participate on different gaming chains, it could feel untenable.

“A lot of us are realizing that,” Hulog said, adding: “Gaming players in the Web3 space — should we be spending our time fighting against each other trying to claim supremacy, or should we really be trying to push Web3 gaming as a whole forward so that we can get broader adoption and make better experiences?”

Q&A on Nyan Heroes’ token airdrop

I connected with Nyan Heroes’ Director of Economy, Asimakis Reppas, former Director of Economy & Systems at CCP (EVE Online), to learn more about the upcoming game. 

Nyan Heroes is a team-based shooter where cats pilot mechs, and the game offers Solana NFTs as well as the NYAN token. The game maps and mechs remind me a bit of Overwatch, a game I’ve sunk countless hours into.

They’re doing an early access community playtest tonight, with a public playtest to begin in a week. Playing the game through these events can qualify you for the airdrop, which will distribute 6.7 million NYAN tokens across three reward pools.

Blockworks: What stage of development is Nyan Heroes in, and when will the game release?

AR: We just announced that Playtest Four will take place from March 26th to April 13th, and we will have more news related to the release date soon!

Who is your target audience?

AR: Our target audience is different from most Web3 games. We grew up playing shooter games, and we believe that this is the next evolution, where cute cat heroes give this genre mass appeal, which will lead to both Web2 and Web3 player adoption.

What is Nyan Heroes’ token strategy?

AR: When it comes to our token strategy, we take a thoughtful and sustainable approach that aligns with our broader vision for the game. One key lesson I learned from my time on EVE Online is that a clear, cohesive vision is everything. 

At Nyan Heroes, we take a player-first approach, prioritizing fun, balance and long-term sustainability over hype. Blockchain isn’t a necessity, it’s an enhancer. A strong in-game economy starts with good foundations and that means good fundamental systems and gameplay. This is our main focus for now.

Are airdrop recipients able to sell their tokens? Are there benefits to holding allocations?

AR: Yes, all airdrop recipients can sell their tokens, as they are freely tradeable on exchanges and the open market. Token utility will continue to evolve over time and we are exploring benefits to holding allocations, including governance rights, staking rewards, or future ecosystem incentives.

Is token price a concern at all?

AR: No, right now the entire crypto market is volatile, and our focus is 100% on creating a game that is fun to play, engaging with a sustainable in-game economy that is built in a way that can support our future needs. My Modus Operandi is to build and deliver on a clear vision with great foundations. That must be at the core of it all. We are focusing on having a working business model and covering the gaming fundamentals. 

Then, we will build on that in the future and consider what token activities we layer on top. We strongly believe you need these elements before the emphasis on the token, and that’s something many Web3 games today are getting wrong, leading the token to fall off and their game becoming vaporware. We are focused on developing a unique intellectual property that attracts attention, excels in gameplay, and prioritizes the business fundamentals.

What is your favorite cat breed and why?

AR: I adopted a stray cat just around the same time I got involved with Nyan Heroes. Her name is Nia, she is 8 months old and she is adorable! I can’t say I have a favorite breed, I just like cats!

• A new strain of Windows malware is targeting crypto traders who use Google Chrome extensions. The malware, also known as StilachiRAT, is a remote access Trojan that can impact 20 different crypto wallets including Phantom, Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and OKX Wallets. 

  • Microsoft warns users against installing software from third-party sites and advises users to enable network protection and tamper protection for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. 

  • Phantom has shared some security tips to prevent an attack and keep your crypto safe.

• Crypto cybersecurity firm Blockaid is now working with the Ethereum L2 Abstract to ensure its chain and platform is secure. 

  • This news comes a month after Abstract-based trading card game Cardex was exploited — and players’ wallets were drained. Players who didn’t engage with or connect to that game are believed to be safe from that exploit, though. 

  • Blockaid’s other clients include MetaMask, Coinbase, Kraken, and others.

• OpenSea is adding Flow blockchain NFTs, so you can now trade your NBA Top Shots over there.