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Event<\/h3>\n
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GamesBeat Summit 2023<\/p>\n
Join the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You\u2019ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the latest developments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Players\u2019 transactions will constantly be recorded on-chain. It\u2019s an Ethereum-based Web3 experience that has been impractical until now because of Ethereum\u2019s high gas costs \u2013 brought within reach by Starknet\u2019s Layer 2 scaling. Starknet enables NFT transactions to be handled more efficiently and with far lower costs. <\/p>\n
StarkWare started the Starknet Layer 2 platform, but it is in the process of turning it into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be delivering an experience that just hasn\u2019t been possible on Ethereum until now,\u201d said Lexmond. \u201cEthereum is the world\u2019s computer, but high gas fees and latency have limited its role in gaming. Zero-knowledge Layer 2 technology, built on Ethereum, is resoundingly solving these problems for DeFi, and we\u2019re showing its transformative capability for gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cWhen people play Influence, as they travel around the asteroid belt, mine raw materials, trade steel and food, or build spaceports, their actions will constantly be recorded on-chain. This isn\u2019t another Web2 game with NFTs tacked on, but rather a game that is very deeply Web3.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game has a lot of details in its universe, featuring a realistic asteroid belt complete with accurate orbital motion mechanics. <\/p>\n
Using Starknet<\/h2>\n
In-game view of the extractor building mining raw materials.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The decision to build Influence on Starknet was driven by the platform\u2019s scalability, which allows for the complex computations required to accurately model the orbital trajectories of ships as they navigate between the vast array of asteroids.<\/p>\n
Players can experience a sense of exploration in an immersive and decentralized gaming environment, made possible by Starknet\u2019s blockchain technology, Lexmond said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInfluence is something very different from a sidechain-based MMO,\u201d said Lexmond. \u201cEthereum is the gold standard for blockchain security, and gaming should be developing there, not relegated to sidechains. Starknet\u2019s scaling power means it enables near-instant transactions while relying on Ethereum\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starknet is a permissionless rollup, initially built by StarkWare Industries. It scales by moving computation off-chain and by utilizing STARK Proofs to \u201crollup\u201d a set of off-chain transactions into a single proof which is verified on Ethereum L1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we set out to scale Ethereum five years ago, we were clear this means much more than facilitating DeFi transactions,\u201d said StarkWare CEO Uri Kolodny, in a statement. \u201cIt means enabling Ethereum to reach its potential for a wide range of uses. The time has come for engaging games that nobody can \u2018switch off,\u2019 but which are rather run by communities. We\u2019re thrilled to be helping to deliver this via Ethereum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kolodny said that Influence represents a much-needed change in the power dynamics within gaming.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers have long been at the mercy of corporate game studios, and their financial incentives, dictating when a game simply ceases to be,\u201d Kolodny said. \u201cDespite the existence of strong communities who give thousands of hours of their time, energy, and creativity to make a game truly thrive, historically a game could be terminated in an instant by a central authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unstoppable Games was founded out of Lexmond\u2019s desire to create games that work differently. He wants them to always evolve and have no endings, as players will be able to assume control. Lexmond said such games should never be extinguished by corporate intervention, thanks to the inherent benefits provided by blockchain technology like Starknet.<\/p>\n
Influence has already proved its appeal with three public tests on Ethereum Layer 1 and Starknet, involving thousands of players. Lexmond stated that his team rejoiced in \u201cthe profound differences\u201d in what is achievable on L2 compared with the limitations of L1.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn L1 gas fees are so high we simply couldn\u2019t provide the functionality that was needed for a complex strategy MMO like Influence,\u201d Lexmond said. \u201cBut with a scaling solution where transactions are constantly unfolding that are all settled on-chain, we can create a whole universe. L2 really is a new frontier for gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Origins<\/h2>\n
Chris Lexmond is CEO of Unstoppable Games.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Lexmond started Unstoppable Games about two years ago, but he had been thinking about it for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal was really to build the game Influence, which has been bouncing around in my head for at least a decade,\u201d Lexmond said. \u201cAnd really the idea was to build a game that couldn\u2019t be stopped, that couldn\u2019t be turned off, that could ultimately be controlled by the community and survive, as long as they deemed it fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
This mission came from Lexmond growing up and playing games and being a part of gaming communities that enjoyed games. But those communities were cut short when the corporate owners canceled the games and the players had no recourse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the idea that [making an unstoppable game] can be possible with these persistent multiplayer games like Influence,\u201d Lexmond said. <\/p>\n
He had been obsessed with the idea of how humans would live among an asteroid belt, how they could survive in an asteroid belt and all of the logistical complexity that would come with dealing with all of these independently orbiting bodies. <\/p>\n
Influence itself takes place in a star system that is about 15 light years away from Earth. About 100 years from now, future humans will leave Earth on large multi-generational spaceships. One group was thrown off course and had to ditch into an asteroid belt instead of a habitable planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about how they\u2019ve survived,\u201d Lexmond said. \u201cIt\u2019s intended to be a very social game, inspired a lot by my time playing EVE Online. <\/p>\n
Choosing Starknet<\/h2>\n
Concept art of the generational ship being deconstructed to build the first asteroid colony. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The choice of Starknet is interesting, as other companies have turned to Layer 2 or Layer 1 blockchain protocols such as Polygon or Solana. <\/p>\n
Lexmond chose StarkWare because he found its approach to security for the blockchain was the right move. He also was drawn to the roll-up approach and the cheaper fees for minting assets. He acknowledges that Starknet has challenges built around a non-solidity, non-Ethereum Virtual Machine technology base, but ultimately the advantages will make it worth it.<\/p>\n
The game will launch on the desktop first, and ultimately there could be a mobile experience with somewhat pared-down features. And while others are offering a combination of Web2 and Web3 gaming experiences, Unstoppable Games is opting for 100% of all transactions on the blockchain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the key to producing an unstoppable game,\u201d he said. \u201cThe contracts themselves are open, people can access them, both read and write. Permission works in that sense. We are very open about our data. So if there are any developers in our community who request it, we also give them data dumps and we give them assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is, the game stewardship can be picked up by the community thanks to player ownership.<\/p>\n
Selling NFTs<\/h2>\n
In-game user interface for prospecting for raw materials. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Lexmond started selling collections of NFT assets in 2021 for the game\u2019s 250,000 asteroids. Some of them have been sold while others are being reserved for those who join after the game starts. The NFT sales generated more than $5.5 million in proceeds for Unstoppable Games. With the new investment from StarkWare, Unstoppable Games hopes to grow from a team of eight now. <\/p>\n
Lexmond considered raising a venture capital round, but he decided to skip that after he decided it would be tough to align the interests of players, the company, and venture capitalists.<\/p>\n
Unstoppable Games has a tiny team by comparison to other MMOs, but Lexmond said the scope of the project is limited. He hasn\u2019t run a game studio before, but other team members have. He felt he wanted to set goals that were achievable, with a more limited scope at the outset. <\/p>\n
The initial part of the game will be \u201cexploitation,\u201d where the players exploit the resources of the asteroid belt. After the initial launch, the company will add things like skill trees, invention mechanics and conflicts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re taking a very intentionally measured approach and not promising the world,\u201d Lexmond said. \u201cI want to make sure that there is alignment with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
GamesBeat’s creed<\/strong> when covering the game industry is “where passion meets business.” What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you — not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Read More<\/a>
\n Dean Takahashi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unstoppable Games announced it will launch its Web3 science fiction massively multiplayer online (MMO) game called Influence on the Starknet platform for the Ethereum blockchain. StarkWare, creator of Starknet, also made an investment into Unstoppable Games last month.The sale of launch non-fungible token (NFT) assets for Influence will start on April 11, and the game<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":627977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3291,46,33164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-games","category-technology","category-unstoppable"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Event<\/h3>\n\nGamesBeat Summit 2023<\/p>\nJoin the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You\u2019ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the latest developments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n