The strongest game public chain? What is the origin of Oasys adopted by Ubisoft and Sega for the first blockchain game?

Original author: 黑米@白泽研究院

Some early Web 3 games (GameFi) have been widely criticized for their speculative nature, "games aren't fun to play because they're too focused on monetization", and some games resemble Ponzi schemes, with revenue reliant on attracting new players to buy NFTs or Token. The failure of these early Web 3 games served as a wake-up call for developers eager for quick success, emphasizing the importance of building a "good gameplay + sustainable incentives" model. With the advent of the cold winter in the encryption market, the Web 3 game track has entered a deep bear state, which is intuitively manifested in the short life cycle of the project and the rapid loss of users.

At the Japan Blockchain Week that ended recently, the game-focused public chain Oasys injected new vitality into the Web 3 game track. At the Oasys Special Event, Oasys announced partnerships with gaming giants and gave us a sneak peek at games being developed on the network. Com 2 uS announced that it will launch its 3A chain game "Summoners War: Chronicles" (Summoners War: Chronicles) to Oasys, and Sega (SEGA) and Ubisoft (Ubisoft) are developing their first blockchain game based on Oasys. Sega will cooperate with chain game development company Double Jump Tokyo to use its classic IP to develop the card strategy game "Sangokushi Taisen" (Three Kingdoms War), while Ubisoft's first chain game is "Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles".

In fact, under the circumstances of the current encryption market downturn, regulatory resistance, and several Web 2 companies "withdrawing from the group", Sega and Ubisoft developed the first chain game through the Oasys network, marking the two traditional game giants in a few years. After exploring and "scrambling" for Web 3, we will make every effort to enter the Web 3 field. And their adoption is also a huge boost for Web 3 and the best proof that Web 3 games are here to stay.

Ubisoft: Failed to sell NFT, but finally entered the blockchain game

Ubisoft, needless to say, is a well-known video game publisher based in France with a huge number of hit games: the Far Cry series, the Assassin's Creed series, the Ghost Recon series, Rainbow Six : Siege, Watch Dogs series and Call of Duty series, etc.

In search of innovation, Ubisoft has taken a bold step, venturing into the Web 3 field for "experiments" in 2021, the hottest year of NFT - introducing a Tezos network-based NFT for the PC version of "Ghost Recon: Breakpoint". Virtual item. But the results did not meet expectations. Only 15 virtual items were claimed, and the total transaction volume on the NFT market was even less than $400.

Ubisoft's "experiment" not only did not buy it for gamers, but even NFT enthusiasts seemed to have little interest.

When it comes to gamers, almost no one cares about NFTs. On Reddit's Ghost Recon Breakpoint forum, the majority of gamers remain skeptical of NFTs, leaving only a small minority interested in acquiring them. However, two of the three NFTs require 100 hours and 600 hours of game time from the player to collect them respectively. Obviously, at the end of the event, few people could even claim these two NFTs.

In terms of NFT enthusiasts, there is a simple reason for their lack of interest. Why are we interested in a virtual headset that requires 600 hours of play to claim when we can find unlimited investment opportunities throughout the crypto market? Aren't the "monkeys" with meme attributes and endowed with rich use cases more fragrant than this helmet?

In the face of this defeat, Ubisoft did not back down. They continued to penetrate the Web 3 field by investing in chain game development company Animoca Brands and chain game project Frontier. A variety of NFTs have also been released again, with themes covering Ubisoft's classic IP "Crazy Rabbit" and "Assassin's Creed".

Going back to Ubisoft’s recently officially announced chain game “Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles”, this is a tactical RPG game based on the Oasys network for PC players. Judging from the introduction, Ubisoft called the game an "experiment" rather than a "blockchain game", which may be a manifestation of "survival desire" (so as not to scare off traditional gamers). Detailed game information, release time, and NFT information have not yet been announced, but there is a cool trailer and a polarizing comment section worth watching. (

The most interesting thing is that there may be an airdrop of OG when the game is released.

And, the smartest VCs in the business are paying attention.

As a game giant, it is not difficult to guess that Ubisoft's star sea will definitely develop Web 3 games. This is reflected in its "Vision for Blockchain" report released in 2021:

“Blockchain technology is a means by which games can be brought back to the community, so that time spent by players, items purchased = their contribution to the game = value. Our position is that it is a smart approach to integrate blockchain into Only in the game can we achieve a fairer and more player-centered path.”

But whether "Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles" can truly realize their vision can only be found out after the game is released.

Sega: New wine in old bottles, rejuvenating IP

Sega, a Japan-based game development company, is a force to be reckoned with in the gaming industry. Its popular game franchises include: Sonic the Hedgehog (over 1.5 billion copies sold worldwide), Yakuza, Phantasy Star and Virtual Warrior, among others.

Like Ubisoft, Sega is no stranger to Web 3.

As early as early 2022, Sega registered a trademark for "SEGA NFT", indicating their intentions for NFT and blockchain technology for more than a year. At the game exhibition Game.com 2022 in the same year, Sega once again expressed its interest in blockchain.

In May of this year, Sega launched the first NFT through the NFT marketplace Oasy on the Oasys network, themed on its classic IP "Virtual Warrior".

As Sega’s first blockchain game, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not a new IP, but a Web 2 IP remake of Web 3. The game is very popular in the gaming world, especially in Japan.

As card strategy games like Gods Unchained become more and more popular in the crypto industry, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Web 3 Remake) with the same high quality and gameplay will open up a new fan base for this old IP .

According to the existing information, "Three Kingdoms War" (Web 3 remake) is a card strategy game built on the Oasys network, two players play against each other, and the game design is novel (build a deck within 3 minutes and complete the automatic battle). The official trailer showcases the game with beautiful graphics. The game will launch in late 2023, exclusively on PC, with languages like Japanese and English (Chinese and Korean will be added in 2024).

Oasys: A game-specific chain jointly created by giants, a hurricane that cannot be ignored

Sega's "Three Kingdoms War" will authorize the chain game development company Double Jump Tokyo to develop. For those who don't know, one of Double Jump Tokyo's businesses is to provide blockchain game development services for traditional game companies. It has already cooperated with Sega, Square Enix, Cooperation with many game giants including Bandai Namco.

Double Jump Tokyo has developed several blockchain games, the most famous of which are My Crypto Heroes and My Crypto Saga. In 2018, "My Encryption Hero" was launched on Ethereum, which attracted a large number of players to participate in a short period of time, but the poor user experience of Ethereum limited the entry of new users. Therefore, Double Jump Tokyo turned around and started to develop a game-specific public chain, aiming to improve the game experience of players. This is Oasys.

The popularity of NFT has reached its peak in 2021, which is also the beginning of the game giant's focus on the Web 3 field. Although hundreds of chain games have been launched in the past few years, the game experience of players has not been fully optimized. Problems related to high gas fees, slow operation speed, difficult operation for new users, and development-side risks have always existed. Therefore, we can also see that after Oasys was spun off from Double Jump Tokyo, the new team came from top game developers and Web 3 companies:

• Gabby Dizon: Co-founder of chain game trade union YGG.
• Hajime Nakatani: President and CEO of Bandai Namco.
• Hironobu Ueno: CEO of Double Jump Tokyo.
• Hironao Kunimitsu: Founder of Gumi and CEO of Thirdverse. *Shuji Utsumi: Sega Executive Vice President.

Whether it is Com2uS, Sega or Ubisoft, the world's most famous game giant, it is not surprising that they adopt the Oasys network, after all, they are also the initial validators of the network.

Compared with the "superficial work" done by most other game-specific public chains, Oasys has taken an alternative path. Through the modular structure of "public L 1 + dedicated L 2", it uses its own new method to improve player experience .

Users do not need to pay Gas fees

In theory, Oasys does not require users to pay Gas fees, and this cost will be borne by the Verse layer (described later). Therefore, end users do not need to prepare initial fees such as gas fees in order to play games. At present, many chain games need to pay initial costs such as Gas fees, which is the main barrier for ordinary users/Web 2 players to enter.

Runs fast

On many existing blockchain networks, a transaction usually takes a few seconds to tens of seconds. This time lag is likely to put a lot of pressure on Web 2 gamers. To this end, Oasys aims to provide a level of responsiveness comparable to Web 2 in order to allow normal users/Web 2 gamers to have a smooth gaming experience.

Avoid developer risk

Oasys eliminates the risks that traditional game companies with IP have feared.

There are great obstacles for companies and developers with existing IPs to enter the current NFT and chain game fields, including reputational risks (negative reputation, rumors, etc.), IP protection, etc. This is due to the open, permissionless nature of the blockchain. Since blockchain is permissionless, the status quo is that Web 3, while attractive, also has many fraudulent offerings.

Oasys overcomes the above barriers, allowing companies that already own IP to safely enter the Web 3 realm.

To achieve the above three features, we have to mention the network mechanism of Oasys. The Oasys network has three layers, each of which plays an important role.

dApp layer

Application layer, the layer where users use dApp.

Verse layer

The Verse layer is the layer where developers build dApps (games, etc.), each dApps can customize a dedicated L 2 (Opsitimic rollup) of its own, or choose to use the existing L 2, which can avoid the management of L 2 Work.

The biggest difference between the Optimistic-rollup of the Oasys chain and the Optimistic-rollup of Ethereum is that it does not require a challenge period (time window), but is verified by the verifier designated by each L 2 . There are pros and cons to this design. Although it gives up a certain degree of time to prevent verification errors, each Oasys L 2 can achieve finalization as soon as possible, which is the most critical capability that blockchain games should have.

Any developer who pledges 1 million OAS (Oasys' native token) can quickly customize an L2 that meets their specific needs, and can set various parameters, such as creating an L2 for different categories of games, and an L2 focused on NFT projects. 2. Focus on L 2 of DeFi. The above-mentioned "users do not need to pay Gas fees" depends on this point, and developers can choose to bear the Gas fees themselves when setting parameters.

Therefore, developers have their own dedicated L2 and can develop games and issue their own FT/NFT in it:

• Bear Gas costs - optimize player experience
• Eliminate counterfeit projects - avoid the risk of developers
• Build only a limited number of dApps - speed up operations

It is worth noting that there is a risk of centralization in the Verse layer at this stage. If there is a problem with the developer, the reputation is at stake, or the L2 is no longer functioning, then the user will lose.

Hub layer

The Hub layer is L 1 of Oasys, compatible with EVM, and its basic purpose is to securely exchange and store highly stable data.

The Hub layer does not perform or handle detailed transactions like the Verse layer. Instead, the Hub layer handles transaction and data management related to the entire Oasys ecosystem, including:

• Record and manage Rollup data of Verse layer
• Manage FT/NFT
• Manage cross-chain bridges

The Verse layer (all L2s) is built on top of the Hub layer, so even if every L2 goes down, developers can still access data from the Hub layer.

The Hub layer adopts the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, and anyone who pledges 10 million OAS can become a validator.

In terms of chain game development, Oasys provides developers with a high degree of freedom through three novel token standards.

Custom Tokens (vFT/vNFT)

Each developer can issue vFT/vNFT in their own L2, and this token standard has the characteristic that it can only be used in a specific L2. Therefore, it cannot cross-chain and cannot be used in other L2.

Guess the use case behind it, could be in-game currency (vFT) and IP (vNFT). As an in-game currency, vFT cannot be converted back to legal tender and can only be used within the game. vNFT can protect the IP of NFT, such as preventing NFT from being used for unintended purposes and preventing counterfeiting. For example, a developer can create NFTs that can only be used in their own L2.

Highly Interoperable Tokens (oFT/oNFT)

oFT/oNFT is a token created at the Hub layer, which can be used in the entire Oasys ecosystem (Verse layer and Hub layer) and cross-chain to other chains (such as Ethereum).

The game developer has given a lot of flexibility. By using oFT/oNFT and vFT/vNFT at the same time, the developer can only open some in-game tokens to user groups other than its own L2, such as the character NFT in the game is vNFT, and land or item is oNFT.

External Tokens (exFT/exNFT)

exFT/exNFT are tokens minted on networks other than Oasys, and they can be cross-chained into the Oasys ecosystem (Hub layer and Verse layer) through a cross-chain bridge.

There are currently five L2s in Oasys' Verse layer, each of which acts like a small, all-encompassing game ecosystem:

• MCH Verse: Originally built by Double Jump Tokyo for My Crypto Heroes, later added other games including My Crypto Legends, Monsters, Loot By Rogue, Remonster, Chian Colosseum Phoenix" and "Harbor Bcg".
• TCG Verse: L 2 dedicated to card games, there are currently 8 online card strategy games, including "NFTWars", "Climate Guardians Clicker", "CryptoSpells", "The Nemots", "OasChoice", " Kyrie & Terra, Eveden: Next Level Card Game, and Lootadog.
• Home Verse: Developed and operated by Double Jump Tokyo, games of all genres can choose to live on this L2. A total of 8 games are currently online, including "DimeTime", "Defend the kingdoms", "Alkenome Monsters", "Sheepfarm in Meta-land", "Yomi Gradens", "9 Lives Arena", "Brave Frontier Heroes" and "Dark Throne".
• Chain Verse: Developed and operated by ChainGardians (a DAO-driven game asset distribution platform), accepting all independent games. There are currently 3 games on the line, "ChainArena", "Voxel Worlds" and "Race 4 Sky".
• Saakuru Verse: Developed and operated by AAG (a Web 3 infrastructure company), all categories of dApps can be launched on this L2. Currently only 2 mini-games are launched, "GOGA" and "TomoOne".

Conclusion

As stated in the white paper, Oasys emphasizes the importance of users trusting L2 builders. Therefore, at this stage we can call Oasys a Web 2.5 blockchain because it compromises the decentralization of the Verse layer. But according to the roadmap, Oasys’ vision is to eventually become a DAO, enabling community-driven on-chain governance.

In addition, since the launch of a game requires permission from the validators in L2, we can expect the early development of the Oasys ecosystem to be slower than other new public chains, just as the early Optimism ecosystem is slower than Arbitrum . Therefore, whether Oasys can succeed in the short term will depend on whether it can continue to introduce the core IP of game giants to attract more Web 3 developers and users to adopt.

However, as far as the current situation is concerned, Oasys is like a nascent hurricane sweeping the Web 3 gaming world. Since the launch of the mainnet in October 2022, Oasys has launched 28 chain games and has established partnerships with many game giants. Ubisoft and Sega's chain game "debut" will also be established here. As more partnerships are established and the roadmap develops, Oasys is one to watch over the long term.

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal once said, "Web 3 games are one of the biggest drivers of cryptocurrency mass adoption. In the next 6-18 months, there will be some top games released in Web 3. Last year alone In one year, Web 3 games raised more than $2 billion in funding.”

Farewell to the barbaric development, the entry of these "regular troops", will the second half of the Web 3 game begin here? let us wait and see.

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