It’s been in development since 2018 and in closed beta since 2020, but now — finally — Horizon Blockchain Games’ TCG Skyweaver has entered open beta.
I’m truly terrible at TCGs (Splinterlands is about my limit) but I did manage to play through the tutorial in 2020 and it was a very polished product back then.
I also spoke to co-founder Michael Sanders in BCGW #95.
Skyweaver is an interesting blockchain game for a couple of reasons.
It doesn’t have its own cryptocurrency — it uses the USDC stablecoin on Polygon — and its NFTs are purely aesthetic so there’s no pay-to-win, just some opportunity to flex if you rank highly in seasons or tournaments and get them as rewards, or buy those cards direct from the marketplace.
Skyweaver also uses its own inbuild wallet.
Called Sequence, it’s technically a smart contract wallet, which enables it to do some clever stuff. It’s also non-custodial but you don’t have access to your seed phrase. Instead, log-ins are email-based, which is very good for accessibility but means if you lose access to your email account, you lose access to your wallet. Another downside for some will be that it doesn’t support hardware wallets.
But blockchain UX always comes with this sort of balancing act.
With Sequence, Horizon has indexed for the mass market not the crypto market, assuming that actual accessibility for millions is more important than assumed security for a few thousand.
That’s probably the correct assumption given that Skyweaver doesn’t include key blockchain gaming features such as functional NFTs or a custom currency.
And, one advantage of this blockchain-lite approach is that as well as being available on browser and PC client, Skyweaver is also available through the two main mobile app stores.
Of course, the concern is dialling back the blockchain bits to this extent means you lose much of the sizzle that gets people excited about blockchain games, without getting much upside in terms of distribution.
One comparison point is Monopoly-style game Upland, which as been available on mobile app stores since 2020 and now has 60,000 DAUs.
Not bad but thanks to its full crypto sizzle, Axie Infinity did 2 million DAUs via a sideloaded APK.
That said, Horizon has raised $13 million to-date — most famously from Reddit-cofounder and general NFT/gaming evangelist Alexis Ohanian — while Upland has raised $20 million, most recently on a $286 million valuation so they can afford to play a longer game than many other crypto developers, who are in for a quick buck.
Certainly, if you haven’t done so yet, both games are worth investigating.
P.S. I’ve since been informed that in future Sequence users will be able to access their private keys and have more control over other wallet settings. The full support details can be seen here. Also, because of the fungibility of its NFTs (long story), Skyweaver players can use their NFTs in a DeFi manner to provide market liquidity. There may also be an in-game token in future!)
Product news
Ubisoft is bringing Rabbids to The Sandbox. The French gamemaker will also have a land location with interactive experiences in The Sandbox and sell various characters including voxelized Rabbids via the marketplace so other creators can use them in their own experiences.
Ubisoft joins existing IPs ranging from The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Warner Music, BAYC and The Smurfs in terms of placing a marker in what (imho) is shaping up to be the first consumer-facing metaverse of substance i.e. expect more, bigger deals to be announced.
P.S. The floor price for a single The Sandbox land NFT is now over $11,000.
Avatar outfit Ready Player Me is launching an unofficial CryptoPunks collection.
Anyone with a CryptoPunk NFT can mint a representative 3D avatar (including a fully rigged GLB asset) that will be supported by products using Ready Player Me’s technology. 50% of the revenues created will be distributed to these game and app developers based on where the 3D Punks are used.
Ready Player Me says it’s also working on “many more accessible drops in the future”.
Funding news
Animoca-owned mini-game rewards platform GAMEE has received a $1.5 million strategic investment from Binance Labs.
As well as its legacy GAMEE mobile app, the Czech company also runs Arc8, a similar platform running on Polygon, which is backed by its own GAMEE token rather than fiat currency rewards. It currently attracts around 20,000 DAUs and has previously raised around $4 million.
Partnership news
Meta guild outfit BlockchainSpace has partnered up with forthcoming soccer game CyBall to add support for the more than 10,800 P2E guilds that use its software platform.
Running on Binance Smart Chain (with Solana planned) CyBall is currently in Alpha testing. Other guilds with investments in the game include Merit Circle, YGG, Avocado DAO, GuildFi, Good Games Guild and Ancient 8. One to watch.
Jobs news
In a neat encapsulation of the way the wind is blowing, former Pokemon Go product manager Phillip La has joined Axie Infinity as its game product lead.
A Straussian reading (of) news
I think we’re getting to the stage of he ‘doth protest too much, methinks’. Love it to hate it, Kotaku is now one of the best sources of blockchain gaming news.
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