Evan Feng

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Published in

The CoinFund Blog

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7 min read

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12 hours ago

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Introduction

As another GDC has wrapped up, the feeling is palpable that the gaming industry stands at a critical juncture. Meanwhile, the annual State of Game Industry Survey crystallized tensions across the industry, with respondents reeling from mass layoffs in 2023 and speculation about the impact of AI on even more jobs, product development and creative IP. Rife for disruption and seeking novel approaches to capture value, we believe the vertical is poised for transformative convergence with blockchain technology imminently. We believe that web3 gaming has meaningfully addressed the quality gap and delivered compelling experiences recently, since the initial play-to-earn craze attracted a wave of speculative interest that waned during the bear market. Given our deep conviction that thoughtful, specific, and careful integration of blockchain into the coming generation of games will convince the silent majority of players of the unique value proposition of web3 games, CoinFund is excited to announce our continued support of and investment in Gunzilla as co-lead of their recent $10M strategic financing round as they near the global multiplatform launch of their highly anticipated AAA title, “Off The Grid” which will settle on-chain on a performant, purpose-built Avalanche subnet.

Off the Grid: Cinematic Visuals, Gripping Gameplay

Within the first few seconds of the trailer for “Off the Grid”, visual fidelity, attention to detail, and immersive worldbuilding is clear as players find themselves thrown into a covert corporate war between three gaming companies on the tropical dystopia of Teardrop Island, fighting to survive.

At the core of Gunzilla’s vision lies the ambitious and impressive “Off The Grid” (OTG), a cyberpunk-inspired battle royale third-person shooter. OTG is among the first games to deploy the revolutionary concept of complete asset ownership and a fully player-driven in-game secondary market economy, with player engagement further supported by an immersive and engaging set of dynamically scripted narrative content projected to span 60 hours over several seasons. OTG is an all-encompassing experience. Under the creative guidance of Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer Neil Blomkamp, an Oscar-nominated director (‘District 9,’ ‘Elysium,’ and ‘Gran Turismo’), OTG merges storytelling with a truly open economy of player-owned items and decisions.

Prior to committing to the round, we participated in multiplayer, live-service playtesting sessions with the team and found more signs of quality and attention to detail beneath the surface than expected, though fully consistent with Gunzilla’s leadership team who come from industry-leading publishers and studios (Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, THQ etc.) On a spoiler-free basis, some of the elements I was most impressed by include:

1. Stability in client / server experience, low latency, visual fidelity balanced with competitive framerates.
2. Impressive native marketplace experience which will feel familiar and fresh to FPS lovers.
3. Thoughtful incorporation of PVPVE mechanics that will create some truly emergent highlight / clippable moments that should help with organic discovery.
4. Ongoing balance changes to ensure player decisions, game sense, etc. contribute meaningfully to engagement outcomes.
5. Environmental storytelling, deliberate care in verticality of city design. I left the sessions always hoping to see even more of Teardrop Island

Gunzilla’s unchanged commitment to quality, love for the player experience, and consistency of vision between our recent investment and our first check in early 2022 seems obvious to us, and helped CoinFund remain excited for the upcoming launch and recommit to supporting the project with additional investment as we believe players will also come to appreciate Off the Grid and engage with the property for years to come, especially given Gunzilla’s content pipeline plans.

The Path to Platform

Gunzilla’s approach extends beyond the development of a single hit game. Their ambition is to establish a comprehensive ecosystem that empowers both players and developers alike. By leveraging the power of blockchain technology, Gunzilla aims to create a platform that facilitates true asset ownership, enabling players to discover and engage with tradable NFTs on an on-chain marketplace and mobile apps, on an opt-in basis. Similarly, the associated GUNZ platform, built as an Avalanche subnet, is designed to optimize high-speed gameplay, streamline gas payments using its native token, and offer verifiable transparency for gamers and developers. This innovative approach not only enhances the player experience but also paves the way for other AAA game developers to leverage the GUNZ SDK and white-label components, fostering a thriving ecosystem of web3 gaming experiences.

“But a hit game doesn’t guarantee success, as a studio then has to repeatedly roll the dice, risking ruin or malinvestment again”? This is often true and a common response that will point to either the current flop rate of regular web2 games and also when studios consider greenlighting new IP for film or television. However, I argue that there’s a unique greenfield opportunity for a breakout web3 game to define its category emphatically enough to create additional self-reinforcing network effects and other positive feedback loops that foreclose additional competition and actually deliver on a platform vision potential. While there are plenty of examples of this happening in web2 gaming, there are also signs of the playbook being valid in web3, where a title grew beyond its initial users and loops to serve a broader audience (non-exhaustive list, green rows are web3 native):

Mitigating Web3’s Risks

While we believe that web3 gaming holds immense potential, it is not without its challenges. However, Gunzilla’s team has demonstrated a keen understanding of these risks and a proactive approach to mitigating them.

• Gamer Resistance to NFTs: Through thoughtful design choices that abstract blockchain elements and normalize player ownership and agency, Gunzilla aims to create a seamless experience that appeals to both web3 and traditional gamers and encourages, but does not enforce on-chain participation.
• Fair Play and Anti-Cheat: Gunzilla has committed to leveraging multiple first and third-party anti-cheat solutions and adopting a robust live operations philosophy to ensure fairplay. Note also the console distribution and generally immersive (Unreal 5.2, as opposed to browser-based) gameplay increases the difficulty of sybil and bot-related attacks structurally as well.
• Inclusion for Multiple Player Segments: Recognizing the need to cater to diverse player segments, Gunzilla’s game design incorporates optionality for players to maximize their fun per session (the whole point of playing games, but also an obvious predictor of churn). Cooperative narrative, mostly PVE missions can help offset the higher pressure stress of hunting or being stalked by other players as part of the emergent PVP that can flare up at any time.

Conclusion

As we navigate the evolving landscape of web3 gaming, CoinFund remains steadfast in our support of visionary projects like Gunzilla and their launch title, Off the Grid. Through their innovative approach, technical expertise, and unwavering commitment to delivering a AAA gaming experience on an efficient production and launch budget, we think Gunzilla is poised to help catalyze the mainstream adoption of blockchain gaming, and are proud to stand by and double down on the Gunzilla team as they get ready to share what they’ve built with the broader world. We hope you enjoy Off the Grid for yourselves soon!

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