20 June 2025 | Weekly news roundup

Jon Jordan talks to MSquared CEO Rob Whitehead about the company's attempt to build a PlayFab for web3 gaming, which combined with the Somnia blockchain, will supercharge the sector with more onchain data that's more composable. [2:50] Rob Whitehead's current roles at Improbable and MSquared.[3:56] Rob's early career as a teenaged virtual arms dealer in Second Life.[4:59] How Improbable started work on what became MSquared during Covid lockdown.[8:15] How MSquared is different to existing multiplayer technologies for gaming?[8:40] Current tech can only handle about 100 players because data quadruples per extra player added.[9:08] MSquared uses a smart layer optimizing a cluster of cloud-based computers to boost capacity.[11:55] Why MSquared started working with Yuga Labs for its Otherside metaverse.[15:07] Blockchain enables interoperability but that's not enough and you can't put everything onchain.[17:43] How the Somnia blockchain is designed to be the "fastest EVM blockchain".[19:24] Rob's journey into crypto - 'a deepy humbling experience'. "Things are stupid until they're not".[23:18] Somnia's speed enables a whole new category of experiences to be built.[25:11] Once you unlock a new capability, you then have to learn what to do with it.[26:03] "What's the maximal thing you could ever put on a blockchain?"[28:21] The first version of Chunked peaked at around 1,000 concurrent players onchain.[30:01] "If you can make fully onchain Minecraft on Somnia, what else can you do?"[32:18] DeFi has been a success. We're trying to build those Lego blocks for web3 gaming.[34:24] We're trying to build a PlayFab for web3 gaming. [36:20] We need a decentralized Steam where you can see all your items and progression.[37:08] MSquared's OmniChain Indexer works across ApeChain, Somnia, Polygon, Ethereum etc.[39:39] Chunked v2.0 is also going to be released very soon, plus a potential mainnet version too.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[01:10] Animoca Brands and Moca Foundation have announced Moca Chain. [01:35] Originally this was the Mocaverse NFT collection, which has become Moca Network. [06:25] They've tried to build a reputation and privacy-focused ID system. Not clear who's using it.[12:25] The issue is you have to build something 10x better and still people won't use it. [17:59] Nexon has launched a Credit Level system to reduce botting in MapleStory N.[26:43] Wildcard will be launching on Steam in October 2025.[30:42] The project's longterm success is more about the Thousands streaming platform, however.[32:19] Startup Spekter Games has raised $5M. Its first game is Telegram roguelite Spekter Agency.[37:58] The Sandbox is partnering with Cirque du Soleil for the forthcoming Alpha Season 6.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:10] Glad Midsommar - happy midsummer to all our Scandis listeners.[0:20] Playful Studios (Wildcard) has raised $6.5 million and hopes to get in another $2.5 million.[1:28] It previously raised $46 million, announced in June 2022.[5:35] Wildcard will be out on Steam early access soon and Thousands is in regular play testing. [8:31] MapleStory N continues to grow; its most expensive NFT sold for $18,617.[12:40] If people aren't complaining about your game (within reason) there's probably something wrong with it. [16:40] Tokens are important but how you launch them, use them and talk about their value is more important.[17:48] Project Voyager / Craft World's play-to-airdrop event is already very popular and competitive.[23:51] What's going on with Gunzilla, Off The Grid and Gunz's mainnet launch?[25:50] Jon is very confused about the length of time it's taking to migrate players to mainnet.[30:48] This is compounded as Gunzilla hasn't given out any official figures about the playerbase.[36:07] First impressions of FIFA Rivals - hard PVP learning curve & "clever" fuel-for-NFTs mechanic.[41:11] It's "clever" because it stops pay-to-win and the inflation of NFT assets over time.[45:10] Pixels is launching its third 24 hour Shorelime event today (20th June).[46:14] The strategy for the PIXEL token is becoming an ecosystem token for many web3 games.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[1:04] Much anticipated mobile game FIFA Rivals is now live via app stores.[2:00] The game includes NFTs on the Mythos chain but doesn't mention blockchain or NFTs at all.[2:45] The gameplay is deeper than Jon thought - you're tapping on players and drawing lines to pass.[5:32 ]The metagame is about getting the best 11 players you can, levelling and training them up.[6:32] Players can only be used a certain number of times, before you have to pay to reup them.[7:10] This could be a way of mitigating the pay-to-win aspect of having powerful NFTs.[8:05] As well as real player NFTs, there are also real club kits - teams in the FIFA Club World Cup.[11:22] There is already a Messi NFT in the game. Very expensive.[12:21] Craft World's play-to-airdrop event for Dyno Coin - called Project Voyager - has gone live.[15:10] The top 25,000 players will get an airdrop. It looks like over 100,000 are now playing.[16:16] A key mechanic is increasing your multipler by spending in-game crystals and other tokens.[19:02] EVE Frontier has launched its new cycle and dropped its previous NDA.[23:51] EVE Frontier is building a valuable blockchain economy from the bottom-up.[26:01] CCP Games has spent a lot of time educating PC game journalists about blockchain.[29:43] Nexon's MapleStory N is another MMOG highlighting the value of blockchain.[30:30] Like CCP Games, Nexon wants to create an ecosystem in which thirdparties can build.[31:12] Its Henesys blockchain peaked at over 80,000 DAUWs this week. [31:52] The MSU marketplace has hit 1 million wallets and $13 million NFT trading volume.[35:28] Why are some KOLs critical of MapleStory N?[38:34] Does this change when we see the first $100,000 NFT in MapleStory N?

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:18] Why we've launched a new feature article called Good Blockchain Game News.[3:45] Blockchain is an inevitable gaming technology. That doesn't mean most web3 games succeed.[6:21] You can now nominate the best use of blockchain in a mobile game in the Mobile Game Awards.[6:59] Mobile football game FIFA Rivals goes live on Thursday 12th June via app stores.[8:33] Precursor NFL Rivals provides a solid foundation for the gameplay and NFT trading aspects.[10:31] The game has also done a multi-year licensing deal with Adidas.[11:25] Jon will be amazed if FIFA Rivals doesn't do tens of millions of downloads.[13:25] 10-20% chance it's the next big hit when it comes to blockchain games. [13:55] EVE Frontier is launching its new era and lifting NDA restrictions this weekend.[16:56] Voya Games' Craft World will launch on Ronin this summer. It's a win-win.[21:54] With mass market appeal, it could easily be the most popular game on Ronin.[22:38] Adding blockchain to an idle game also supercharges long term retention.[23:59] The latest game to join Pixels' staking ecosystem is Sleepagotchi.[29:38] MapleStory N is still experiencing strong growth in terms of players and NFT trading. [34:06] Sports brawler Sparkball has announced it will launch on new L1 Somnia.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:30] OpenSea's OS2 is now live for everyone with its new Voyages XP system.[1:08] This is part of the future SEA token launch, which will also include historical trading activity.[4:47] OpenSea now supports token swaps and NFT trading across 19 blockchains.[8:25] The SEA token will be a big event; "The event" according to OpenSea. [11:40] Oncade has raised $4 million from a16z CSX for its stablecoin webstore platform.[13:26] We're also seeing stablecoins becoming a key part of the tradfi payment and banking system.[17:28] YGG launched LOL Land as part of its new push into "casual degen" gaming.[17:55] Does "casual degen" make sense? Jon is not so sure.[19:45] LOL Land has a free channel and an expensive premium channel. Not much crossover.[24:43] Disney+ subscribers can now access Dapper Labs' Disney Pinnacle NFT collectibles.[27:44] Interestingly, you can trade these NFTs but only during special weekend events.[28:55] It's another example how, without much fanfare, crypto is leaking into mainstream products.[30:05] Nexon's Henesys blockchain for MapleStory N is peaking at over 50,000 DAUWs.[30:51] It's also banned 6,000 accounts for botting etc. [31:18] The marketplace has 600,000 active wallets, 6 million item sales and $5 million trading volume.[34:14] Someone has already made $40,000 in profit from NFT trading.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:28] Following Nyan Heroes, Blast Royale and Tatsumeeko, Ember Sword has shut down.[2:15] The background is a lot of web3 game devs raised their funding back in 2021-22.[4:12] $5 million isn't much money to make a good game, either web2 or web3. [5:07] And most teams raising money were inexperienced. They had never made a game before.[6:15] A team of 10 game devs probably costs around $1 million a year.[6:58] Ambitious games like Nyan Heroes and Ember Sword probably required +50 devs.[7:35] Hence $5-10 million of funding doesn't last very long. It's not a rug or a con.[9:30] If your game's retention isn't good enough, you can never scale or monetize it to success.[11:44] It's very hard to get anyone to play a new game because of Fortnite/Roblox.[15:23] As weaker projects shut down, the top blockchain games become clear.[15:54] Examples? EVE Frontier (thanks for the hat!), [16:51] Also Wildcard, Proof of Play, Mythical Games, Faraway, MapleStory N etc.[22:04] Blast Royale is being open-sourced so the community could continue to develop it.[24:00] Voya Games has bucked the trend, raising $5 million for idle gaming ecosystem Craft World.[26:50] CEO Oli Loeffler has been slowly building the game and company for the past 3 years. [28:10] The game combines individual resource management with collaborative events. [30:56] There's always something to do and blockchain adds a longer term retention layer.[31:34] Your resources in the main game are only valuable if you can get them into the collab events.[33:45] Would Craft World be a good match for Ronin?[35:05] Off The Grid will launch a web2 version on Steam in June.[37:38] The first NFT sales from Off The Grid have started - highest price to-date is over $1,000.[39:30] But some Steam users hate blockchain so the game will likely get review bombed.[41:30] Jon went to the Avalanche Summit London and was impressed with its momentum.[42:34] He also spoke to Nexon's Dominic Jang about MapleStory Universe and MapleStory N's launch.[43:00] The MSU marketplace has done $1.6 million-worth of NFT trading volume.[45:23] Main markets to-date for MapleStory N players are LATAM, Brazil, southeast Asia.[46:25] Success for Nexon isn't about the game, it's about the ecosystem, esp. 3rd party apps.[51:05] Ava Labs' CEO Emin Gün Sirer also spoke well about the overall vision for Avalanche.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:20] Nexon has launched MapleStory N and its NXPC token on its Avalanche-based L1. [2:25] MapleStory is the OG IP for Nexon - a 2D side-scrolling MMORPG, now with blockchain. [5:00] The NXPC token seems to have launched well on various exchanges, up 30%.[6:14] However, the game is geo-locked for some countries including South Korea, US and UK.[8:45] Its free NFT on OpenSea was minted 1.7 million times, so there's high demand.[10:07] Paradise Tycoon is launching its own Avalanche-based chain - Paradise Chain. [11:14] Pixelmon is also bringing its games to Avalanche.[15:24] The first title to use crypto for IAP payments in an iOS game is Crazy Defense Heroes.[19:12] It's not clear how useful this will be existing web3 mobile games as it will require retrofitting.[20:48] Adding this to Crazy Defense Heroes is likely more experimental than revenue generating.[23:40] Animoca is looking to IPO in the US.[24:15] Animoca was originally floated in Australia but was delisted in 2020. [27:38] Animoca's 2024 financials said it was worth $4.3 billion so there will be demand for its shares.[31:11] Pixels has announced an AI agent mini-game integration with AI Veronica.[34:16] Blocklords' Battleborne mode is live, adding exciting new gameplay to the base farming game.[45:31] Why Playful Studios has spent 7 years making its character collection action game Wildcard.[49:31] Wildcard is a web2 game that's designed for streaming.[50:41] Thousands is its integrated web3 streaming platform with revenue share for creators.

Jon Jordan talks to Playful Studios' CEO Paul Bettner and lead game designer Brad Weir about the development of web2 card collectible action game Wildcard and its web3 streaming platform Thousands. [5:29] Why did "crypto-skeptic" Paul Bettner end up making a gaming ecosystem using blockchain?[6:24] The crucial technology focus for its web2 game Wildcard is streaming, not blockchain.[6:59] But blockchain is crucial for the wider ecosystem for players, content creators and community.[9:02] The USP of Wildcard is its unique genre - deck building + action gameplay with strategy MOBA. [9:55] It's a CCAG - collectible card action game - the first of its kind.[10:08] "Web3 is an enabling technology for the new things we are trying to do."[11:45] A lot of the core team on Wildcard goes all the way back to Age of Empires.[14:09] Paradigm led the investment round because they played Wildcard and loved the game.[15:18] How the game design of Wildcard has changed over the years. [15:40] As a designer, you need to question everything and iterate quickly to make the best decision. [17:15] Moving from 1v1 to 2v2 was a big change for Wildcard, especially for the social aspects.[18:51] "You have to make the thing people like the least about your game into what they like the most."[20:24] Until your dev team can not stop playing your game over other games, it's not finished.[24:40] "When I fire up Wildcard, it's not like any other game in my Steam library."[32:15] "Watching a game is the most casual, accessible way to enjoy gaming."[33:10] Popular streamed games weren't built for streaming. How should it change the design?[33:51] We talked to Twitch and Discord but they couldn't build the streaming tech we required. [35:20] We started showing other studios our streaming tech and the response was overwheming.[37:26] Thousands allows us to give revenue share back to streamers who refer the spenders. [38:24] An authentic streamer gives us the highest quality users we can get.[40:17] Before Thousands, we didn't know how we were going to have web3 tech in Wildcard.[45:10] You have to make a game and ecosystem that satisfies gamers, earners and content creators.[49:20] How Wildcard is ensuring it allows its most skilled players to demonstrate that skill.[51:32] Wildcard is being tested on Fridays/Saturdays via Steam early access.[53:51] Thousands isn't about quantity, it's about your most dedicated 1,000 fans.[54:25] Our ARPV (average revenue per viewer) is already over $100, with a payer conversion of 83%.[55:26] We have streams that are regularly monetizing at over $20,000 per stream.

Jon Jordan and BlockchainGamer.biz editor Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:45] Pixels' new ecosystem-wide PIXEL staking feature is now live, supporting three games.[1:57] Pixels' daily activity has declined a lot, as has the PIXEL token price over the past year. [2:58] Pixels' vision now is to better target its rewards towards committed players.[4:30] Staking and the future vPIXEL token (June) use the Apptoken standard which gives devs more control.[7:03] You stake PIXEL into any of the supported games, which return a share of their overall rewards.[10:37] The goal is to build a platform any web3 (or web2) game could also plug into.[15:05] PC RPG MapleStory N will launch on 15th May.[16:56] This is a big IP for Nexon to release on blockchain and it's been very careful in the design.[19:58] Blockchain gaming platform Ultra announced a partnership with Vaulta (ex-EOS).[24:11] Wildcard streaming platform Thousands generated almost $78,000 from one 2-hour stream.[29:15] To-date the platform has a payer conversation rate of 51% and ARPV (per viewer) of $109.[35.27] Nintendo appears to have integrated web3 tech into the mobile version of Pokemon Home. [40:55] Epic Games Store will now let devs - including of blockchain game - earn $1M of IAP without fee.[45:25] This could be important for experienced mobile devs like Mythical and Limit Break.