210 | How Verse8 's AI smarts empower noobs and pros

The Sandbox announces its AI creation and distribution platform The Sandbox Studio.[02:05] The Sandbox announces The Sandbox Studio, its AI-powered creator tools. [03:00] Roblox as the obvious benchmark for AI-powered UGC in games[04:20] Did The Sandbox waste time in H2 2025 on Corners, its memecoin experiment?[06:40] What The Sandbox Studio actually is, and why it is still only in alpha[07:25] Why Sandbox’s old creator tools were already good, but never solved distribution[08:35] Roblox vs Sandbox: the importance of instant publishing and social concurrency[10:10] AI harnesses vs AI models[11:47] Will such specialist frameworks matter once foundation models get much better?[13:10] The big strategic question: do creators need The Sandbox Studio if AI can make games directly?[14:00] Sandbox’s plan to help creators publish to web, Telegram, Steam and app stores[15:30] Roblox’s massive advantage: creators publish inside an existing audience[16:40] Why The Sandbox’s lack of player concurrency remains its core problem[18:10] The missed opportunity of The Sandbox land as a connected world/map[20:15] Jon's launched his own AI game - Soccerverse Showdown[21:10] How the World Cup leaderboard idea evolved from a Soccerverse internal concept[22:35] Comparing Soccerverse Showdown with a more traditional fantasy-football game[24:48] How player influence in Soccerverse generates World Cup points[25:59] Why ROI may be more interesting than total points on the leaderboard[27:15] Claude Fable “did two weeks of work in three hours”[28:45] The feeling of publishing a first game after 25 years covering games[30:00] Nexpace as a strong example of blockchain and AI execution[30:45] MapleStory Universe revenue, Avalanche chain and ecosystem strategy[31:20] Verse8, Vibe Camp and AI-generated MapleStory experiences[32:05] First AI-built MapleStory-based games are now live on Verse8

Nexpace announced a $60,000 Vibe Camp for MapleStory UGC using Verse8 AI tools. [00:32] MapleStory Universe, Verse8 and the $60,000 AI UGC VibeCamp[04:00] Why MapleStory Universe is one of web3 gaming’s serious IP plays[05:03] How Verse8 lets users vibe-code games[06:10] Why AI-generated games work better with existing emotional IP[07:40] Nexpace’s ambition for third-party creators to out-earn the core team[08:40] EVE Frontier did a similar hackathon in March[09:45] It's like there's a new UA funnel: attracting builders, not just players[11:45] Soccerverse and World Cup experiments[12:38] The Grand Tournament: community-built fantasy football on Soccerverse[14:59] Buying player influence to boost your fantasy team[16:15] Jon’s Soccerverse Summer Showdown concept[17:24] How World Cup scoring maps to Soccerverse player influence[19:35] Using ROI scoring to stop whales simply buying victory[22:48] Why AI coding changes what game communities can build[24:46] FIFA Rivals hits 2.5 million downloads[31:22] Saga exits blockchain and pivots fully into AI agents[32:05] Why Saga came too late to blockchain gaming[36:43] Pixels cuts headcount and refocuses[41:37] Why Luke Barwikowski’s stubbornness still matters

Can Aavegotchi DAO takeover the project, the State of Pixels, and the rise of open source in the agentic era. [00:35] Aavegotchi dev Pixelcraft is one of the OG web3 gaming studios.[05:16] It's looking to hand over control of Aavegotchi to the DAO.[06:28] DAOs haven't been successful for reasons like coordination and authority.[07:25] It's a nice vision, but the reality is Pixelcraft ran out of money. [08:01] By 1st September, the DAO has to have decided what's happening going forward. [09:16] Why “gamey games” are harder to hand over to communities or DAOs.[09:55] State of Pixels. It's sustainable but not growing.11:30 Pixels is now considering adding open-source elements. [12:05] AI significantly changes what community developers can build in blockchain games.[13:50] The emerging pattern is surviving web3 games are moving to APIs, MCPs and agent access.[15:15] Why blockchain and AI fit together culturally and technically.[19:05] Define “game games” versus “non-game games”.[20:49] Why blockchain games should focus less on moment-to-moment fun and more on meta. [23:30] EVE Frontier, MapleStory and Soccerverse as examples of meta-focused web3 games. [25:25] These games have emergent experiences. They don't require constant content updates. [28:30] Don’t put things onchain to create value. Put existing value onchain so it can be realized.[32:40] Community-built Soccerverse fantasy football as a sign of where this goes next.[35:05] The first 10 years of blockchain gaming were about discovering what didn’t work.[35:40] AI plus blockchain will enable things the traditional games industry won’t build.[37:06] Why agents will become native players for blockchain games. [38:20] The future split: Mario-like gameplay games versus agent-filled systemic web3 worlds.

The big beasts arise as we talk EVE Frontier, MapleStory Universe and how Wemade's approach bests Ubisoft. [00:34] Jon attended EVE Fanfest 2026 in Iceland. What are his takeaways?[02:40] Why EVE Fanfest works beyond being just an event for players.[05:05] EVE Frontier is EVE Online if made from scratch now.[06:46] In Cycle 6 (out 25th June), EVE Frontier finally becomes more of an actual survival game.[09:28] Modular shipbuilding replaces fixed ships.[10:40] EVE Frontier is a game that rewards players who improve their manual gameplay skills. [11:55] “This is a game that makes EVE Online feel cuddly.”[13:58] Does EVE Frontier need non-EVE players?[15:30] The fundamental approach is blockchain as a unified API.[16:38] Why some CCP/Fenris developers want to work on EVE Frontier, not EVE Online. [17:38] How EVE Frontier is using AI for coding and prototyping.[19:10] Nexon is talking about MapleStory Universe, MSU 2.0 and VIBE IP.[22:11] MapleStory Universe did $31 million in revenue in year 1. [23:22] The real KPI for MSU 2.0 is the revenue third-party devs make. [25:55] Average EVE Fanfest attendee had played 7,900 hours of EVE Online. [30:50] Legend of Ymir has released the ability to mint and trade character NFTs.[32:00] Legend of Ymir NFT character trading was $77,000 on day 1. [34:40] Ubisoft is shutting down Champions Tactics’ web3 features on 27th May. [36:00] Ubisoft’s blockchain problems are a minor part of much wider issues for the company. [39:00] Champions Tactics was beautifully made, but too narrow in its addressable audience. [42:29] Wemade is iteratively learning. Ubisoft is scattergun, lacking learning loops. [44:30] The post-crash shape of blockchain gaming is now becoming apparent.

Jon Jordan talks to Verse8 CEO Kevin Lee about the challenges and opportunities for the AI game-making platform. [01:09] Kevin Lee’s background at Planetarium doing web3 investing and private equity.[02:56] Verse8 started as a WebGL engine project inside Planetarium.[03:31] We first realized the potential of AI technology for game-making in 2024. [04:44] By 2025, it was clear that LLMs could generate very high-quality and complex. [06:15] Verse8 can do hypercasual games, add crypto and other monetization. [08:15] Verse8 has 200,000 DAUs and 3.5 million MAUs.[10:40] We didn't design this as a web3 project but there's potential for degen experiments.[12:52] Verse8 could be “YouTube for games” because everyone can now make games. [14:20] Verse8's $5 million seed round and why Korean strategic investors backed it. [15:28] Investors also have agreements for use of their legacy IPs within Verse8. [17:44] In particular, there will be an integration with MapleStory Universe. [18:54] There are some technical limitations. You can't make open-world MMORPGs.[20:44] Verse8’s moat is its high performance WebGL game engine. [22:50] Everyone ger $10 of free tokens but then users have to pay for additional usage. [26:10] We're competing with Roblox, Steam, Epic and even YouTube for screen time.[31:19] Over the next six months we need to prove creators can generate real revenue.

The big news this week is CCP Games' MBO, rebranded as Fenris Creations and backed by Google DeepMind. [00:32] Fenris Creations (ex-CCP Games) has gained independence from Pearl Abyss for $120 million.[02:26] Pearl Abyss originally bought the company for $225 million in 2018. [03:26] Why CCP and Pearl Abyss were an awkward fit, culturally and corporately. [04:35] Pearl Abyss now has very successful games such as Crimson Desert so doesn't need CCP. [05:28] Fenris still owes Pearl Abyss $50 million for a loan. [06:52] CCP/Fenris has been loss-making for many years. [07:07] $60 million of EVE Frontier tokens have now been sold to investors. [07:47] The original unanswered questions around the deal - debt, operational capital etc. [10:28] Google DeepMind now has a minority stake in Fenris Creations. [11:30] Why DeepMind is interested in EVE Online as a learning environment for AI models and agents.[12:50] Long-term memory for agents is of particular interest. [13:50] Why DeepMind is a major credibility boost for the newly independent company. [14:48] DeepMind potentially reframes EVE Frontier’s significance as a blockchain game. [17:00] FIFA Rivals has launched its World Cup Legacy mode.[20:10] The Legacy mode allows people to play through the past 4 world cups and collect players. [23:30] Legacy players allows Mythical to better control the supply of rare NFTs. [24:35] Animoca Minds has launched a $10 million developer program.[30:49] Animoca has extended the exclusivity period for its reverse Nasdaq listing process.

Reaper Actual raises capital, tracking FIFA Rivals NFT sales, and whatever happened to Wildcard's Thousands?[00:25] FIFA Rivals NFTs have finally migrated to the Pulse market. [02:55] Pulse uses USDC stablecoin for all NFT trading, even for in-app trading. [8:11] FIFA Rivals is fairly simple; 90 second mini-games and build your team.[10:12] Even powerful players are not too expensive: Guimaraes for $74, Haaland for $40. [13:40] Playful is shutting down its Thousands platform.[14:21] Unclear what might remain of Wildcard as a game, but the IP is continuing it seems. [16:18] Wildcard’s very weak Steam Early Access performance - less than 150 concurrent peak. [18:38] How the timing of the WC token launched on Arbitrum played into this decision. [19:37] Was web3 forced onto Wildcard by its crypto investors?[21:46] Reaper Actual raises more funding ahead of its Steam Early Access in mid-May. [24:26] Explaining the separate web2 and web3 versions of Reaper Actual.[26:49] Steam is a big problem for blockchain-adjacent games.[27:59] Reaper Actual’s blockchain-light messaging.[30:28] Choosing the “hill to die on” when it comes to web3 game design.

FIFA Rivals moving to Pulse market, Verse8 x YGG hackathon results and Hytopia's worrying pause. [00:16] Mythical Games is migrating FIFA Rivals to the new Pulse marketplace. [02:46] But there's been some sort of delay. FIFA Rivals is the last of Mythical's games to migrate. [04:19] The significant change with Pulse is it uses the USDC stablecoin.[05:51] Why in-game item markets should use stablecoins, not volatile tokens. [07:20] With Pulse, you can sign in with email and/or external wallets like MetaMask. [09:54] Mythical Games has learned some hard lessons to get to this point. [15:44] Verse8 and YGG Play announce its Buidl Hack winners.[16:40] What Verse8’s AI game-making platform actually does.[20:00] Bank or Plank — the winning pirate board game is pretty good. [22:22] Roblox-on-blockchain platform Hytopia has paused operations while awaiting a tax refund.[28:00] Server costs, lost momentum and the blockchain game funding problem.[32:36] Why sustainable blockchain games need to start out with leaner teams.[35:16] Parallel Studios launches its trading card game on mobile app stores.

EVE Frontier's hackathon deconstructed, Limit Break's first game, Xociety pauses, SANDchain completes testnet phase 1.[00:15] Deconstructing EVE Frontier x Sui $80,000 hackathon [03:19] There were 123 submissions. Largest categories were bounty boards, insurance, gate tolls. [07:20] Data was another key theme - escrow-style systems for buying and selling information.[10:05] 25% of submissions were sketchy, either weak, irrelevant, or unserious.[17:49] Limit Break has announced DigiDaigaku-themed mobile match game Puzzle Panic. [28:06] It's seems like a Trojan horse for Limit Break's deeper web3 NFT and token stack.[30:21] PC web3 shooter Xociety has halted development.[35:15] The team is attempting to restructure with a more web2 focus using the Xociety IP. [38:03] Sandbox’s ZK-based SANDchain L2 has completed its first testnet phase.

Pixels' Stacked P2E rewards platform is live, Verse8 raised $5M, Wildcard's WC token is live. Jon has a new hat.[0:17] Jon wants everyone to know that he has a new GamesTX hat.[1:23] Pixels has launched Stacked, which is a P2E rewards platform (or engine!) for web2/3 games.[3:42] Effectively, Stacked is a productized version of the P2E layer in Pixels.[8:36] Stacked currently supports Pixels and Pixel Dungeons and will support Ronin and Sleepagotchi.[9:05] Rewards include PIXEL and will include gift cards and PayPal. [12:10] Pixels currently has a Return on Reward Spend of 3 -- $3 of spend per $1 of rewards.[13:34] AI game-creation platform Verse8 has raised $5 million in seed funding.[14:40] There's consumer version and also a pro version for game studios. Delabs is using it. [15:50] Verse8 has been used to make 25,000 games from 5,000 creators and 3.5 million MAUs.[18:33] The Sandbox's has launched the first playtest for its NEXT mobile battle royale game. [19:57] Wildcard has launched its WC token; currently priced a FDV of $600,000.[23:08] What are the key metrics for a sustainable blockchain game in 2026?