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Core Loop, a new game studio, has raised $12 million in order to create a massively multiplayer online sandbox using blockchain technology.
Mobile game veterans Vincenzo Alagna, Dan Chao and Dan Chao founded the company last year. Core Loop was launched by Dan Chao and Vincenzo Alagna, both mobile game veterans. However, they did not discuss the blockchain aspect of the company at the time. This sector of the industry has seen a lot of growth since then. Their MMO will feature a player-driven economy and a dynamic changing world. There will also be some blockchain components.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the lead investor in the round, as well as additional investors Galaxy Digital and Initial Capital, Sisu Game Ventures and 1up Ventures are some of the reasons the company was able to raise capital.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Chao said that Vincenzo kept asking me whether we would add blockchain to the game. We are seeing blockchain become more popular and we were able to see how it would fit into the game. It is possible and we believe it will work. It does not take away from the game.
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Veteran-founded game startup companies are in good stead. According to Drake Star Partners, the amount of money flowing into games in the first nine months 2021 was $71 billion. This included investments, acquisitions and public offerings. Gaming's boom has sparked so much activity that I believe we will soon see a shortage of game developers. However, many talented people who didn't have funding opportunities in the past are now benefiting.
Core Loop has been able build up to fifteen people. Chao believes that the team could add 10 more people in the next six-months.
Veterans
Alagna is the CEO. He has more than 20 years of experience in technical roles. Alagna served as president and chief technology officer, overseeing multibillion-dollar franchises like Game of War: Fire Age and Mobile Strike and Final Fantasy XV : A New Empire.
Chao, the president, has been involved in games for over 20 years, as an engineer and game designer. He also produces for console, mobile and PC. Chao was Funzio's lead game designer, and the company was later purchased by Gree for $210million. Chao was responsible for the design of multi-million-dollar titles like Crime City, Modern War and War of Nations.
The remote team is distributed across the U.S. and Canada as well as Australia, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Australia, Europe, Japan and Europe. Andreessen Horowitz was able to make it easy to invest because of all these factors.
Jonathan Lai, a partner in Andreessen Horowitz, stated that the next generation MMOs will combine the best social and systems design from traditional MMOs, with a Web 3 powered virtual economic built on ownership and the ability to make a living playing the game. Core Loop is the leader in this field and we couldn't be more excited for our collaboration.
Community-led
Core Loop Credit
They are focused on community leadership and that is what blockchain offers. They began to think about their roles as system designers, and how gamers could become more like them. They decided to combine their expertise in game design with the latest technologies and models, such as Web 3 (the transparent and secure decentralized web that uses blockchain's transparency and security) and play-to earn. This allows players to own items purchased in games and then resell them.
We believe that the player should have more control over the game. Alagna stated that we looked at multiple solutions to this problem. This convergence of Web 3, Blockchains, Governance has occurred. We are trying to give some control over to the players and have this trust layer. We explored all options. Others confirmed the technology. We were able to use the technology in the right climate.
Many role-playing games often place merchant and crafting roles in the hands of AI characters. Core Loop hopes to push these systems as far as it can, while also providing rules that regulate the dynamics.
Other options will allow players to exercise their agency. The players will have the ability to select their hero class and their role in a sandbox environment. Players can create the lore of the land through their actions and their history within the virtual world. They could be story writers, merchants or leaders.
The company will be making its game available for both mobile and desktop. Although it is a lot more work, there are good reasons to do that.
Chao stated that if you had an MMO you could play at any time of the day, even while you're not at work, you would be able to access it from your smartphone. While you could grind and earn resources, kill some monsters, then you can still go home and use your PC to do more complex tasks like raids. That's the ultimate goal.
He believes that players will be happy to farm resources and kill simpler monsters while working or studying. Preparation is key in the game. This includes what equipment a hero should have, what gear they should wear, and what items they should farm before raiding.
Blockchain's role
Core Loop Credit
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are used in play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity. These tokens use blockchain to authenticate unique digital items. NFT-based games can be easily bought and resold because digital ownership is simple. This creates new roles in the community and gives them opportunities to self-governance through games.
The game will allow players to travel on adventures and defeat monsters, without having to touch any blockchain. Core Loop's most important goal is to create a great game. Core Loop will offer the game for free, so that you don't have to buy anything in order to play. The developers explained that blockchain does not mean that every resource will be a token, or that every item will have an NFT. This would be absurd. Users should find it interesting, regardless of whether or not they choose to interact with blockchain.
Chao stated that our free-to-play game doesn't require you to know anything in order to play it. This is really important to us. Blockchain tokens will not be used for all transactions in the game economy. You can still harvest gold and pick berries from a bush. This is still normal MMO activity. People will soon be able to earn blockchain currencies.
However, certain roles like land barons or blacksmiths will require you to participate in the player-driven economic system and blockchain tech. However, killing monsters, adventuring and raiding are all free-to-play activities.
Alagna stated that the developer can create roles that are performed by humans and not AI characters.
Alagna stated that we shift control back to players and regulate a little more of the metagame. This is what got us excited.
Some crypto experience
Core Loop Credit
Chao attempted a Blockchain game called Crypto Assault several years ago, right as CryptoKitties was being released. Chao discovered that players need to pre-purchase in order to play a game. It is a major turnoff to have to create a Metamask wallet, learn how to make blockchain transactions, and then start playing games. This is also the case for premium games.
Chao stated that a game can be free to play but still allow you to earn a cryptocurrency in different areas.
Fun first
Chao added that it is important to remember to make fun games first and not pay attention to any other issues related to blockchain technology.
Alagna stated that more tech has been released in the interim, such as Layer 2 sidechains. These can be used to simplify the process of onboarding people for blockchain games. They are currently evaluating many of these and should be able to help. Developers have easy access to modern game servers, ready-to use engines, community tools, chat tools, trust layers, and even chat and community tools.
They enjoy what NFTS does for games but they don't like games with poor gameplay.
Chao reiterated that we are playing a game for fun first.
Chao believes that the perfect combination of blockchain and MMO is the MMO genre. Working together can help the world move forward. They described a giant walking across the globe, which requires a large number of players to kill. It is then thrown over a mountain, revealing a dungeon linking to another zone. It is important that the world be viewed as resources, fortresses, or territory that guilds want to control and capture.
Chao isn't ready to allow the entire game to be created entirely by the community. He believes that gamers should have greater control over the design of games than they have so far.
Chao stated that he is not ready to take the game to the next level. The entire game should be developed by the community. We have the power to create a great game. The developer can sell certain items in the game. A player can also receive some revenue. It all depends on the type of trade you wish to make on a decentralized exchange. It doesn't need to be a pyramid scheme. This has been done in past. It is possible to think of Eve Online as a large ship.
