Shrapnel: The game at GDC everyone’s talking about As the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco came to a close last wee
Shrapnel: The game at GDC everyone’s talking about
As the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco came to a close last week, there was one game that stood out from the rest. Shrapnel, a highly anticipated first-person shooter in the Web3 space, was the talk of the conference thanks to its stunning graphics and immersive gameplay.
Select visitors were treated to a hands-on experience with the pre-alpha version of the game. Set in the year 2044, Shrapnel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. Players must navigate the “sacrifice zone,” where they collect NFT gear and a compound named Sigma. They can win by reaching an extraction point where they can escape with their loot. If they die, they lose their loot.
Shrapnel founder Mark Long told Cointelegraph at GDC that for his team, it’s all about the gameplay first. He added that while the demo took place behind closed doors this time, more people would be able to play Shrapnel next month.
“Anyone at ConsenSys will be able to play it on the show floor,” he says, referring to the conference in Austin, Texas, in late April.
EVE Online, MapleStory to get Web3 treatment
While Shrapnel was hogging the limelight, EVE Online creators CCP Games announced they raised $40 million in a round led by a16z to develop a new AAA title set in the EVE universe.
EVE Online is a space-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Launched in 2003, its game includes over 7,000 solar systems and two decades of player-created history. Players can choose their own paths and professions in the game, focusing on battles, mining, exploration and industry, as they interact with its complex in-game economy and hierarchy.
It’s not a game for the faint-hearted: some describe playing the game as having a second job. In addition, the increasing cost of playing EVE Online has long been a point of contention between players and CCP Games.
As with every time a Web2 game studio expresses an interest in Web3 — think Neopets metaverse, for instance — the worry among players is that it’s little more than a cynical cash grab.
The details of what the blockchain EVE game will look like are still under wraps but the company has made clear it’s not going to impact EVE’s global server, known as Tranquility. Last year, the company came out and said that they had no plans to add blockchain technology to Tranquility.
“While we remain intrigued by the technology, for us, NFT stands for ‘Not for Tranquility,’” company CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson said at the time.
Related: What are Web3 games, and how do they work?
The website for this project, which suggests the name is “Project Awakening,” states the game is “separate from current and previously disclosed projects, including EVE Online.”
It’s not the only traditional gaming brand that’s recently announced its jumping on the Web3 bandwagon. Gaming company Nexon is bringing its popular game, MapleStory, to the blockchain.
Claiming over 260 million players, the game allows players to explore deserts, tundras, underwater kingdoms, lost civilizations and more. The South Korean firm follows other players in the region, such as Square Enix and Bandai Namco, who have previously dabbled in Web3.
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Bazooka Tango wants to revive indie card game Shardbound
Indie game Shardbound is also getting a Web3 revival, from gaming studio Bazooka Tango. A tactics card game, Shardbound initially launched through Kickstarter. But it never made a full release, and interest faded.
That’s when Bazooka Tango came in and decided to give it a new lease of life, according to the company’s co-founder, Stephan Sherman.
“The developers at SpiritWalk had been very close friends of ours and we had always been a fan of the product,” Sherman tells Cointelegraph.
Once we had the opportunity, we talked to them about picking up where it left off and bringing it the final mile, so it had a chance to reach a worldwide audience.”
The Shardbound beta will be open to the public around mid-year 2023 and available on mobile in 2024.
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