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Unicorn Labs, the development team behind the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Web3 (MMORPG) Search Animeratoday announced the launch on ImmutableXa platform for building and scaling Web3 games on Ethereum.
The team says that by partnering with ImmutableX, the developers of Search for Animera can ensure that players can enjoy the convenience of high-speed transactions as well as lossless minting and trading. gas fees combined with the robustness of Ethereum’s native security.
Unicorn Labs will also benefit from Immutable’s ZK (zero-knowledge) scaling solution, which has been in production for over two years, allowing them to focus on game delivery.
Andrew Sorokovsky, VP of Global Business Development at Immutable, said in a statement: “We strive to find the most innovative games to collaborate with to enhance and expand our web3 ecosystem. I. Our goal is to bring cutting-edge gaming experiences to players around the world, and partnerships with projects like Search for Animera help us get closer to that goal. By seamlessly combining AAA gaming with the speed and scalability of blockchain technology, we are opening a world of new possibilities for gamers in the years to come.”
Finding Animera is an interplanetary conquest, exploration and MMORPG. Set in a galaxy far, far away, the game tells a cosmic story of the discovery, conquest, and colonization of unique planets, new life forms, and vast resources — all expressed in an attractive game environment, with high graphics.
In Animera’s universe, players will explore and colonize the Nubera galaxy, which is full of planets and unique life forms; navigate the challenges of battle between species in space; and experience a thriving player economy in an ever-expanding sandbox, all while teleporting into deep space and immersing yourself in a mixture of hand-crafted and handcrafted worlds.
There will be three distinct game modes to choose from, each catering to specific individuals, including Discovery Mode, Story Mode, and Star Siege Mode.
Animera was built from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5 by Unicorn Labs, a team of veteran game developers, marketers, and smart contract builders. Prior to working for Animera, co-founder and lead producer Thomas Dimi signed a six-year deal with Konami Gaming for franchises, including Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer while co-founder Adil Khan , spent a decade focusing on digital marketing strategy, marketing performance, and analytics, primarily at Wunderman Thompson.
Designed to be as accessible to mainstream gamers as possible, the game leverages Magic Link, a set of tools available on ImmutableX that allows developers to make Web3 integration a breeze. , safe and non-custodial.
Magic Link enables the seamless introduction of a new crypto-powered Web2 gaming audience by providing a much simpler user experience. Users can start a game by simply logging into their game client, while the tool automatically creates a fully integrated, non-custodial Web3 wallet for them.
Animera will be able to offer players real ownership of their assets, as well as the ability to participate more directly in the creation of new content. The company says this will give power back to players and overhaul the microtransaction model to release new content that has long frustrated many gamers.
“I believe the difficult pre-requisites to actually play most Web3 games currently, including gas fees, additional crypto-specific know-how, and icy trading, complicate the process. level of gaming experience on web3. We’re excited to partner with ImmutableX, a protocol very similar to our own, to change this and get players back to what really matters — single-player suspense. simplicity and purity of realistic, engaging gameplay,” said Khan, co-founder of Unicorn Labs, in a statement.
In Q1 2023, Search for Animera will also launch a Genesis Character collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on ImmutableX, consisting of ownable in-game characters, each belonging to factions. Unique from the game’s escapist lore and equipped with customizable cosmetic enhancements, skins, ships, and more. The company says these NFTs will bring the added perks of early access to the alpha and beta versions of the game, and while the game is free to play, Genesis Character Collection NFT holders will have exclusive access to its Story mode gameplay, the company said.
Unicorn Labs will soon unveil its whitelisting experience, Program X, which aims to selectively showcase quality players and contributors, including game guilds, influencers, DAO and enthusiastic players, into its community.
Players can also look forward to the PvP game’s public beta test, with the game’s full release coming by the end of 2024. Additionally, in Q2, the Animera Search team plans to launch it. implemented their native token, ANIM, on both centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Unicorn Labs has 12 full-time employees and six independent contractors. The studio was primarily started between the founders with a small inflow of capital from Apex Digital VC and angel investors in their network of friends and family.
An uncontrolled AI in a dystopian future in a sci-fi environment is always a thought worth pondering when we’re sci-fi fans. Applying open world concepts to such MMOs, the company says it feels that the gameplay has always been limited with a heavy focus on crush-based gameplay, which makes these games a bit underwhelming. attractive to outsiders.
With Search For Animera, the founders say they’re building on more exciting gameplay that focuses more on ground or space combat, while also including exploring the game’s distant galaxy. , with each planet being connected to the game’s lore as this is something sci-fi fans have been stripped of in today’s popular titles.
“Our goal with SFA has always been to create a universe that gives players an immersive experience of the outside world. To deliver a truly immersive experience to our community, we knew that everything in the game had to be designed and developed with sci-fi realism,” said the founders.
They added: “To ensure this, we built surreal ships with 4k textures, massive character models, realistic control rigs, flight controller-based flight systems. flight, ballistic engine-based firing mechanics and PathTracer for realistic lightning effects, Niagra Cloth system and more.”
They acknowledge some of the backlash from gamers to the NFT. The company says NFTs are considered “extremely speculative investments” where they are inflated and sold to the next buyer without taking into account in-game utility. In fact, this has attracted the speculative crowd, not gamers at scale. In essence, game-related NFTs should be treated as in-game assets and allow users to progress in the game.
“Web3 game economy models are less than three years old, and in hindsight, play-for-money models paint an unrealistic picture that all gamers have can profit from a game”. “It removes the thrill of playing the game and creates a pseudo-financial product that traditional web2 gamers don’t want to know about when playing any game.”
Web3 games have a poor integration experience, where mainstream gamers have to create Metamask or other, load-balanced wallets before experiencing the game. This creates a large point of friction. The uncertainty associated with the payment of gas fees coupled with the time of network congestion just for handling NFTs (in-game assets) related to the game will be a major deal-breaker for any Any Web2 gamer is used to a seamless experience.
“At SFA, we are addressing these concerns by building a quality game where NFT is an in-game asset with live utility,” the company said. “By simplifying the referral experience (through wallet creation on the backend instead of the frontend) and removing gas fees from the equation through the IMX chain selection, we are ready to give those casual gamers who can start playing the game without a hitch and continue to enjoy the game experience through the gas free experience on the IMX chain. More importantly, the economy of the game is designed for users to increase their inventory/collectibles list instead of dumping assets. Users who receive financial rewards through the game include: token holders, competitive elements winners, and loyal players.”
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