Immutable, a trailblazing Web3 gaming company, is poised to redefine the gaming landscape with its revolutionary approach to eliminating gas fees for users. This innovative solution is embedded in its proprietary scaling platform, zkEVM, scheduled for launch in early 2024. Leveraging zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs), this platform seeks to scale transactions seamlessly, providing users with a frictionless onboarding experience in blockchain-based games.
immutable teases next-level gas-free web3 gaming
In the traditional realm of Web3 games, especially those built on Ethereum, users were burdened with covering gas fees allocated to network validators for processing transactions. The absence of layer-2 scaling protocols meant that Ethereum-based decentralized applications (DApps) and services relied solely on validators and miners for smart contract operations. While essential for blockchain decentralization, this transaction fee model acted as a deterrent for mainstream gamers accustomed to fee-free gaming experiences.
Immutable’s Chief Technology Officer, Alex Connolly, underscores the significance of delivering a familiar and streamlined user experience for Web3 games to gain traction among mainstream players. Gas fees, he asserts, are a norm in the blockchain space that conventional gamers are unwilling to embrace. Addressing this challenge, Immutable’s zkEVM aims to empower game developers to eliminate gas fees for end users, fostering an environment where the intricacies of blockchain become inconspicuous to gamers.
Game-changing commitment and support
Gas fees have proven to be a stumbling block in the integration of digital asset ownership into games, making Immutable’s zkEVM an enticing prospect for the future of Web3 games. Through zkEVM, game developers can sponsor gas fee payments, effectively nullifying these transactions for users possessing Immutable Passports. In an additional commitment to user experience, Immutable plans to cover gas fees for all ecosystem games during a limited timeframe at the mainnet launch.
Immutable anticipates that game studios may face gas fees ranging from $500 to $1000 for every 100,000 users in their gaming environments. Connolly envisions that sponsoring gas fees could not only enhance player adoption but also drive increased revenues for game studios. This provision, he believes, could eventually evolve into an expense akin to infrastructure or server costs. The studio expects zkEVM to offer game developers access to lower development costs, complemented by the security and network effects inherent in the Ethereum ecosystem.
An announcement on August 14 revealed that over 20 gaming studios, including prominent names such as GameStop, TokenTrove marketplace, Kongregate, and iLogos, have pledged their support for the beta launch. Immutable’s co-founder and president, Robbie Ferguson, previously articulated that zkEVM is designed to amplify ownership rights for Web3 gamers. By introducing this cutting-edge technology, Immutable positions itself as a frontrunner in the evolving Web3 gaming landscape.
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