Epic Games, the creators of the popular online multiplayer game Fortnite, has entered the world of blockchain gaming with the release of Blankos Block Party on the Epic Games Store.
Blankos Block Party is a nonfungible token (NFT) powered online creation game developed by Mythical Games that was first released in open beta in December 2020. According to Mythical Games, the Web3 game has had more than one million users since its launch.
The game studio first announced plans to bring the free-to-play title to the Epic Games Store in June, beating out Gala Games and its western-themed shooter Grit to become the first Web3 game to launch on the popular PC gaming marketplace.
Blankos Block Party is a colorful online world inspired by designer/vinyl toy culture. NFT technology is used in the game to represent unique items such as avatar designs and accessories, which users can buy and sell via the game’s marketplace.
Burberry, Atari, and musician Deadmau5 are among the well-known brands and artist partners who have already agreed to participate in Blankos Block Party by offering limited-edition drops.
It is important to note for interested players that are owning an NFT is not required to play the game.
The Epic Games store version of Blankos Block Party is functionally identical to the playable version on the game’s website. Both versions are currently available in an “early access” state ahead of the game’s full launch on September 28.
In other blockchain gaming news, Square Enix, the Japanese game developer behind the massively successful Final Fantasy franchise, has agreed to become a node validator for the blockchain gaming project Oasys. According to the Oasys announcement, Square Enix has claimed the last of the project’s 21 initial validator slots.
In addition to becoming a validator, the pair have collaborated to develop the next generation of blockchain games on Oasys’ EVM-compatible proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. The collaboration’s primary focus will be on the development of Triple-A quality games with play-to-earn (P2E) integrations. Double Jump, Bandai Namco, and Ubisoft are among Oasys’ other gaming partners.
In January, Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda expressed interest in incorporating blockchain-enabled “token economies” into games to incentivize both players and users who create content for the games.
“As token economies develop, users will be given explicit incentives, resulting in greater consistency in their motivation and a tangible benefit to their creative efforts.”
A wide range of motivations will inspire people to engage with games and connect with one another, from having fun to earning money to contribute. This will be possible thanks to blockchain-based tokens. We will enable self-sustaining game growth by incorporating viable token economies into our games.”
In July, the company made its first foray into the world of NFTs with the release of tokenized character figures for $129.99 featuring Final Fantasy characters such as Cloud Strife.
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