As the year draws to an end, we’re asking some of the key members of the blockchain gaming sector what they thought about what happened in 2023, and what they expect in 2024. You can check out all our interviews in this series here.
Chris Trew is the CEO and founder of Stratis, developer of blockchain SDKs and forthcoming web3 city-builder Project Atlantis.
What was the most significant news of 2023?
Stratis had a few significant pieces of news throughout 2023. At the beginning of the year, we launched a separate gaming division and unveiled Project Atlantis, a game that leverages Stratis technologies.
In addition to leveraging decentralized technologies, Project Atlantis will utilize Artificial Intelligence to provide extraordinary conversational experiences with Non-Player-Characters in newly discovered cities. LLMs will also offer real-time artifact generation, creating unique in-game assets, including terrain, characters, items, and more.
Project Atlantis will also lean on generative models to provide atmospheric music based on the surrounding environment, creating a genuinely unique experience for players as they navigate the world of Project Atlantis. When applied correctly, gaming is a great use case for blockchain and AI, enabling new and innovative ways for users to genuinely own unique in-game items and explore new token economics that holds value outside the gaming realm.
The other big news was the launch of Ticketsphere, an innovative NFT ticketing platform. Ticketsphere empowers event managers, artists, and venues with a digital environment to generate and distribute event tickets as non-fungible tokens. As part of the ticket-buying process, the NFTs are relayed to the purchaser, ensuring legitimate ownership, a fully non-custodial experience, and more avant-garde experiences.
We have also recently retired our original blockchain and begun migrating to Ethereum with the launch of StratisEVM, a new Ethereum-based blockchain, to leverage Ethereum’s robust ecosystem and boost interoperability.
How did the focus of your business change this year?
The primary focus for Stratis was developing and delivering a Microsoft-focused blockchain platform, which we have successfully achieved. However, during this period, we observed platforms like Ethereum experiencing exponential growth in usage and market capitalization.
Ultimately, this led us to reevaluate our goals. We conducted market research and drew upon our extensive experience and knowledge from various business engagements in the blockchain sector. A principle insight emerged — our focus on developing a new platform was inadvertently becoming a barrier to wider adoption.
Consequently, we decided to transition to an Ethereum-based blockchain, a move that received unanimous support from the Stratis community, and confirmed through a prior voting process.
Our journey wasn’t without challenges, particularly in business engagements where concerns about interoperability and tool availability were prominent. Stratis dedicated itself to developing essential tooling for the platform, which included creating SDKs for the Unreal and Unity Gaming Engines, supporting various programming languages, sponsoring .NET conferences and events, and initiating projects like DevEx for static code analysis in Smart Contract development.
What do you predict will be the most important trends in 2024?
We foresee increased integration of web2 games into the web3 gaming sphere. This transition will be facilitated by in-game items and NFT marketplaces, which will serve as a bridge between web2 and web3 gaming experiences.
We can expect the emergence of new blockchain games, many of which will likely be mobile-based, as this sector continues to see the highest demand among gamers worldwide.
What was your favourite blockchain game of the year?
There were several impressive games in the blockchain space this year. NFL Rivals by Mythical Games, launched in January, is one of them. By the end of 2023, it amassed around 3 million users. Another notable mention is LandRocker. I also continue to admire Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and the ingenious concept behind The Sandbox.
I’m especially excited about the launch of Project Atlantis next year. Project Atlantis is a city-building game where all players exist on a single server, with the gameplay unfolding regardless of whether they are online or not. The journey begins in colonies that were once bustling hubs but are now desolate, scattered with small structures. Each colony operates independently with its own resources, buildings, armies, and traders. As the game progresses, these colonies expand, unlocking more building slots, and players are encouraged to collaborate, trade, and engage in combat for supremacy.
Players lead their armies in epic battles for resources and territory, manage resource nodes, create trade mechanisms, and engage in espionage to stay ahead. Moreover, players can join alliances and trading guilds for political interactions or maintain relations with resource-rich regions for conquest, trade, or negotiation.
What’s your New Year’s resolution and what resolution would you enforce on the industry?
This past year was challenging yet rewarding, and businesses that survived are poised to thrive in the coming years. The burgeoning AI boom, coupled with the integration of AI, blockchain, and cryptocurrency, is set to yield significant developments in the near future, and Stratis is fully prepared to capitalize on this wave.
We should anticipate an influx of institutional investors entering the web3 market, accompanied by an increase in regulations and restrictions. However, these will not hinder the impending revolution we expect over the next few years.
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