Exclusive interview with Gunzilla Games: How the developer of "Off The Grid", the game of the year, views Web3 game skepticism

Original author: Kurt Robson

Compiled by: Zen, PANews

As 2024 draws to a close, the gaming industry has gradually become a new hotbed for the rise of Web3 technology. Once a niche area of the gaming industry, Web3 games have quickly entered the mainstream in the past 12 months, sparking developers' imaginations of unlimited possibilities for the future.

One company, Gunzilla Games, has capitalized on these possibilities with its debut game, Off The Grid, which has seen notable success this year.

Related reading: "Off the Grid, a highly anticipated game that has made its mark in the mainstream gaming world, can it usher in a new era of Web3 gaming?"

In an interview with cryptocurrency media CCN.com , Gunzilla Games’ Web3 Director Theo Agranat discussed the barriers to widespread blockchain adoption in video games, future regulation that could impact the industry, and why skepticism will always be with gamers.

Embrace the ever-present skepticism

On October 8, 2024, Gunzilla Games officially launched Off The Grid, a free-to-play battle royale game set in a dystopian cyberpunk future. The game stood out for its 150-player multiplayer gameplay and strong narrative elements led by Oscar-nominated director Neill Blomkamp of District 9.

In addition to rich gameplay, Off The Grid uses blockchain technology to integrate an NFT market that supports in-game asset ownership and trading. Unlike other pure Web3 games, Gunzilla is committed to bridging the gap between traditional players and Web3 game enthusiasts, and includes blockchain elements as an optional additional feature. This decision may stem from Gunzilla's clear understanding of the widespread skepticism among players. In fact, they believe that skepticism is an important part of the industry.

"Scepticism always exists, and for good reason. It allows game developers to be transparent and pushes them to prove their worth through hard work," Agranat said, adding that even skeptical players are usually shocked once they actually try Off The Grid. Because it feels exactly like a traditional game, but with asset ownership, peer-to-peer transactions of in-game items, fully verifiable transparency, and other unique advantages brought by blockchain technology.

For Gunzilla, it was crucial to ensure that traditional players could experience Web3 elements without being forced to participate, Agranat added. "In fact, players can choose to avoid these features if they wish. At no point will these features be intrusive to players. Instead, it is more of an experience that is optional,"

After its recent launch on Playstation 5, Off The Grid has attracted more traditional gamers, which may expose more people to the potential of blockchain.

Putting products and compliance first

“Gunzilla Games understands that there are huge obstacles to overcome in order to propel blockchain gaming to the top of the industry.”

Agranat said that for a long time, there has been a sense of distrust between traditional media and players, as well as between those who exist purely in the Web3 field. However, developers believe that as more and more traditional people begin to understand the charm of blockchain, these barriers are gradually being broken down.

“We are working hard to gain acceptance in both sectors, including passionate gamers and stakeholders at the top level of the industry.”

Agranat said these efforts will be in sync with compliance with regulatory requirements that may be introduced in the future, which seems increasingly important, especially after the recent crackdown by global regulators. For example, Australian Web3 gaming platform Immutable recently became the first blockchain gaming company to receive a "Wells Notice" from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to Immutable's announcement, the notice mentioned its IMX token listing and private sale in 2021, and the SEC suggested that no actual value exchange occurred between the parties to the transaction at the time.

Related reading: "SEC "gets involved" in the field of crypto games, Immutable chooses to fight to the end after receiving Wells' notice"

However, Agranat believes that future regulation will be positive as long as regulation remains reasonable. He also said that developers should work with regulation, not against it. "Web3 developers and issuers need to put product and compliance first, and Web3 technology second," Agranat said. "In my opinion, this is a healthy direction of progress that will help the entire industry mature."

Emphasis on transparency is key to Web3

Agranat said Gunzilla Games puts transparency at the core of its product development, which is also the key to the growth of blockchain games. The German game developer recently announced that crypto venture capital firm Delphi Ventures will become the largest validator of its blockchain platform GUNZ.

Agranat mentioned that the venture capital firm will provide advice on Gunzilla’s Web3 roadmap, marketing strategy, and in-game feature implementation to safeguard its upcoming utility token. In addition, the venture capital firm will also help build a dashboard to show players the transparency of the entire GUNZ ecosystem.

“We want to let gamers, stakeholders and partners know that we are serious about this,” Agranat said, noting that Gunzilla is only for gamers. He further stated that the company believes that the labels of Web2 and Web3 are outdated.

“In the future, regardless of the technology used to deliver a superior user and player experience, all of these will simply be called ‘games,’” Agranat concluded.