In the latest episode of the Blockchain Gaming World podcast, editor-in-chief Jon Jordan talks to MetaKing Studios CEO David Johansson about the conception of fully onchain idle RPG Dynasty, its problem with bots, and the long-term vision for deeper medieval strategy game Blocklords, including the permadeath of NFT heroes and the ability to create long term metagame with family lineage.

Jon Jordan: How would you explain Dynasty? What was the vision?

David Johansson: Dynasty is a companion game, or side game. It’s our first foray into a mobile version of Blocklords, which is eventually planned. But Blocklords is still the main game. 

The idea with Dynasty was always to remove as much friction as possible from the game experience as we didn’t want users to get bogged down with wallet creation or blockchain transaction times. In terms of the onboarding process, I think we’ve achieved that. At the same time, we are maximalists, and we do believe in onchain gaming. Our first conversation about Blocklords was back in 2019 or 2020, so we’ve really gone full circle in that we started as a fully onchain game before there was any infrastructure in place. 

Then we kind of went the opposite route, and wanted to remove the friction completely and add the onchain elements as a side note. But a lot of feedback we were getting early on in the year from a variety of partners, especially as we were bracing for the token launch, was that we didn’t have that many actual NFT transactions. 

We were like, that’s the point. It’s optional, right? We got a lot of users. They don’t all have to be onchain. But we keep getting this feedback that we need more onchain transactions, because that’s how people measure traction in this space. That’s definitely not the only factor, but it was one factor behind Dynasty.

We had two choices, either put the main game fully onchain or partially onchain, although we believed that would make the experience slower and hurt the experience of the main game. 

We also had another issue, which was that our NFT heroes had a lot of in-game utility, but not enough. We are planning a lot of features for heroes in the main game, but those are very related to battles, and the battle system is still in development. We didn’t want to rush out the battle systems just to add hero utility.

So how do we do a side game that’s fully onchain with as little friction as possible, that puts the hero and hero utility at the core? That’s where Dynasty came from.

Of course we still wanted the onboarding to be as easy as possible so we ended up going with Base for its low transaction costs and fast transaction times. 

We also started partnering with Privy, so if you play the game, you notice that users don’t have to worry about seed phrases, they just use their email for logins. And because Base has a new product called Paymaster we are able to sponsor users’ gas fees and that’s really a game changer. I think a big reason for the growth we had is that a new user in Dynasty doesn’t have to pay its own gas as we sponsor five transactions and give them a free NFT. 

What do you think about bots?

It’s definitely challenging, and for us, bots are a cost stride because we’d have to pay for their gas, at least partially. Essentially, bots are a problem in this industry. At the same time, the industry values user numbers and transaction numbers. It’s hard to exactly say the ratio. We have been fighting against it. I believe we blocked 25,000 accounts so far that had either bought too much or abused the systems. As a web3 game dev, you’re always at war with a certain part of your player base, which does make it difficult. 

But overall we wanted to show that it’s possible to make onchain games that can scale. And I think we proved that.

It was interesting because the point system was on right away but the user acquisition wasn’t instant. It was definitely a growth phase. In the beginning, it was only a couple of thousand users daily. What kicked things off was when we launched the Orb system a couple weeks in. That’s when NFT token rewards came in, where your NFT hero fights against other heroes. 

The problem with that is that you’re playing against the OGs, the best heroes, so it’s extremely cutthroat. There’s an element where only the best players are going to win, which obviously a lot of players don’t like, but I think that’s important to have these kinds of systems. 

Some systems are developed for mass appeal, where everybody has a chance. Some are more skill-based or asset-based, where you need the right hero and the right strategy to win. And actually it’s funny, because some of the players who got to the higher ranks, didn’t have the best heroes, but they were tenacious or played the right way. 

When the users really started popping up was when we gave out the referral system. Also, we saw a lot of user acquisition success with partnerships. Moccaverse for example, and a token airdrop to their community, I believe we got 90,000 users just from that. Our friends at Carv also brought in 30,000 users or so. 

Currently around 30,000 DAUWs are playing Dynasty for the game, and not the airdrop

Correct, 30,000 has been around our stable DAUs since May. Last time we spoke, I think we were at 1,000 daily actives, so it’s definitely grown. What is interesting is that there’s really not a lot of rewards other than Renown in the game, but we are working on season two for Dynasty, which is coming in the next few months. 

We are working with Paymaster – which is the Coinbase-led team that handles gas payments for users – on ERC20 payments for gas, so users will be able to pay for gas in Dynasty using the LRDS token. That’s going to add a lot of utility to your token and also increase our ability to give rewards. 

It’s hard to give rewards when you know they’re going to be sold. It’s a different thing to give rewards when they’re going to be given back to the community via gas payments. 

Now that the token is live, we’re working on token utility, different ways you can use the tokens to accelerate your progression, and of course a few surprises as well for the second season.

What’s your reaction to the LRDS token launch?

We’re quite happy. I mean, for how the market is, it’s kind of strange because had we launched in January, it probably would have worked out five times more, but it’s hard to predict these things. 

Obviously being on Coinbase has been an amazing experience. We feel that’s a seal of approval that we think the project deserves. Not sure how familiar you are with the listing process across all the exchanges. It’s extremely long and unclear. But overall, it’s been an amazing launch in terms of token excitement, and in terms of users and influencers that covered us. 

I think the volume was over $40 million, which is insane for a one day volume. It’s a huge weight off our shoulders to have it live now.

Obviously the market’s not the best. Gaming especially has been quite bearish with a lot of the retail traders and the web3 community in general. At the same time, we’re seeing a lot of excitement for Telegram games, and the potential of web3 to bring in users. 

I think it’s all about just getting to work and keep creating a good game.

How frustrated are you that the fact you’ve been running a game for a year isn’t reflected in the token price?

At the end of the day, the market can be irrational longer than you can be solvent. So obviously we’re solvent. Our focus is on building a strong team and keeping creating really cool products. 

Valuations are extremely tricky in this business. I think we’re all trying to figure it out together and it does get frustrating at times, but you just have to embrace it. This is a great market.

Why did you want to build your own L3?

I want the main game to be onchain and for users to be able to verify, because when you send an NFT to the game, we actually burn it. We transfer the metadata into the game. 

We looked at doing it with Base, but at the end of the day, the gas costs get expensive, and it is too slow for us. What we’ve been looking at with Lordchain is how do we create something that we have a bit more control over, that’s secure, and open-source? 

That’s why we’re working with Optimism on this, and we’re also working closely with the Base team. Lordchain is going to be a Base layer-3.

Essentially, the ideological reason behind launching Lordchain is that we want to be able to verify quickly, easily, cheaply what’s going on inside of the game. And having our own infrastructure adds a ton of utility to the token on top of the game. 

What about permadeath of NFTs?

It’s always been the core concept and was very popular with VCs when we first started pitching Blocklords. Obviously asset inflation is something a lot of users care about. I’m saying that we just minted 1 million NFTs on Base, so the key is it’s important to get a lot of users free assets. But it’s equally important to have ways for those assets to disappear over time. Otherwise you end up with this thing where anybody can get one, or, why would I get one? 

The idea has always been that every hero is going to die. So I’m just warning you, that is going to happen. 

For now, Dynasty launched, that was a test, and that’s where dynasty comes from. You start with a hero, and you build out a family legacy.

The next step will be family lineage. You’ll be able to marry your heroes, have kids, pass down your skills. Obviously that becomes a lot of fun. I don’t know if you remember CryptoKitties, when you were trying to get the perfect cat. We’re going to play a lot with that. There’ll be negative and positive traits. 

Over time, we want to make it matter. Your heroes are important and they’re valuable and you got to be careful with them. Long term, there’s a lot of cool utility we can add to that hero. 

We’re also going to be exploring things like where the more dead heroes you have, the more powerful your legacy and our dynasty is. 

So what’s next?

We’ve always wanted the game to be a hybrid of grand strategy games like Crusader Kings, Civilization, and RTS games like Age of Empires and Total War. I’d say we’re still in the experimentation phase. This is a very rough alpha. Over the last six months, we’ve been extremely focused on Dynasty, on the token launch, and the web3 part of things.

Now with Lordchain, we finally have the bandwidth to be able to really go deep into the battle system. We’re going to be showing it to the press and a few selected investors. 

It won’t be the full features, but we’re trying to ship something this year. And definitely next year is when you’ll start seeing a lot more battle features coming into the game.

Find out more at the Blocklords website.

Best known for its fjords, forests, saunas and generous coffee consumption, the Nordics is also a region with many key blockchain game developers.

So ahead of PG Connects’ return to Helsinki on 1st-2nd October, which also features the exciting debut of our Big Screen Gaming Summit, BlockchainGamer has taken a closer look at some of the prominent web3 games teams across the Nordic countries.

Antler Interactive

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, and best known for PC-based open-world MMORPG My Neighbor Alice, Antler Interactive started out as SVRVIVE Studios in 2016. Originally it focused on VR gaming but has since pivoted towards blockchain-integrated games as well as building its own Chromia infrastructure. 

After working on fully onchain flagship title My Neighbor Alice since 2021, the team unveiled AI-enhanced RPG Cloudborn, its second blockchain game, earlier in 2024.

Continuing to adopt new technologies, Antler emphasises its vision to appeal to traditional gamers however, leveraging web2 platforms such as Steam in addition to its web3 native marketplaces to reach new players.

The company’s logo of a deer’s antlers symbolises the spirit of regrowth and constant evolvement, as well as the studio’s Nordic inheritance.

Bright Star Studios

Aiming to eliminate barriers usually associated with web3, Danish developer Bright Star Studios and its game veteran CEO Mark Laursen, continues to refine its no-wallet-just-stream approach. For this reason, its isometric social sandbox MMORPG Ember Sword can run on any device, anywhere in the world, without the need to own NFTs.

Working towards the official launch, Ember Sword has run several playtests and a recent EMBER token airdrop campaign, but the developer has also pointed out that many features are still to be added, such as quests and an expanded playable map.

CCP Games

Most famed for its long-running space MMOG EVE Online, for which it has received numerous awards and global recognition, Icelandic developer CCP Games made its mark in the web3 gaming industry in 2023 with the announcement of Project Awakening. 

Building on the artistry, game design, and player-driven narratives of the EVE universe, the ambitious PC-based title is a logical progression of the studio’s long-term vision of composability and infinite player-centric value. To that end, CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson has said, “We aim for everything around EVE Online to go on forever.”

Backed by $40 million, Project Awakening aims to leverage blockchain technology as well as open-source its Carbon engine to encourage player participation in world creation.

Crypto Rogue Games

Founded by ex-esports pro Åke André, Crypto Rogue Games is headquartered in northern Sweden. The team’s strong gamer background is evident in its game-first-crypto-second approach, which it hopes will lead to more intentional blockchain implementation that tangibly improves gameplay.

Currently working on PC-based post-apocalyptic steampunk ARPG Crystals of Naramunz, the team has partnered with Merit Circle to release open beta in Q4 2024 on the Beam infrastructure.

Directive Games

Another developer with partly Icelandic roots is Directive Games. Indeed, the company operates across three different locations, with its north office in Reykjavik, east in Shanghai, and west in Los Angeles. Its global setup allows the developer to tap into a diverse range of talent pools and audiences, driving innovation and creativity. 

Making its presence known in the space in 2023 with PC-based top-down 4V4 hero shooter The Machines Arena, Directive Games gained attention as being one of the first thirdparty teams to build on Sky Mavis’ Ronin blockchain.

Available across PC distribution platforms Epic Games Store and Steam, The Machines Arena recently launched its play-to-airdrop campaign, letting players earn TMA tokens through quests, NFT minting and gameplay, ahead of the TMA token launch.

Dynasty Studios

Joining the likes of more ambitious blockchain games on Avalanche such as Shrapnel, Off The Grid, and BloodLoop, Danish/Turkish developer Dynasty Studios is working on PC zombie survival shooter Providence.

Unveiled in 2023, the developer’s flagship web3 title features 4v4 PvPvE and is built using Unreal Engine 5. In terms of gameplay, players are challenged to create everything from scratch by exploring and scavenging resources and crafting new items using blueprints they find in the multiple zombie worlds. 

Founded in 2011, Dynasty Studios’ previous games include the Expeditions series and Clandestine. 

Empires Not Vampires

When it comes to dedication and tenacity, small Finish game studio Empires Not Vampires has bundles of it. Founded by various game veterans, prior to venturing into blockchain the studio had released a series of mobile games including DJ game MIXMSTR. Its flagship web3 title Paradise Tycoon is a browser/mobile based tycoon multiplayer game including social interaction and strategic gameplay, aiming to establish a player-driven economy. 

Its player-centric focus is evident in the company name – Empires Not Vampires – which reflects its commitment to enhance player agency and ownership rather than exploiting players through predatory monetization models, often referred to as vampire mechanics.

MetaKing Studios

For a long time – indeed since 2017 – Swedish developer MetaKing Studios was only working on blockchain-based mediaeval PC strategy game Blocklords. Or so it appeared, until more recently, when it released the companion game Blocklords Dynasty. 

Clearly part of the Blocklords franchise, with Blocklords Dynasty MetaKing has further emphasised its ever evolving vision of the vast web3 games ecosystem it’s creating. What was “a very simple concept at first” consisting of hero creation, is now two different games with its own rewards systems, deployed on different networks, and united by the LRDS token and interoperable Hero NFTs. On top of that, the company has also built its own L3 Lordchain. 

Perhaps a major explanation to its innovative drive is MetaKing CEO David Johansson. After studying film school in the US he found himself randomly ending up in China where he ventured into games and gathered experience in building free-to-play economies and digital worlds. 

This is one of the many reasons MetaKing Studios also made it to our Top 50 Blockchain Game Companies 2024.

Mystic Games

Helmed by ex-Rovio and King team member Matthew Buxton, Mystic Games has its roots in Sweden. Its flagship mobile game Call of the Voyd – “where gaming meets innovation through NFTs” – is a top-down shooter ARPG roguelite deployed on Immutable.

That and its significant focus on competitive win-to-earn gameplay through its roguelite royale element, as well as being easily accessible via traditional mobile app stores, are factors contributing to its early momentum. At the end of July, it claimed it had reached over 37,000 Immutable Passport wallets.

Nibiru

With the third most popular game on Polygon next after Sunflower Land and Anichess, Swedish developer Nibiru and its resource strategy game Planet IX does not shy away from the play-to-earn label. At the core of Planet IX’s in-game economy are the land NFTs called PIX, and its IXT token. Both active gameplay and stakeholding are rewarded within this gaming ecosystem.

Headquartered in Stockholm, since its foundation Nibiru has grown from two to over 30 team members. In addition to Planet IX, it’s also released the Illumicati project and its associated meme-token MILK.

Walker Labs

Announcing its settlement on Merit Circle’s L2 Beam, Walker Labs is working on ambitious web3 open world game Walker World (former Cryptowalkers), which is based on the developer’s original Walkers avatars. These interoperable assets can be used across multiple games, such as recently seen in Nifty Island, expanding owners’ opportunities.

In terms of gameplay, Walker World allows players and creators to own and build on their land, cooperate in multiple game modes, as well as participate in zombie fights using an expanding arsenal of weapons.

PGC Helsinki and Big Screen Gaming Summit 2024

Discover more about web3 gaming in the Nordic countries, as well as other emerging technologies, by checking out our upcoming Big Screen Gaming Summit, which is brought to Helsinki as part of our popular PG Connects conference this October 1st-2nd 2024.

Secure your tickets today >>

After six months of multiple airdrop campaigns, Blocklords has finally launched its LRDS token.

Despite not being live on exchanges, the token – which is an ERC20 on Ethereum – has still filled an in-game function and players have been able to stake their LRDS to gain influence, an in-game currency used to buy exclusive resource packs, hero NFTs, new levels, and more.

In order to empower players and drive engagement in the larger ecosystem, LRDS also serves as the governance token, allowing holders to participate in community voting. This extends beyond just the game’s development in that it includes treasury voting and validation of the game’s forthcoming L3 Lordchain.

To this end, Blocklords has introduced a node rewards program through which users who lock a minimum of 500 tokens for 13 weeks will earn exclusive rewards when Lordchain goes live. 

Similarly to other projects currently launching tokens, the opportunity to stake, obtain governance rights, and earn greater future rewards, appears to be a way of preventing players from immediately selling off their LRDS. This is also further enhanced by the tokens only being possible to obtain through active gameplay.

As for Blocklords, the PC-based grand strategy game is available via Epic Games and has garnered over 100,000 downloads since launching season 1 earlier in 2024. However, developer MetaKing also recently expanded by launching fully onchain browser-based extension game Blocklords Dynasty on Coinbase’s Base blockchain, which offers an additional way for players to earn LRDS rewards.

Available on PC, Blocklords can be downloaded via Epic Games Store, and Blocklords Dynasty is available here.