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In the ever-changing realm of web3, one constant has remained true—stories matter. Narratives have played a significant role in driving the growth of various projects. From the defi boom of 2020 to the NFT frenzy of 2021 and the emergence of liquid staking in 2022, leading projects in these narratives have experienced accelerated growth simply by being a part of the story.
Now, it’s time for the ‘autonomous worlds’ narrative to take center stage. This article explores the concept of autonomous worlds, the shortcomings of traditional gaming technologies, and how this new narrative is poised to revolutionize the gaming and virtual world landscape.
What are ‘autonomous worlds’?
The concept of ‘autonomous worlds’ refers to virtual environments built on blockchain networks, harnessing the decentralized nature of the blockchain. These worlds can take the form of fully on-chain games (FOCG) or environments where players can use avatars to shape the world they desire. Autonomous worlds aim to break free from the limitations of traditional gaming platforms, offering a dynamic and sustainable ecosystem where users have unprecedented control and freedom.
Why current gaming technologies fall short
Gaming and virtual worlds face inherent challenges that hinder their full potential. Firstly, their limited lifespan is a significant issue. The fate of a game is often solely determined by developers, sidelining the passionate player community that drives the gaming world. This lack of player agency leads to an ecosystem where games’ success or failure is dictated by a select few rather than being shaped by the collective experiences and desires of the gaming community.
Secondly, the slow pace of innovation within traditional game development processes hampers the industry’s progress. The lengthy development cycles, coupled with uncertainty around a game’s success upon release, inhibit the industry’s ability to adapt quickly to changing trends. This sluggish pace stifles creativity and hinders the industry’s ability to respond promptly to evolving player preferences.
Lastly, the confinement of users to a single environment limits interactions and immersion potential. In traditional gaming, users can only experience their favorite characters within the boundaries of a specific game, restricting the possibilities of interconnectedness that could be achieved in a more open and decentralized virtual environment like autonomous worlds.
Enter the autonomous worlds
In the rapidly evolving world of web3, autonomous worlds emerge as a new narrative, reshaping virtual worlds and gaming through blockchain technology. Autonomous worlds have the potential to create infinite virtual realms where games and environments, once integrated into the blockchain, can exist indefinitely.
The decentralized nature of blockchain, with validators ensuring network security, contributes to the longevity and sustainability of autonomous realms. As long as validators are operational, the game or world will persist. Moreover, no single entity can alter or take down a game once it’s built on-chain, making it resistant to censorship and ensuring its longevity.
Open-source development within autonomous worlds is facilitated by the transparency of smart contracts, enabling collaborative development. This collaborative approach accelerates the development process, allowing games to be launched quickly and developers to receive feedback promptly. This shorter feedback loop incentivizes more developers to create games, increasing the likelihood of successful releases.
Lastly, composable engineering allows for the transfer of characters, NFTs, and tokens across different worlds, creating a vast and interconnected ecosystem. This composable nature enhances user experience, transcending the limitations of traditional gaming environments and paving the way for immersive virtual experiences.
Imagine using one game avatar across multiple games, opening up endless possibilities for collaboration. Players can be rewarded for completing quests in one game while playing another. This interconnected ecosystem enhances creativity and player engagement.
The realization of autonomous worlds is on the horizon, driven by key factors shaping the landscape. The growth of Layer-2 solutions expands network capacity, laying the groundwork for sophisticated autonomous worlds. Critical infrastructure features like Oracles and account abstraction bolster the technical backbone of these virtual realms, making them more robust and user-friendly.
The play-to-earn model during the previous bull market has provided a glimpse of the future within virtual realms, preparing players for the autonomous world experience. In autonomous worlds, players can use tokens for in-game items and be rewarded for their performance. By integrating economic incentives, users contribute actively to the ecosystem, accelerating the advent of autonomous worlds.
Building autonomous worlds: integrating randomness
In the ambitious endeavor of constructing autonomous worlds, integrating an on-chain random number generator (RNG) is essential. Fully on-chain games rely on randomness to offer users a dynamic and unpredictable experience, injecting excitement and fairness into virtual realms. Choosing the right RNG is crucial for building trust and engaging the community.
Seamless integration into various dapps through smart contract SDKs is vital for applications requiring random number generation for activities like rolling dice, shuffling arrays, generating in-game item attributes, creating random maps or dungeons, and determining lottery outcomes.
Overall, the concept of autonomous worlds promises to reshape the gaming and virtual world landscape, offering unprecedented freedom and control to users in a decentralized and interconnected ecosystem. As we move closer to the realization of autonomous worlds, the future of gaming and virtual experiences appears more vibrant and immersive than ever before.