How opinionated blockchains are winning web3 gaming

Opinionated blockchains are winning. Developers are looking for directed paths amid chaos, and curated strategies are putting some ecosystems ahead of others. 👇 Like most humans, game developers don't flourish with decision paralysis. They don't spend time or money wisely when being thrown to the "ecosystem gods," as I call it, and given a list of hundreds of vendors who largely shill unproven, unsafe, unsophisticated technology that will end up costing too much and not working (because none of it was made to work together—the Frankenstein approach to web3 game development results in failure every time). This is why, in the game engine game, we've basically got Unity and Unreal. Pick from Column A or Column B, both are incredible platforms with different strengths and benefits, and their success reinforces the notion that game devs have better things to do than worry about the underlying tech. Early generalist blockchains took the "neutral" approach to technology support for their game developers. I get it—you don't want to play favorites and potentially disincentivize a diverse portfolio of infrastructure options. The new wave of chains, especially those with a stated focus on gaming/media, are learning from the past of early blockchains, and mimicking successful structures even further back from more mature gaming ecosystems, which is to say, "here are the best practices for success and here's how to build."

Astar Studio

These chains are picking Sequence to power the development platforms for their worlds, including Xai, Astar, ApeChain, and many others. It's a reflection of world-class tech, world-class safety, and the best developer and player experiences. And the data show how this is working for these chains in accelerating the traction of developers building. Xai, for example, has over 1,900 projects building on the Xai Builder within its first two months of launch, because devs finally have a big, bold "shut up and build" button and accessible tooling.

Xai Builder homepage

Networks like Immutable and Ronin, both major drivers of web3 gaming, have taken a similar approach. "Here's the chain, here's the tech, let's focus on building and scaling your game." It's a powerful message that resonates with game developers who aren't looking to agonize over the basics of how to create amazing experiences. This is definitely the way of the future, as the space consolidates and devs chase fewer shiny (over-hyped, generally worthless) fads and double down on building quality content that will actually drive the utility and success of these new chains. Lots more coming here, stay tuned.

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