Author: FaultProofBen
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As you may know, I spent last week attending Devconnect in Istanbul.
I had an incredible time. Istanbul is an amazing city, and I miss being surrounded by adorable cats.
However, the highlights of my trip were not cat-seeing, but rather (in what should come as no shock) the events focused on onchain games and autonomous worlds.
Devconnect was perhaps the biggest source to-date of IRL connectivity for members of our small (but growing) space.
There were two main conferences that headlined the week:
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AW Day hosted by AW Research and Arpa Network on November 14
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The Autonomous Worlds Assembly, hosted by 0xParc and the Autonomous Worlds Network from November 15-16
I’m not being hyperbolic – These were the best events I’ve ever attended, as I spoke with, met, listened to, and played against numerous gigabrain builders and enthusiasts.
I learned a ton.
Today, I’ll share some of these insights with you and why I came away from the week more bullish than ever on the space.
Now…let’s get to it!
Principles of AW Design
I’d previously struggled to wrap my mind around the design philosophy of autonomous worlds (AWs).
I subscribed to the idea that there’s more to onchain games than “just the game.” However, I had trouble identifying the unique, valuable attributes of AWs.
Post-Istanbul, I feel I have more clarity, with the AW Assembly helping provide context on this front through its many talks, panels, and discussions.
Based on what I heard, some affordances of AWs enabled by blockchains include:
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Persistence - The ability for a world to survive for extended periods of time.
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Hardness - A term coined by EF Researcher Josh Stark that refers to a world’s resilience and robustness.
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Composability - The ability for anyone to build on top of a world.
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Interoperability - The interactions (both on or offchain) between different components within a world.
Of course, these are not the only characteristics developers will aim to imbue in the worlds they create.
Furthermore, we don’t know which ones builders will (or should) optimize for. This is likely to be a subject of debate for years to come.
However, I think the philosophy and principles driving the design of these blockchain-powered worlds are far clearer than before.
Fun First, Tokens MIA
Many talks at both events centered around blockchains as a net new gaming platform.
In particular, there was a lot of discussion on how developers could leverage its unique selling points (which enable the attributes listed in the prior section) along with complimentary technologies like zkProofs, zkML, AI, and more to create fun and novel experiences.
Hilmar Veigar, the CEO of CCP Games, the studio behind the Web2 MMO Eve Online, gave a particularly compelling talk on how to make a fun game during the AW Assembly.
During his presentation, Veigar described how Eve has managed to foster a loyal userbase that has stuck with the game for over 20 years by creating a desire amongst its players to help one another.
There was also a notable omission from these discussions: tokens.
There was zero talk of numbers going up, airdrops, or the idea that the value proposition of blockchain-based gaming is the ability to “make money from playing.”
While I like making money as much as the next guy, the focus on innovation rather than financialization was refreshing.
We’ll have to see if this will hold if prices continue to increase and as more venture capital enters the space.
MUD and Dojo Lead
Due to their importance and strong network effects, the fight for onchain gaming engine supremacy will be among the highest-stakes infrastructure battles over the next several years.
Pre-Istanbul, I saw MUD and Dojo as the two category leaders.
My conviction in this view only strengthened during Devconnect, as the vast majority of teams I spoke to were building their game using one of these frameworks.
MUD and Dojo had strong on-the-ground presences, such as the former at the AW Assembly and the latter at AW Day and the Dojo Ninja School event.
Individual projects within each ecosystem also seemed to garner quite a bit of attention.
Sky Strife, Primodium, and This Cursed Machine were the most popular MUD games, while many attendees were Small Brain pilled after its namesake dev’s talks.
On the Dojo front, the biggest standout was far and away Realms.
I spoke to about a half dozen projects building within the Realms ecosystem, which is only a fraction of the soon-to-be 20 recipients of $LORDS grants from Frontius House. In addition, I encountered many Loot Survivor fans throughout the week.
That said, it’s far too early to count out other engines.
While neither had as big a presence, Curio (Keystone) and Paima Studios (Paima Engine) were on the ground at the conferences, are building cool stuff, and won’t be going anywhere.
I’d expect them to gain momentum over the coming months – Though they will have their work cut out for them with MUD and Dojo in pole position today.
Bullish on the Future
I learned a lot about the macro and micro of onchain games and autonomous worlds at Devconnect.
I only touched on a few key insights, such as some principles of AW construction, the focus on fun over financialization, and the competitive positioning of engines like MUD and Dojo.
There’s much more I could discuss, and perhaps I will in a subsequent piece.
However, I came away from this week more bullish than ever on this space not just because of the tech, but due to the community.
The onchain gaming and AW community is awesome.
Everyone is extremely friendly, smart, and optimistic.
Builders are scrappy, continuing to ship games despite hardware limitations, scant venture funding, and barebones teams.
Although there aren’t many (yet), the non-developer players and enthusiasts are also a blast to be around.
Furthermore, people genuinely seem to like the games.
Personally, I had a ton of fun playing in the AW Assembly’s Sky Strife tournament (Despite losing in heartbreaking and semi-controversial fashion).
I don’t think I’m the only one, as the game’s tables at the AW Assembly, where attendees could try out 9 different onchain games, were packed throughout the event.
Overall, the vibes are great.
This is by far the least toxic gaming community I’ve ever been around.
While we’ll see if this lasts in the long-run (I really hope it does), right now the energy and enthusiasm in the space right now is infectious and palpable.
It’s a stark contrast from the cynicism and nihilism we see in other corners of crypto.
So, all in all, I think these next few months and years are going to be a wild ride.
I’m incredibly excited to hop on board, be a part of it and experience what’s in store.
Thanks for reading!
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