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Author: 0xAkina
Gm onchain gamers!
It’s flying under the mainstream crypto radar – But onchain games are leveling up.
Teams continue to build and push the space forward, shipping new gameplay and infrastructure updates at a breakneck speed.
One game that’s a prime example of this is Pirate Nation.
An RPG developed by Proof of Play, in Pirate Nation, you take the role of a (you guessed it) pirate to complete quests, compete in combat, craft NFTs items, earn Pirate Gold (PGLD), and more!
Ben first covered Pirate Nation in August 2023; since then, the game has hit numerous milestones.
This includes all-time highs in DAUs, a $33 million raise for Proof of Play, and numerous new gameplay and infrastructure releases for us gamers.
Today, I’ll look at some of these updates and give you a breakdown of what’s new with Pirate Nation.
Let’s get into it!
PvP
One of the biggest additions to Pirate Nation’s gameplay in recent months is PvP combat
Previously, combat in Pirate Nation was entirely PvE, as you’d fight against a CPU. However, players can now take their ships to sea and battle each other.
PvP includes several changes to gameplay, like a timer, compared to PvE.
This helps make battles faster and adds new dynamics to in-game strategy, as you no longer have as much time to plot your moves.
PvP is currently only accessible to holders of Founder’s Pirates NFTs, which cost ~0.45 ETH, and you have to enter a code to join a battle (which admittedly can be a bit annoying).
However, the game mode as a whole is a lot of fun, and I imagine it will soon become more streamlined and accessible to a wider range of players.
I’m also excited to see some of the new upcoming features like leaderboards, results validation, PGLD antes and rewards, and more.
Hard Gauntlets
A second recent change to combat is the addition of the “Hard” difficulty for Gauntlets.
For those new to Pirate Nation, Gauntlets are a series of five consecutive PvE battles that progressively get more difficult.
Now these combat encounters can be experienced at a higher difficulty, with Hard Gauntlets requiring an entry fee of 500 Pirate Gold (PGLD) and providing superior rewards relative to “Normal” ones.
I’ve found this new type of Gauntlet quite challenging – Which I think is good.
I’m a Level 20 and have yet to complete all five fights!
Exploration
Along with changes to combat, Pirate Nation now has another new type of gameplay: Exploration.
In Exploration, you can use your ship to sail the seas, visit different islands, and gather resources (albeit at the cost of using your energy).
Players can activate “Exploration mode” by clicking on their docked ship on their island.
Like PvP, Founder’s Pirates owners also have exploration perks, as they get a 10% speed boost on their ships in the mode.
The Shipwright
Pirate Nation is becoming more social through the launch of the Shipwright.
The Shipwright is a new settlement building where you can offer different services to other Pirate Nation players in exchange for a fee.
While its entire range of use cases has yet to be announced, you can now use the Shipwright to merge and upgrade ships.
I’m a big fan of the new building, as it boosts utility for ships while providing a new avenue for players to earn.
Marketplace
Gameplay is not the only thing getting a boost – Pirate Nation’s supporting infrastructure has also been upgraded with the release of the Marketplace.
As its name suggests, the Marketplace is a unified venue where players can trade in-game items without fees.
Notably, it supports crypto and fiat transactions, which should enable both onchain and Web2 gamers to buy and sell easily.
Multichain
While not yet released, a final upcoming infrastructure release is the launch of Multichain.
Multichain is a “constellation” of L3s powered by Arbitrum Orbit and Pirate Nation’s onchain gaming engine.
Multichain L3s are optimized for hosting onchain games and other “internet-scale” applications with sub 250 MS tx speeds and dirt-cheap fees.
In the “coming days,” the Proof Of Play team will migrate Pirate Nation’s game contracts from Arbitrum Nova to Apex (the first multichain).
Notably, the game will still use mirroring to enable gameplay with Founder’s Pirates that live on Ethereum L1.
I’m hyped for the launch of Apex and to see what other games to choose to build using the Stack!
Bullish Pirate Nation
As you can see, Proof Of Play has been busy since we last looked at Pirate Nation, shipping numerous new gameplay updates and infrastructure updates.
These releases should help attract new players and attention while helping Pirate Nation cement itself as a leading onchain game.
I’m incredibly excited to see what comes of that growth – And where Pirate Nation and the broader Proof Of Play ecosystem go from here.
See you soon, Pirates!
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