Independent triple-A game studio Gunzilla Games has announced a partnership with decentralized, open-source proof-of-stake blockchain Avalanche to create GUNZ, a blockchain-based gaming platform built entirely on an Avalanche Subnet, which offers high transaction speeds and low fees.
Gaming studios can use the GUNZ software development kit and various white-label components to create and release their games on GUNZ.
Gunzilla created GUNZ to cater to the gaming and blockchain communities. It allows players to participate in play-to-own mechanisms through verified transparency. Gunzilla will integrate the project into the upcoming Off The Grid, a battle royale 2.0 game.
Off The Grid aims to revolutionize the battle royale genre by emphasizing storytelling and digital ownership.
GUNZ claims to be one of the first player-friendly crypto-economies in a triple-A setting — focusing on empowering players by providing them full ownership of in-game items through NFTs.
“Our partnership with Avalanche not only allows us to leverage its highly scalable and secure blockchain infrastructure but also ensures a seamless, low-latency gaming experience for our players.”
Vlad Korolev, CEO & co-founder of Gunzilla Games
Transforming gaming industry with transparency
Gunzilla Games CEO Vlad Korolev said partnering with Avalanche allows them to use its reliable and scalable blockchain infrastructure.
He explained that the companies aim to transform the gaming industry by introducing a transparent system for managing in-game assets by creating GUNZ. It will also provide several standard market features for game developers building their economy on blockchain.
Emin Gün Sirer, CEO of Ava Labs, the main developer of Avalanche, said that Gunzilla Games has ambitious intentions to transfer the finest Web2 gaming experience to Web3.
He added that the Off The Grid Subnet and Web3 publishing stack are excellent contributions to the current wave of Avalanche games.
Korolev mentioned in an email to Gunzilla that when the company was looking for a suitable partner to establish its blockchain platform and ecosystem, Avalanche was the only promising company that would allow it to create its very own Layer 1 solution.
This solution would offer zero transaction fees, proven and secure source code, an eco-friendly protocol and the ability to pay gas fees using its native token.
Gunzilla Games, Ava Labs
Gunzilla Games has completed two funding rounds, raising $25 million in the first round. The second round, led by Republic Capital, brought in $46 million in August 2022 to aid GUNZ’s development.
The developer received investment from notable companies and individuals, such as Twitch co-founder Justin Kan, Griffin Gaming Partners, Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, RW3 Ventures, CoinFund, Shima Capital and Dominance Ventures.
GSR, Kucoin Labs, Spartan Investment Group, Blizzard, Digital Strategies, Morningstar Ventures, Gamegroove Capital, Formless Capital, NGG and Huobi Group are among the investors as well.
Gunzilla has a total of 190 employees who work full-time across different locations — Frankfurt, Kyiv, London and Los Angeles.
The game studio also hired experienced professionals like Richard K. Morgan, the author of the award-winning Netflix show Altered Carbon series, and Timur Davidenko, the technical director of CryEngine. Davidenko participated in developing games like Far Cry, Warface and Crysis.
Ava Labs introduced Avalanche in September 2020. The chain brought a new era for blockchains by offering almost instant transactions. Currently, the platform supports over 500 applications and safeguards billions of dollars in value while operating with a minimum environmental impact.
