Blockchain Gaming World

jon jordan
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Everything you need to know about Blockchain Gaming.

  1. 17 HR AGO ·  BONUS

    8 May 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    The big news this week is CCP Games' MBO, rebranded as Fenris Creations and backed by Google DeepMind. [00:32] Fenris Creations (ex-CCP Games) has gained independence from Pearl Abyss for $120 million.[02:26] Pearl Abyss originally bought the company for $225 million in 2018. [03:26] Why CCP and Pearl Abyss were an awkward fit, culturally and corporately. [04:35] Pearl Abyss now has very successful games such as Crimson Desert so doesn't need CCP. [05:28] Fenris still owes Pearl Abyss $50 million for a loan. [06:52] CCP/Fenris has been loss-making for many years. [07:07] $60 million of EVE Frontier tokens have now been sold to investors. [07:47] The original unanswered questions around the deal - debt, operational capital etc. [10:28] Google DeepMind now has a minority stake in Fenris Creations. [11:30] Why DeepMind is interested in EVE Online as a learning environment for AI models and agents.[12:50] Long-term memory for agents is of particular interest. [13:50] Why DeepMind is a major credibility boost for the newly independent company. [14:48] DeepMind potentially reframes EVE Frontier’s significance as a blockchain game. [17:00] FIFA Rivals has launched its World Cup Legacy mode.[20:10] The Legacy mode allows people to play through the past 4 world cups and collect players. [23:30] Legacy players allows Mythical to better control the supply of rare NFTs. [24:35] Animoca Minds has launched a $10 million developer program.[30:49] Animoca has extended the exclusivity period for its reverse Nasdaq listing process.

    35 min

  2. 1 MAY ·  BONUS

    1 May 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    Reaper Actual raises capital, tracking FIFA Rivals NFT sales, and whatever happened to Wildcard's Thousands? [00:25] FIFA Rivals NFTs have finally migrated to the Pulse market. [02:55] Pulse uses USDC stablecoin for all NFT trading, even for in-app trading. [8:11] FIFA Rivals is fairly simple; 90 second mini-games and build your team.[10:12] Even powerful players are not too expensive: Guimaraes for $74, Haaland for $40. [13:40] Playful is shutting down its Thousands platform.[14:21] Unclear what might remain of Wildcard as a game, but the IP is continuing it seems. [16:18] Wildcard’s very weak Steam Early Access performance - less than 150 concurrent peak. [18:38] How the timing of the WC token launched on Arbitrum played into this decision. [19:37] Was web3 forced onto Wildcard by its crypto investors?[21:46] Reaper Actual raises more funding ahead of its Steam Early Access in mid-May. [24:26] Explaining the separate web2 and web3 versions of Reaper Actual.[26:49] Steam is a big problem for blockchain-adjacent games.[27:59] Reaper Actual’s blockchain-light messaging.[30:28] Choosing the “hill to die on” when it comes to web3 game design.

    33 min

  3. 24 APR ·  BONUS

    24 April 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    FIFA Rivals moving to Pulse market, Verse8 x YGG hackathon results and Hytopia's worrying pause. [00:16] Mythical Games is migrating FIFA Rivals to the new Pulse marketplace. [02:46] But there's been some sort of delay. FIFA Rivals is the last of Mythical's games to migrate. [04:19] The significant change with Pulse is it uses the USDC stablecoin.[05:51] Why in-game item markets should use stablecoins, not volatile tokens. [07:20] With Pulse, you can sign in with email and/or external wallets like MetaMask. [09:54] Mythical Games has learned some hard lessons to get to this point. [15:44] Verse8 and YGG Play announce its Buidl Hack winners.[16:40] What Verse8’s AI game-making platform actually does.[20:00] Bank or Plank — the winning pirate board game is pretty good. [22:22] Roblox-on-blockchain platform Hytopia has paused operations while awaiting a tax refund.[28:00] Server costs, lost momentum and the blockchain game funding problem.[32:36] Why sustainable blockchain games need to start out with leaner teams.[35:16] Parallel Studios launches its trading card game on mobile app stores.

    39 min

  4. 17 APR ·  BONUS

    17 April 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    EVE Frontier's hackathon deconstructed, Limit Break's first game, Xociety pauses, SANDchain completes testnet phase 1. [00:15] Deconstructing EVE Frontier x Sui $80,000 hackathon [03:19] There were 123 submissions. Largest categories were bounty boards, insurance, gate tolls. [07:20] Data was another key theme - escrow-style systems for buying and selling information.[10:05] 25% of submissions were sketchy, either weak, irrelevant, or unserious.[17:49] Limit Break has announced DigiDaigaku-themed mobile match game Puzzle Panic. [28:06] It's seems like a Trojan horse for Limit Break's deeper web3 NFT and token stack.[30:21] PC web3 shooter Xociety has halted development.[35:15] The team is attempting to restructure with a more web2 focus using the Xociety IP. [38:03] Sandbox’s ZK-based SANDchain L2 has completed its first testnet phase.

    43 min

  5. 27 MAR ·  BONUS

    27 March 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    Pixels' Stacked P2E rewards platform is live, Verse8 raised $5M, Wildcard's WC token is live. Jon has a new hat. [0:17] Jon wants everyone to know that he has a new GamesTX hat.[1:23] Pixels has launched Stacked, which is a P2E rewards platform (or engine!) for web2/3 games.[3:42] Effectively, Stacked is a productized version of the P2E layer in Pixels.[8:36] Stacked currently supports Pixels and Pixel Dungeons and will support Ronin and Sleepagotchi.[9:05] Rewards include PIXEL and will include gift cards and PayPal. [12:10] Pixels currently has a Return on Reward Spend of 3 -- $3 of spend per $1 of rewards.[13:34] AI game-creation platform Verse8 has raised $5 million in seed funding.[14:40] There's consumer version and also a pro version for game studios. Delabs is using it. [15:50] Verse8 has been used to make 25,000 games from 5,000 creators and 3.5 million MAUs.[18:33] The Sandbox's has launched the first playtest for its NEXT mobile battle royale game. [19:57] Wildcard has launched its WC token; currently priced a FDV of $600,000.[23:08] What are the key metrics for a sustainable blockchain game in 2026?

    36 min

  6. 26 MAR

    209 | How Stacked reinvents P2E gaming rewards

    Jon Jordan talks to Pixels' CEO Luke Barwikowski about Stacked, the company's new P2E rewards platform. [0:56] Introducing Stacked, the new rewards app from Pixels.[2:02] Pixels still believes in play-to-earn for web3 gaming, notably using data-driven rewarded play.[3:44] Stacked is the productification of Pixels' reward system that any game can plug into.[5:09] It allows you to distribute your onchain assets in a smart way. [5:19] The player-facing element is the Stacked app. There's also a b2b element, including an SDK. [7:41] This is like an ad network that categorizes player types using segmentation and reward testing.[9:29] You can also run an AI agent to help create new rewards to drive retention and engagement.[12:35] P2E is sustainable in Pixels right now in terms of Return on Reward Spend metric of 3. [16:10] F2P/P2E games require all different user types, from free to midcore spenders to whales.[18:54] Launching Stacked allows Pixel's game designers to not have to worry about rewards.[21:50] The PIXEL token will become a stake-only token, with other assets used for rewards.[24:20] Other companies, including web2 games, will be able to use Stacked as a white-label solution.[28:27] As well as P2E, crypto is also really useful for asset trading in games. [32:04] The web version of Stacked is out, and the app is in review via app stores.

    35 min

  7. 20 MAR ·  BONUS

    20 March 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    The Sandbox reveals mobile shooter NEXT, Wildcard's WC token goes live on 26 March, AlphaTON buys GAMEE. [2:29] The Sandbox has announced standalone mobile battle royale game NEXT. [2:47] The Sandbox's vision for mobile has never been strong. This is a new start.[4:55] More important than the game itself, NEXT is a symbol of agency and urgency.[6:50] You have to log into NEXT with your The Sandbox account. Some NFTs are interoperable.[11:50] Wildcard's 100% community WC token goes live on Arbitrum on 26th March.[15:33] The question is whether Wildcard can attract enough players to start the WC flywheel.[17:23] AlphaTON has acquired 60% of Animoca's GAMEE Telegram gaming platform.[24:07] Animoca has partnered with Ava Labs to push Avalanche in Asia and Middle East.[28:40] Jon's been messing around with Stripe's AI agent-centric Tempo blockchain. [32:50] He's also got Claude Code to automatically set his tactics in Soccerverse.[37:38] What happens to games when AI agents can play them better than humans?

    40 min

  8. 13 MAR

    13 March 2026 | Weekly news roundup

    EVE Frontier's Cycle 5, Night Crows' NFT Crusade, Shrapnel's early access and 1,000th Substacks! [0:43] EVE Frontier has launched Cycle 5, which will run for the next 3 months.[6:50] Changes include defensive turrets, collaborative options, tweaked ship controls, new ships.[8:10] You can also build and optimize Shells, the game's clone characters, for the first time. [9:14] Feral AIs are more aggressive in behaviors.[10:09] The game is also now using the Sui testnet, and for its $80,000 Hackathon.[13:44] Will EVE Frontier be the first successful blockchain game?[16:20] Night Crows is launching its NFT Crusade metagame for high-level players. [18:50] Wemade is committed, integrating blockchain into many of its MMORPGs.[20:27] It's using blockchain to improve its game's long-term engagement and monetization[22:06] NFT Crusade rewards players who have collected multiple character NFTs with exclusive gear.[28:52] Shrapnel has dropped its early access on Steam. It's a 4v4 team mode. [36:22] Jon published his 1,000th Substack about blockchain games. What has he learned?

    45 min
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About

Everything you need to know about Blockchain Gaming.

Information

  • Creator
    jon jordan
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    298
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © jon jordan
  • Show Website
    Blockchain Gaming World