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The Solana blockchain has emerged as a key player in the Web3 game development scene, continually making strides particularly due to its unique approach to blockchain technology.
The blockchain network aims to provide a scalable blockchain network using just one layer, unlike Ethereum, which concentrates on scalability utilizing several blockchain layers.
As a result, Solana can attain lightning-fast speeds and scalability, which are paramount for an immersive gaming experience. The network also boasts incredibly low costs for minting, transferring, and exchanging game assets, making it the network of choice for the upcoming age of web3 gaming.
A massive milestone for Solana in web3 gaming is the listing of its games on the Epic Games Store, a major platform for PC gaming. As of January this year, Solana had only 10 games listed on the platform. However, according to Game7’s State of Gaming 2023 report, the network had at least 69 games by October.
According to the report, Solana is currently the top non-EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) chain and the fourth most popular blockchain network for game developers overall, with a little over 125 games in its ecosystem.
This article delves into 5 of the top Solana games on the Epic Games Store, solidifying Solana’s place in the web3 gaming industry.
5 Best Solana Games On The Epic Games Store
5. Aurory
Aurory Tactics is a player-versus-player (PvP), timeline-based battle arena game in which a player’s team, made up of three characters called Nefties, fights against an opponent’s team. The role-playing game (RPG) is a free-to-play fantasy game that allows its players to earn rewards in the form of NFTs and crypto.
More specifically, Aurory tactics reward its players with two off-chain subtokens, OKA and TOKE, which are then converted into $AURY, the ecosystem’s native token, each week. Initially, the NFTs and native tokens were released on Solana, the blockchain on which the game is built.
However, in July, the game’s developers announced their plans to release the assets on several other blockchains, including the Ethereum layer-2 network, Arbitrum, as a plan to go multi-chain.
In a scheme to advance their presence in the web3 gaming space, Aurory also announced the development of ‘Seekers of Tokane’. This expansion of Aurory’s gaming ecosystem will be released on the Epic Games Store, in addition to a native web browser version, mainly to address some of the limitations posed by web browser gaming.
Seekers of Tokane will also spot Nefties and $AURY, among other in-game assets, enabling their use in multiple games and all across the Aurory ecosystem. As of this writing, Seekers of Tokane is marked as “Coming Soon” on the Epic Games Store and does not yet have a confirmed release date.
4. Star Atlas
Unlike Aurory, Star Atlas is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with a sci-fi aesthetic. The game is built on Solana where it similarly released its NFTs and tokens.
The web3 game features space exploration, territorial conquest, political domination, and many other activities that enable players to earn rewards.
The Star Atlas ecosystem has two tokens, ATLAS and POLIS, both of which exist on the Solana blockchain. ATLAS serves as the token in the economy, enabling players to buy in-game assets such as NFTs as well as trading with other players.
On the other hand, POLIS is used as a governance token that grants its holders the right to vote and participate in decision-making on the future of the ecosystem.
While it is yet to be fully released, Star Atlas was first launched in January 2021. The game has since been under continued development despite the challenges facing the game company ATMTA, such as the laying off of 73% of its employees following the effects of the collapse of FTX in July.
Additionally, ATMTA has persisted in encouraging the development of Solana blockchain games by releasing an open-source software development kit (SDK) that would facilitate game developers’ use of the network.
Star Atlas is currently listed on the Epic Games Store but only in the form of a playable demo. The game is expected to be released on the platform, although the precise release date is still unknown.
3. Yaku
Yaku is a multichain social metaverse game that can be played for free and is currently playable on both the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. The MMORPG game allows players to fight in one of the three different races within the game, whose world is based on the layout of Hong Kong in the real world.
So far, the game has three categories of in-game assets, that is customizable motorcycles, estates, and avatars.
Yaku is still a fairly new game, given that the game is currently only available in early access and at the alpha stage. Regardless, the game has been listed on the Epic Games Store and is focused on community-driven development as well as user-generated content.
Based on Yaku’s FAQ page on the Epic Store, the Solana-based web3 game will be released gradually over the next five to seven years, with incremental upgrades.
2. Angelic: Dark Symphony
Angelic is a narrative strategy RPG set in a dark and collaborative sci-fi universe. While the game encourages the assembling of players to make a team, Angelic allows users to play in multiplayer, co-op, and single-player game modes.
Unlike other web3 games where in-game assets are created as NFTs, Angelic: Dark Symphony is looking to make blockchain interactions optional. As such, a user can play the game without necessarily acquiring any blockchain elements like NFTs and tokens.
Instead, players can choose to make their in-game assets NFTs and trade them within the ecosystem. However, the main reason Angelic is built on blockchain is to enable the governance of the ecosystem. This will also be a benefit that players who choose to engage with blockchain elements will have.
Angelic is not a play-to-earn or pay-to-win game, says the game’s developers on its Epic Games Store FAQ page. As such, players can unlock and obtain all the assets and items by simply playing.
This game is positioned to appeal to both web3 gamers as well as traditional gamers, a niche that most games find difficult to tap into. As of this writing, Angelic: Dark Symphony is still labeled as “Coming Soon” and is expected to launch on both Ethereum and Solana, especially for its optional NFT aspects.
1. Chain Crisis
Chain Crisis is a Cyberpunk MMORPG built on the Solana blockchain. Set in the year 2088, the web3 game leads players to band together to defeat difficult enemies. Within the game, players have customizable characters and weapons with which they can engage in thrilling combat.
The game, which is built on Solana, also supports and includes the use of Blockchain, NFT technology, and cryptocurrency. So far, Chain Crisis has created Male PFP-style avatar NFTs, which have been made available on Solana.
Chain Crisis is listed on the Epic Game Store as an early access game still in its pre-alpha stage. As such, the web3 game is bound to undergo major changes and development that would result in a different look and feel.
The game is slated to be released in 2024, when all player progress will be reset to ensure a level playing field for new players and align with the game’s progression system.
Solana’s Future in Blockchain Gaming
Even though most Solana games that are listed on the Epic Gaming Store are still in development or early access, their presence on the platform speaks to the role of Solana in the blockchain gaming industry.
The open-source blockchain is working to cement its place in the web3 gaming ecosystem. In recent developments, Solana released the GameShift beta, a platform that makes it easier to incorporate Web3 capabilities into games.
The platform is expected to offer a solitary, user-friendly API to manage the intricacies of blockchain technology during game development as part of the benefits for game producers.
Web3 gaming is still a new field with a myriad of challenges that prevent companies and developers from reaching the current heights of traditional gaming. Constraints such as speed and scalability have hindered the creation of truly immersive experiences, leaving a lot of room for growth and improvement.
Solana’s approach to solving some of these issues could help the blockchain stand out in the blockchain gaming industry, consequently benefiting other areas of the network’s ecosystem.
The Bottom Line
The increased presence of Solana games on the Epic Gaming Store depicts the growth of the network as fundamental in web3 gaming.
Despite the industry being in its early years, the continued developments and advancements show hope even as the use case works to prove its worth in the blockchain ecosystem.
