European game studio Maniac Panda Games aims to onboard mainstream players to Web3 with its flagship MMO title.
As the Web3 gaming landscape is getting bigger by the day, mainstream players who enjoy playing popular titles games such as PUBG, Fortnite or Apex Legends are starting to take notice. However, there’s still a technical understanding barrier before Web3 gaming can reach a broader audience. Players need gameplay elements that they are familiar with to warm to blockchain games that usually come with technical lingo like play-to-earn (P2E), nonfungible tokens (NFTs) or crypto wallets.
The gaming world is no stranger to blockbuster titles that initially started as an adaptation of literary work. From The Witcher series to the first Bioshock (which was inspired by Ayn Rand’s dystopian classic Atlas Shrugged), using books as a reference for worldbuilding is a tried-and-true method for game developers. An upcoming Web3 game applies the same formula by building a virtual world around a fantasy saga to create the familiar feeling of ‘becoming someone else in an alternate world’ for players.
Inspired by the fantasy Outer Ring saga of novels of the same name written by Daniel Valdés-Araiz, CEO of the company, Outer Ring MMO is set in a lore-rich universe that has five species divided into four different factions, all fighting for control and resources. The game is a online multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG) with extensive gameplay that ties in multiple components, including PvP, PvE, housing and crafting in a vast, sci-fi-themed metaverse.
Using 3rd person perspective, players can compete against each other, engage with brands and in-game businesses in real-time, socialize and monetize the time spent in the game. Known for their Valorant performance, major esports club Team Heretics announced that they will take part in the Outer Ring MMO PvP experience.
A defining characteristic of Web3 gaming is its user-centric economy, where players can own, trade and monetize game-related assets. As blockchain technology enables the creation of economic infrastructure in Web3 games, native tokens or NFTs created on the same network can act both as an in-game item and a crypto asset that can be traded on different marketplaces. Similarly, the player-driven economy found in Outer Ring MMO enables users to generate in-game assets and items and then convert them to NFTs. Through this process, players can own those objects and generate value by selling them.
Introducing a Scavengon, one of the 5 playable races in the game. Source: Outer Ring
In terms of tokenomics, Outer Ring MMO is built as a part of the developers’ Galactic Quadrant (GQ) ecosystem. It would use the same GQ token as the governance currency, while Exocredits (EXO) will act as the in-game currency. Other games to launch within the same ecosystem already available to play in their early stages are the racing game RacerLoop, the trading card game Underground Waifus and the gambling title CryptoDuels.
Developers at Maniac Panda Games, the gaming branch of Nexxyo Labs - a 300-employee Spanish studio regarded as one of the largest Web3-native video game studios in Europe - aim to seamlessly connect Web2 and Web3 gaming. The studio is looking to introduce Web3 gaming to the masses through their flagship AAA-tier game developed by former talent at Rockstar Games (the studio after Grand Theft Auto), Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. Cointelegraph Accelerator selected Maniac Panda Games as a participant of the program with an aim to boost adoption in Web3 gaming space.
Launched in 2023, the Cointelegraph Accelerator program aims to help up-and-coming Web3 ventures reach a broader audience and acts as a catalyst in assisting them in achieving their Web3 potential. By becoming a part of the program, Maniac Panda Games will tap into Cointelegraph’s global audience and its established leadership in the crypto and blockchain media landscape since 2013.
Aside from Cointelegraph Accelerator, Outer Ring MMO has seen interest from organizations in a wide range of industries, including basketball club Baskonia-Alavés, movie theater chain Kinépolis and decentralized finance app DexTools. All of them have sealed deals to tap into Web3 by the hand of Outer Ring and have their respective functional presence and integrations running within the game to interact with users and players. Following the closed pre-alpha release of Outer Ring MMO, which is slated for June 28, 2023 for PC and Mac operating systems, the team will continue to develop the game’s player-driven economy and expand the overall GQ ecosystem with more strategic partnerships.
