It seems like Minecraft has been around since the invention of computers, and there is a reason for that. Along with its official free updates, which provide extra content, the Minecraft ecosystem has an incredibly active community, helping it stay up to date. Thanks to the game’s open-ended gameplay, there is tons of community-built content available to enjoy.
Have you finished the standard content of the game? Then why not relive the industrial revolution with custom-built mods? Or enter a competition to see who can build a construction first against hundreds of others? There is a server for that. Pokemon in Minecraft? Pixelmon!
And if you want to earn Bitcoin in Minecraft? Welp, you can even do that now.
Players can earn Bitcoin in Minecraft with the partnership between Zebedee and Satlantis. (Zebedee)
A community-operated Minecraft server by the name of “Satlantis” has integrated Zebedee’s gaming tech that lets players earn Bitcoin by completing in-game quests inspired by real-life BTC mining. Players in the server can join in-game mining pools, collect ASICs (popular hardware tailored for Bitcoin mining) and increase their hash rate to win block rewards. What a cool way to educate traditional gamers on the basics of Bitcoin!
Players can withdraw their earnings to Zebedee’s app, where they can spend their gains on other games made by the company or move them to exchanges that support Bitcoin’s layer-2 Lightning Network.
Don’t get your hopes up for buying a Lambo with your earnings from building pixelated wonders. The server will give out a total of 1 million satoshis — equal to one hundred millionth of a BTC — per week. That’s around $300 per week divided by God-only-knows how many people. While it isn’t much, it’s a start that could become a trend.
The Bitcoin-friendly integration is an unofficial one, and neither Satlantis nor Zebedee is affiliated with the Minecraft developer Mojang Studios. The studio itself is pretty down on Web3, having previously banned Minecraft NFT integrations. Time will show how this integration fairs against the ban.
Blockchain Game Alliance ramps up diversity efforts
Diversity is a surprisingly new topic in the world of video games. Most major publishers had not even released a diversity report as recently as 2021. In 2022 Activision Blizzard gave itself five long years to meet its goal of 50% women and non-binary employees.
Members of the Blockchain Game Alliance, a key organization promoting Web3 and blockchain gaming, voted to install a gender-balanced board, with three men and three women. And the newly elected BGA board of 2023 is made up of all new faces.
Blockchain Game Alliance 2023 board members. (BGA)
They are Leah Callon-Butler, director of consulting firm Emfarsis; Yasmina Kazitani, chief marketing and partnerships officer at Interverse; Christina Macedo, co-founder and chief operating officer at Ready gg; Hideaki Uehara, director of business development at Square Enix; Mariano Rubinstein, CEO and co-founder at Sura Gaming; and Alex Kosloff, head of business development at Altura.
As an avid gamer, I will be watching with interest to see if the make-up of the new board can help progress and innovation across the Web3 gaming space.
Sega not a fan of P2E but developing a blockchain game
The makers of all-time favorite franchises Sonic and Yakuza have had an on-again, off-again relationship with blockchain technology. Sega announced plans for NFTs as play-to-earn (P2E) rewards last year. Later, they stepped off the gas after a backlash from fans, who considered the initiative a money grab.
This year, Sega is also walking both sides of the street. Shuji Utsumi, co-chief operating officer at Sega, called blockchain games “boring” and said the Japanese gaming giant wouldn’t be using its biggest titles in blockchain gaming projects.
However, Sega has announced a partnership with Line Next to bring its classic games to GAME DOSI, a Web3-friendly blockchain gaming platform. In light of this announcement, Utsumi clarified that investing in Web3 projects is within the company’s strategy but that they don’t intend to be a Web3 company but rather a “Web 2.5” one.
LINE NEXT partners with SEGA to license and bring a classic game to the Web3 gaming platform GAME DOSI. (LINE)
As everyone’s aware, the mainstream gaming community is unenthusiastic about blockchain games and sees them as a temporary trend fueled by hype and speculation. Players are concerned about money grabs and the short lifespans of Web3 games, so it’s understandable Sega doesn’t want to put its big titles in an area where it has little-to-no experience.
While some skepticism is warranted, it doesn’t mean blockchain technology won’t ever find its footing in the gaming industry. Multi-billion-dollar tech companies are aware of the possibilities Web3 gaming brings and know the importance of getting in on the ground floor.
Sega’s decision to test the water with its smaller IPs is a thoughtful and measured approach that respects its legacy while navigating the uncharted terrain of Web3 gaming.
Studio’s $15M funding from Binance Labs for Web3 dino game
Binance’s venture capital and incubator arm Binance Labs has invested $15 million in Web3 gaming startup Xterio. The company labels itself as a “free-to-play-and-own” game developer and publisher, meaning the games are free to play, and players are able to earn and keep NFTs. In August last year, it raised $40 million in funding from investors, including FunPlus, XPLA and now-extinct FTX Ventures.
Xterio seems to have a lot of experience on the gaming front, with Web2 gaming industry veterans on its founding executive team from companies including Ubisoft, Krafton and NetEase. There are 11 games in its repertoire, ranging from Age of Dino — a massively multiplayer online 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) strategy game that features dinosaurs — to Overworld, a cross-platform sandbox RPG with anime-inspired graphics.
Xterio is developing an “emotion engine for AI,” with an aim to enhance player immersion by equipping game characters with realistic and dynamic emotional responses — The Matrix and the whole AI takes-control scenario were way ahead of their time.
Overworld promotional art. (Xterio)
The company uses AI very actively as they host an AI toolkit for developers and are creating a digital companion game called AIpal which is entering its beta phase later this year.
Hot take — Oath of Peak
The undeniable success of Genshin Impact — a Chinese MMORPG with cute graphics and fast-paced action that was released on virtually every platform except Casio Scientific Calculator — sparked off a trend of introducing every possible bit of Chinese mythology to Western audiences among developers.
Oath of Peak promotional art. (Oath of Peak)
Oath of Peak, an action MMORPG game that diversifies with its Web3 elements, seems to capitalize on that itch. Available on iOS and Android platforms as a free download, the game offers an epic world that’s easy to get familiar with, thanks to its cute graphics.
Similar to other massively multiplayer games, players can pick from five different classes with fully customizable avatars. The game offers melee, assassin, ranger, mage and support characters — nothing groundbreaking.
With the recently-added English language support, it wasn’t hard to find my way around the colorful island. After completing some quests, I realized one cool thing about the game: it doesn’t shove its Web3 features at the player. Sure, the game has NFT monsters and a utility token that’s exchangeable with in-game currency, but it doesn’t become prominent until after players are invested in the game in terms of time and effort.
If you are in the market to check some new games with familiar mechanics, it’s worth taking a look at Oath of Peak, now available globally via app stores or its APK. It’ll only take 15-20 minutes for you to understand whether it’s a game for you or not anyway.
More from Web3 gaming space:
— Eyeball Games, led by the team behind Miniclip’s 8 Ball Pool, has announced the launch of their blockchain-based mobile game, Eyeball Pool, on the Immutable platform in early 2024.
— Polygon Labs’ president, Ryan Wyatt, is transitioning to an advisory role after over a year with the company. Polygon’s chief legal officer, Marc Boiron, will succeed Wyatt as the new CEO.
— MetaGalaxy Land introduced the pre-alpha version of its metaverse platform, which utilizes Unreal Engine 5.
— Major League Baseball became one of the first professional sports leagues to own a virtual world. Improbable, a metaverse tech firm, announced the new virtual space called “MLB virtual ballpark.”
— Immutable has introduced OBS, its first Web3 racing game, as the latest addition to its game lineup.
— Telescope Labs launched a comprehensive range of AI-driven solutions tailored for Web3 gaming, empowering gaming enterprises with the necessary resources to construct robust virtual economies.
— Sweat Economy, a move-to-earn initiative, has revealed the introduction of Sweat Hero, an in-app game and NFT experience within their platform.
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Erhan Kahraman
Based in Istanbul, Erhan started his career as a gaming journalist. He now works as a freelance writer and content creator with a focus on cutting-edge technology and video games. He enjoys playing Elden Ring, Street Fighter 6 and Persona 5.
Less than a week after reports of an agreement between the “Bitcoin Jesus” and US authorities, Roger Ver’s 2024 criminal tax case may be nearing an end.
Rachel Reeves has been warned that firms face a “make-or-break moment” at next month’s budget.
The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) urged the chancellor, who is widely expected to announce tax hikes in November’s budget to fill a gap in the public finances, to steer clear of increasing levies on businesses.
Ms Reeves raised taxes by £40bn last year and the BCC said business confidence had not recovered since.
“Last year’s budget took the wind from their sails, and they have been struggling to find momentum ever since,” BCC director-general Shevaun Haviland said.
She said firms felt “drained” and could not plan ahead as they expected “further tax demands to be laid at their feet” when the budget is delivered on 26 November.
“The chancellor must seize this moment and use her budget to deliver a pro-growth agenda that can restore optimism and belief amongst business leaders,” Ms Haviland added.
“This year’s budget will be a make-or-break moment for many firms.”
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2:46
Labour might U-turn on farming tax: What do farmers think?
The BCC also called for a reform of business rates and the removal of the windfall tax on gas and oil introduced by the last government.
In its submission, the industry body outlined more than 60 recommendations, including the proposal of further infrastructure investment, cuts to customs barriers and action on skill shortages.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced Labour would aim to approve 150 major infrastructure projects by the next election, with Labour already pledging to support expansions of both Heathrow and Gatwick airports – another of the BCC’s requests.
While the Treasury would not comment on budget speculation, a spokesperson insisted Ms Reeves would “strike the right balance” between ensuring funding for public services and securing economic growth.
She has vowed to stick to Labour’s manifesto pledges not to raise taxes on “working people”.
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1:07
Is Britain heading towards a new financial crisis?
Household spending on the wane
The BCC’s plea to halt further tax rises on businesses comes as retail sales growth slowed in September.
“With the budget looming large, and households facing higher bills, retail spending rose more slowly than in recent months,” Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said.
“Rising inflation and a potentially taxing budget is weighing on the minds of many households planning their Christmas spending.”
Total retail sales in the UK increased by 2.3% year-on-year in September, against growth of 2% in September 2024 and above the 12-month average growth of 2.1%, according to BRC and KPMG data.
While food sales were up by 4.3% year-on-year, this was largely driven by inflation rather than volume growth.
Non-food sales growth slowed to 0.7% against the growth of 1.7% last September, making it below the 12-month average growth of 0.9%.
Image: Total retail sales in the UK increased in September compared to the year before. File pic: PA
Online non-food sales only increased by 1% against last September’s growth of 3.4%, which was below the 12-month average growth of 1.8%.
“The future of many large anchor stores and thousands of jobs remains in jeopardy while the Treasury keeps the risk of a new business rates surtax on the table,” Ms Dickinson said.
“By exempting these shops when the budget announcements are made, the chancellor can reduce the inflationary pressures hammering businesses and households alike.”
I’ve been around a while and seen a lot of the insides of international summits over the years, but this one was truly extraordinary.
Over 20 leaders flew to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from all over the world – Indonesia, Pakistan, Norway, Canada – to witness the signing of Donald Trump’s peace plan.
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‘We have peace in Middle East’
This historic day was pure theatre for Trump from start to finish. Flying in from Israel, where he had met hostage families and then addressed the Israeli parliament, he arrived a whopping three hours late, keeping a gaggle of world leaders waiting.
We stood around in corridors watching them move from one room to another to hold meetings with each other, presumably to talk about phase two of Trump’s peace deal.
Testimony to the power of Trump
At one point, Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with his Turkish counterpart included France’s Emmanuel Macro. That then somehow morphed into a summit which also brought in the Germans, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar. More chairs kept coming into the room until there was the equivalent of a cabinet table of leaders and advisors sitting in a long line facing each other.
What they were talking about was how each country could help in phase two of the peace effort. Now Trump had, alongside fellow signatories of this deal – Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey – ended the war, could they maintain the peace?
As Starmer put it: “We can’t treat today as historic and let it drop tomorrow.”
But these mini summits in the margins happened by fault rather than design. This day really was designed to bear witness – and offer acknowledgement – to Trump. All of these leaders turned up pretty much in the dark as to what the day held, with his peace summit convened 48 hours earlier.
That they dropped plans to make their way to Egypt is testimony to the power Trump wields.
Image: World leaders at the Gaza peace summit
He was utterly omnipotent. First, there was the greeting ceremony, in which each leader filed in individually for a photo and handshake with him before all returning to the stage for the family photo.
Then, at the signing ceremony, Trump sat with his three fellow signatories as the world leaders stood behind him.
“This took 3,000 years to get to this point. Can you believe it?” Trump said as he signed that deal. “And it’s going to hold up, too. It’s going to hold up.”
Finally, in another giant hall, Trump gave a speech in which he ran through all the leaders who had turned up – praising them or fondly poking a bit of fun at them accordingly, as (most) of them stood behind him.
He teased Macron for sitting in the front row rather than joining the others on the stage, joking it wasn’t like him to be low-key. He described Meloni as a “beautiful young woman”.
“I’m not allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it – she’s a beautiful young woman,” said Trump mid-speech. “You don’t mind being called beautiful, right? Because you are,” he turned to say to her – her reaction obscured from view.
Now for the ‘easy part’?
Soon after, the prime minister of Pakistan, invited to say a few remarks by Trump, renewed his call for the US president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Having brokered the deal, Trump took the moment and made it into his summit on his terms, as fellow leaders fell into line, literally standing behind him. And in his characteristic bullishness, he told his audience in this final speech that the hard part – the ceasefire – had been done, and rebuilding Gaza was the easy part.
Image: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
That isn’t really what the rest of them believe: 92% of Gazans have been displaced, the Gaza Strip is a wasteland. Organising a peacekeeping force, getting Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from the strip, putting together a technocratic team and peace board to oversee the running of Gaza still needs to be done.
This was a largely celebratory day, but there are concerns whether this deal will hold up. Trump says Hamas needs to disarm and disband, and yet one of their most senior leaders told Sky News a few days ago, it won’t.
Meanwhile, there is a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The UK has in short order sent in £20m of aid to try to help with sanitation.
On the British side, the prime minister said he had offered to help demilitarise the strip, saying the UK can take a role in “monitoring the ceasefire but also decommissioning the capability of Hamas and their weaponry, drawing on our experience in Northern Ireland”.
“It’s really important we keep that focus. We mustn’t have any missteps now,” he said.
Image: Drone footage of Gaa
Trump’s peace board is still in its infancy – Starmer told me he isn’t going to sit on it, with the make-up still being discussed, while Tony Blair’s participation is controversial.
Trump said on the way over to Egypt that he was going to canvass opinion to make sure everyone is happy with the former prime minister’s presence. It comes after Bassem Naim of Hamas told Sky News that Blair was not welcome in Gaza after his role in the invasion of Iraq.
When I asked Starmer if he thought Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he said “there’ll be plenty of people, I’m sure, nominating him” – as he paid tribute to him for getting “leaders to this position”.
Now the task for them all is to implement what Trump has set in train. If his plan works, he would be sitting on an achievement that has eluded successive US presidents for decades.
Trump should rightly be lauded for ending the war, now he must bring the peace.