GTA owner joins Web3, Bitcoin casino, Sunflower Land review: Web3 Gamer
Grand Theft Auto owner enters Web3 via mobile gaming arm
Fun fact: mobile gaming giant Zynga is owned by Take-Two Interactive, the same company that also owns Rockstar Games, which is behind ultra-popular video game series like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and NBA 2K.
Now Zynga is making its Web3 debut with a new franchise.
Best known for its FarmVille series, Zynga has created an offshoot studio called Zynga Web3 (or ZW3) and announced Sugartown. It’s a cross-media world that will be more like a Web3 gaming platform than a single title. The cute cartoonish animals featured in the teaser video give clues that there might be more than video games in the works.
It looks like a scene from a new Netflix series, so I won’t be surprised to see a cartoon featuring the Sugartown characters.
For now, though, the only thing that’s confirmed is that Sugartown will launch an NFT collection called Oras, and they will be required to participate in upcoming games within the universe. ZW3 said the franchise is working with different communities to allocate allowlists for the NFTs.
If this platform becomes successful, perhaps it could give the green light for some of those big titles from the same company to jump into Web3?
More play needed in Play-to-Earn — Istanbul Blockchain Week
Why aren’t Web3 games adopted as much as traditional games? That was one of the subjects talked about during a Web3 gaming panel at Istanbul Blockchain Week 2023. The panel mainly focused on Web3 gaming adoption, the problems of Web3 gaming and the developer side of things.
Curator Studios co-founder Uluç Yuca’s answer stood out in particular as I sincerely believe it expressed the thoughts of many traditional gamers – including myself – toward the big problem with Web3 gaming.
He started his speech by asking the audience how many Web3 gamers there were. There were a few hands raised. “And this is a blockchain event!” he commented, then asked how many traditional gamers there were. There was a significant increase in the number of hands raised. He pointed out there are 3 billion traditional gamers in the world and only 15 million Web3 gamers.
15 million was not the (number of) active users in Roblox back in 2015. So what we have right now is just a little private party. That means we did something wrong.”
Here’s what we did wrong, according to Yuca: The Web3 community is always talking about features like third-party trading, ownership, making money and interoperability. But these features have existed since games were around, including in-game items in World of Warcraft, rare items in Dota, auctions in Diablo and those occasions RuneScape’s in-game currency was used as the local market currency when Venezuela’s money was depreciating.
So, we focused on features that already exist in various forms and combined them with games that aren’t fun:
We talk about all these value propositions and monetization models. Play-to-Earn, Play-and-Earn, Play-and-Own, Play-and-Have-Coffee, Play-and-Get-Married. It doesn’t really matter because there is no play. There is no product.”
He stressed that he has yet to see a game like Minecraft, or one that does “What Angry Birds did to mobile gaming back in the day.”
Despite the potential brought by Web3 elements, the real question was, “Do we have a game like Roblox (in Web3)?” Unfortunately, we do not.
Bitcoin casino works exactly like what you’d expect
Not many people know this but Satoshi Nakamoto may have been a poker player, with the original 0.1.0 Bitcoin code in 2008 containing scraps of code for an online poker game.
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With the introduction of Ordinals, it looks like we might be headed back in that direction. Ordinals has enabled the Bitcoin base layer to become home to numerous images, videos and even some basic games, and also laid the groundwork for “DeFi on Bitcoin” protocols such as Trustless Computer (TC) and the related New Bitcoin City (NBC).
Launched in early August, the gaming platform utilizes TC and transitions gameplay to NOS, a layer-2 on Bitcoin, according to core member Punk3700, who says it enhances speed and efficiency, ensuring complex interactions occur off the Bitcoin mainnet.
NOS brings an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to the Bitcoin network, allowing smart contract functionality without taking space on the main Bitcoin chain. Hence, data from games won’t crowd the valuable Bitcoin blockchain real estate.”
As for the gaming platform itself, don’t expect a 3D metaverse with high-fidelity graphics. The website is designed as a pixelated amusement park, with each tent representing a game offering very basic casino games like jackpot and slot.
There’s also a graffiti tent where everyone can chip in to add a pixel and then get royalty if someone buys the finished canvas.
The overall experience felt like what I had with my online poker adventures back in the early 2000s, but that’s apparently not the focus of the devs. “Bitcoin is expanding beyond just a currency and getting a lot of attention,” explained Punk3700, adding: “We want to make Bitcoin as generalized as possible — usable for far more than just a currency.”
Read also
The league is said to promote the win-to-earn trend where gamers earn based on their skills (and maybe luck, considering it’s a casino), and developers promise more to come, with an upcoming “Mega Whales” expected to launch on Sept. 26.
Hot Take: Sunflower Land
Sunflower Land is an online farming game built on Polygon and played via a browser. Gamers are welcomed with some strict rules: one account per player, no bots or automation. It also makes clear that Sunflower Land is a game, not a financial product — although only time will tell which one will be prioritized by players
The core gameplay sees users plant seeds, wait for them to grow, harvest the plants, buy more seeds and so on – similar to old Facebook games such as FarmVille and CityVille. All in-game resources, such as seeds, cooked food and equipment, are NFTs that can be transferred and traded on OpenSea.
Seeds and plants have different in-game values corresponding with the time it takes for them to grow. For example, sunflower seeds grow in 30 seconds and can be sold for 125 coins (equal to 7,500 for 30 minutes), while pumpkin seeds grow in 30 minutes and can be sold for 25,000 coins.
Sunflower Land features a skill tree that allows the player to work faster and get more yields from each produce as they level up. As the player levels up, the waiting time gets longer (up to 36 hours for a single seed), but they also get more space to plant their seeds. The game currently offers two minigames if you’d like to do something in-game while you wait. They are called Greedy Goblin, a minigame where you catch falling gold coins while avoiding the skulls as a goblin, and Chicken Fight, a two-player fighting game where you control chickens.
Sunflower Land launched its new season called Witches Eve on Aug. 1, which introduced a massive multiplayer online (MMO) world for players to socialize called Pumpkin Plaza. The game also welcomed the addition of Community Islands – where players are provided with tools to build their own games inside Sunflower Land – with the ambition of “becoming the Roblox of Web3 gaming.”
The game works smoothly without any problems – a rare quality for Web3 games these days. The graphics look pretty, though the background music sounded really cheap. I don’t know if it’s going to become the Roblox of Web3, but Sunflower Land definitely has potential with its addictive gameplay loop. I’ll surely be coming back to check my island every once in a while.
More from Web3 gaming space:
– Turn-based RPG Champions Arena has launched on Gala Games.
– Zillion Whales’ mobile RTS game Wild Forest has been announced for Ronin blockchain.
– Mobile NFT game NFL Rivals has launched an in-game marketplace.
– French DJ Agoria and The Sandbox are collaborating to launch an avatar collection.
– Netmarble’s Marblex partnered with Aptos to expand its multichain gaming universe.
– Nexon’s MapleStory Universe tapped Chainlink as its Web3 infrastructure provider.
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A minister has defended Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to discipline rebellious MPs, saying they would have used “stronger” language against those who are “continually causing trouble”.
Home Office minister Jess Phillips told Sky News’ Matt Barbet that Labour MPs were elected “as a team under a banner and under a manifesto” and could “expect” to face disciplinary action if they did not vote with the government.
It comes after the prime minister drew criticism for suspending four Labour MPs who voted against the government on its flagship welfare bill earlier this month, while stripping a further three of their roles as trade envoys.
Politics latest: PM to welcome German chancellor
Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell.
Pic: Uk Parliament
Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachael Maskell all lost the whip, meaning they are no longer part of Labour’s parliamentary party and will sit as independent MPs.
Labour backbenchers lined up to criticise the move last night, arguing it was a “terrible look” that made “a Reform government much more likely”.
But speaking to Sky News, Ms Phillips said: “We were elected as a team under a banner and under a manifesto, and we have to seek to work together, and if you are acting in a manner that is to undermine the ability of the government to deliver those things, I don’t know what you expect.
“Now I speak out against things I do not like, both internally and sometimes externally, all the time.
“There is a manner of doing that, that is the right way to go about it. And sometimes you feel forced to rebel and vote against.”
Referring to a description of the rebels by an unnamed source in The Times, she said: “I didn’t call it persistent knob-headery, but that’s the way that it’s been termed by some.”
She said she would have described it as “something much more sweary” because “we are a team, and we have to act as a team in order to achieve something”.
More than 100 MPs had initially rebelled against the plan to cut personal independent payments (PIP). Ultimately, 47 voted against the bill’s third reading, after it was watered down significantly in the face of defeat.
Three other MPs – who also voted against the government – have had their trade envoy roles removed. They are Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin.
However, it is understood this was not the only reason behind the decision to reprimand all seven MPs, with sources citing “repeated breaches of party discipline”.
Ms Maskell was one of the lead rebels in the welfare revolt, and has more recently called for a wealth tax to fund the U-turn.
Mr Hinchliff, the MP for North East Hertfordshire, proposed a series of amendments to the flagship planning and infrastructure bill criticising the government’s approach.
Read more:
Why suspended Labour MPs clearly hit a nerve with Starmer
Who are the suspended Labour MPs?
Mr Duncan-Jordan, the MP for Poole, led a rebellion against the cut to the winter fuel payments while Alloa and Grangemouth MP Mr Leishman has been critical of the government’s position on Gaza as well as the closing of an oil refinery in his constituency.
Ian Byrne, the Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, wrote on X on Wednesday that the prime minister’s actions “don’t show strength” and were “damaging Labour’s support and risk rolling out the red carpet for Reform”.
Leeds East MP Richard Burgon added that “challenging policies that harm our communities” would “make a Reform government much more likely”.
Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington, warned the suspensions were “a terrible look”.
“Dissatisfaction with the direction the leadership is taking us isn’t confined to the fringes,” he wrote.
I’m going to level with you – I am very, very confused.
In fact, I’ve got five reasons why I’m very confused.
The first reason I’m confused is because this is meant to be a show of strength, but most people have literally never heard of these four individuals.
Rachael Maskell is a bit well-known, but if this is intended to impress the public, then I’m not sure the public will notice.
Secondly, if it’s about installing discipline in the parliamentary Labour Party, I’m confused about that. Surely Sir Keir Starmer‘s aim right now should be to unite the parliamentary Labour Party rather than divide it.
After the welfare rebellion, the promise was to listen. Starmer gave interviews saying he was going to create policy more sympathetic to his party.
This is the opposite approach.
The third reason I’m confused is because they’ve been suspended in part for their role in the welfare rebellion that forced the government into its U-turn.
It was only yesterday morning that Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the government’s welfare reforms were in the “right place” – yet the people who helped get them there are suspended.
Suspended for agreeing with what is now government policy is an odd look.
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Sir Keir Starmer has suspended four MPs from the parliamentary Labour Party for ‘repeated breaches of discipline’.
Fourth, I’m confused at who the most prominent individual to be suspended is – Rachael Maskell.
She was on Sky News within minutes of the suspension looking genuinely surprised and really rather upset.
Now, there’s absolutely no doubt she was a ringleader in this rebellion. Eight days ago, she authored an article in the New Statesman discussing how to organise a government rebellion – so I think that’s pretty much case closed.
But Rachael is of the soft left, not the hard left. And who else is on the soft left? It’s Starmer.
It does feel as if the prime minister is slightly coming for people who have dangerously similar views to him.
I understand this is all about drawing hard lines and showing who’s on your team and who isn’t.
But some of that line looks like it goes awfully close to people that you really wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of if you’re prime minister.
Read more:
Who are the suspended Labour MPs?
Why suspended MPs hit a nerve with Starmer
And finally, three other MPs – Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin – have been sacked from their trade envoy jobs. They do retain the party whip.
But here’s the thing that hurts your head: if you are a Lib Dem trade envoy, like Sarah Olney, or if you’re a Tory trade envoy, as George Freeman was until a couple of weeks ago when he was suspended, you do not have to obey the whip – and you can continue to keep your trade envoy role.
But if you’re in the Labour Party and you’re a trade envoy, you do have to obey the whip.
And it’s just one of those mad inconsistencies where if you’re in another party, you can keep your trade envoy role, if you’re in the governing party, you can’t. That just doesn’t make sense at all.
So there are my five reasons why I’m completely confused.
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