Blockchain Gaming World

The big beasts arise as we talk EVE Frontier, MapleStory Universe and how Wemade's approach bests Ubisoft.
[00:34] Jon attended EVE Fanfest 2026 in Iceland. What are his takeaways?
[02:40] Why EVE Fanfest works beyond being just an event for players.
[05:05] EVE Frontier is EVE Online if made from scratch now.
[06:46] In Cycle 6 (out 25th June), EVE Frontier finally becomes more of an actual survival game.
[09:28] Modular shipbuilding replaces fixed ships.
[10:40] EVE Frontier is a game that rewards players who improve their manual gameplay skills.
[11:55] “This is a game that makes EVE Online feel cuddly.”
[13:58] Does EVE Frontier need non-EVE players?
[15:30] The fundamental approach is blockchain as a unified API.
[16:38] Why some CCP/Fenris developers want to work on EVE Frontier, not EVE Online.
[17:38] How EVE Frontier is using AI for coding and prototyping.
[19:10] Nexon is talking about MapleStory Universe, MSU 2.0 and VIBE IP.
[22:11] MapleStory Universe did $31 million in revenue in year 1.
[23:22] The real KPI for MSU 2.0 is the revenue third-party devs make.
[25:55] Average EVE Fanfest attendee had played 7,900 hours of EVE Online.
[30:50] Legend of Ymir has released the ability to mint and trade character NFTs.
[32:00] Legend of Ymir NFT character trading was $77,000 on day 1.
[34:40] Ubisoft is shutting down Champions Tactics’ web3 features on 27th May.
[36:00] Ubisoft’s blockchain problems are a minor part of much wider issues for the company.
[39:00] Champions Tactics was beautifully made, but too narrow in its addressable audience.
[42:29] Wemade is iteratively learning. Ubisoft is scattergun, lacking learning loops.
[44:30] The post-crash shape of blockchain gaming is now becoming apparent.

Jon Jordan talks to Verse8 CEO Kevin Lee about the challenges and opportunities for the AI game-making platform.
[01:09] Kevin Lee’s background at Planetarium doing web3 investing and private equity.
[02:56] Verse8 started as a WebGL engine project inside Planetarium.
[03:31] We first realized the potential of AI technology for game-making in 2024.
[04:44] By 2025, it was clear that LLMs could generate very high-quality and complex.
[06:15] Verse8 can do hypercasual games, add crypto and other monetization.
[08:15] Verse8 has 200,000 DAUs and 3.5 million MAUs.
[10:40] We didn't design this as a web3 project but there's potential for degen experiments.
[12:52] Verse8 could be “YouTube for games” because everyone can now make games.
[14:20] Verse8's $5 million seed round and why Korean strategic investors backed it.
[15:28] Investors also have agreements for use of their legacy IPs within Verse8.
[17:44] In particular, there will be an integration with MapleStory Universe.
[18:54] There are some technical limitations. You can't make open-world MMORPGs.
[20:44] Verse8’s moat is its high performance WebGL game engine.
[22:50] Everyone ger $10 of free tokens but then users have to pay for additional usage.
[26:10] We're competing with Roblox, Steam, Epic and even YouTube for screen time.
[31:19] Over the next six months we need to prove creators can generate real revenue.

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.

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.

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.