Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer2 Technology Stack Inventory

Written by wasdmedia.eth

Translated by MetaCat

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! [Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer 2 Technology Stack Inventory] (https://cdn-img.panewslab.com//panews/2022/10/12/images/33ab2507b6b1378dc2171519332016b9.jpeg)

GM gamers,

It's always fun to experience a single on-chain game.

But it's just as important to understand the complexity of its underlying infrastructure.

Infrastructure is critical to the success of on-chain games as it directly affects the quality of the game, the user experience, and the overall success of the game. **Robust infrastructure ensures fast, cost-effective, efficient transactions, supports complex game logic, and helps provide a seamless gaming experience. **

All of these are essential for attracting and retaining players.

Today, we'll take a look at some of the Layer-2 frameworks built specifically to address these challenges and help make the on-chain gaming revolution possible.

Problems with the current infrastructure

A common explanation for the lack of "breakthrough on-chain games" is that the underlying infrastructure is "not ready." **

As a result, many games are still in the proof-of-concept phase, characterized by simple gameplay, flawed clients, limited player engagement, and limited mod developer engagement.

This is mainly due to significant limitations caused by existing infrastructure and developer tools.

In particular, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is slow and bulky, the current Solidity data model is not friendly to complex game development, and there is no suitable L1 blockchain suitable for game deployment due to gas cost and limited scalability.

Interoperability and fragmentation also present significant challenges for on-chain gaming.

While the diversity of the technology stack fosters innovation, it also makes it difficult for games to interact with each other and across various blockchain networks. **

Solving these challenges is critical to unlocking the full potential of blockchain-based gaming.

Solution: L2

As Vitalik said in 2020, gaming projects should consider Rollups as a scaling solution.

Rollup is an L2 blockchain network designed to increase throughput and efficiency on L1 blockchains like Ethereum. Macrographically, Rollup is achieved by aggregating and processing transactions off-chain and then publishing a summary of those transactions on-chain. **

This approach reduces congestion on L1 blockchains, making transactions faster and cheaper for end users.

! [Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer 2 Technology Stack Inventory] (https://cdn-img.panewslab.com//panews/2022/10/12/images/b9e6fe26afc82f4dfb046291a0f672e7.png)

There are two main types of Rollup: Optimistic and Zero-Knowledge Proof (zk), each with its own design trade-offs, such as security model and development speed.

Especially for on-chain games, Rollup offers several benefits, such as:

**1. Scalability: The high transaction fees of L1 blockchains such as Ethereum have been a major barrier to entry for many gamers. Rollup can significantly reduce these costs by reducing transaction congestion, making it more affordable for potential players to play on-chain games.

**2. Improved user experience: With lower transaction fees and faster confirmation times, players can enjoy a smoother, smoother gaming experience. This is critical for real-time gaming experiences where every millisecond counts.

**3. Security: Rollups maintains a high level of security by ultimately anchoring data to the L1 blockchain. This ensures that the security of the L1 blockchain extends to L2, making it a safe gaming environment.

Despite these benefits, universal rollups are not enough when it comes to hosting on-chain games.

Traditional blockchain virtual machines are more suitable for financial applications, while general-purpose blockchain networks that carry various applications do not have the throughput capability to meet the above needs.

We need cutting-edge L2 blockchains built specifically for this task.

This is where Rollups optimized for on-chain games come in.

Below, let's take a look at the different stacks we're building.

AltLayer

! [Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer 2 Technology Stack Inventory] (https://cdn-img.panewslab.com//panews/2022/10/12/images/708b8b7a01afb1b226b791f8ed048515.png) Aerial view of AltLayer

One of the upcoming strategies to enhance on-chain scalability is horizontal scaling.

Horizontal scaling is when multiple "hidden" rollups operating the same application are used where the application's user interface seamlessly guides the user to the appropriate rollup to execute transactions based on factors such as capacity, location, or specific application preferences.

AltLayer is a well-known rollup scheme that takes advantage of this design.

AltLayer currently offers quests for various on-chain games such as 2048. If you've had a chance to play them, you'll use shard rollup when you click on your area without realizing it.

Another benefit of AltLayer is the creation of localized fee marketplaces where actions such as minting or trading NFTs do not affect fees associated with other NFTs or games.

However, this solution has its drawbacks, such as the lack of communication between Rollup, which makes it difficult to work with all on-chain game models.

In July 2022, AltLayer raised $7.2 million in funding, led by Polychain Capital, Breyer Capital and Jump Capital, with participation from angel investors such as Balaji Srinivasan and Kain Warwick.

Games built with AltLayer:

• Ottie 2048 （ ）
• Cell ( )
• Loot Royale ( )

World Engine

! [Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer 2 Technology Stack Inventory] (https://cdn-img.panewslab.com//panews/2022/10/12/images/ed1e29eb8fd427cbfaf68ab749fcdda4.png) A macro overview of World Engine

Another solution similar to the AltLayer architecture is Argus Labs' World Engine.

World Engine leverages the Sharded Rollup SDK to enable game developers to build their own horizontally scalable blockchains while inheriting the security features of the L1 blockchain.

World Engine is an EVM-compatible solution that enables developers to leverage Ethereum's extensive developer ecosystem to build Rollup schemes. Thanks to this EVM compatibility, World Engine-based L2 can seamlessly integrate with all Ethereum wallets and tools.

Argus is building more than just an on-chain game engine, as the company has three parts of the business, including:

• Their research lab
• A game studio
• A game publisher

They recently raised $10 million, led by Haun Ventures, with participation from Robot Ventures and numerous angel investors, including Balaji Srinivasan, Elad Gil, and others.

Games built with the World Engine:

• 1st party titles
• Takes The Engine

! [Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer 2 Technology Stack Inventory] (https://cdn-img.panewslab.com//panews/2022/10/12/images/df71a902ab908f63a20c299234f40bfb.png) Paima's macro design

Paima is a framework for creating L2 for on-chain games and autonomous worlds.

With Paima, developers can quickly build their applications using familiar Web2 programming languages such as Java. In addition, due to its application-specific nature, each Paima L2 does not require a cross-chain bridge when working.

Paima also supports other game-friendly features, such as Stateful NFTs, which are NFTs whose metadata is automatically updated based on the user's on-chain actions.

Paima recently announced that they received a $1.4 million grant from Cardano to further develop the infrastructure of on-chain gaming and autonomous worlds.

Games built with Paima:

• Tarochi （ ）
• Jungle Wars （ ）
• Tower Defense （ ）

Keystone

! [Chain Game's Scaling War: Layer 2 Technology Stack Inventory] (https://cdn-img.panewslab.com//panews/2022/10/12/images/f3515253630d4a25f865f2e2f8e8fdba.png) Warcraft: Keystone Edition

Another L2 framework optimized for on-chain games is Curio's Keystone.

Keystone blends OP Stack, EVM-compatible L2 with a high-frequency game engine.

This dynamic combination, coupled with other features such as support for the Go programming language and ECS, enables developers to create high-performance on-chain games that rival off-chain games.

In the future, you can also expect Keystone's support for data availability tiers like Celestia.

In February 2022, Curio raised $2.9 million in a funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto and TCG Crypto.

Games built with Keystone:

• Warcraft: Keystone Edition

is written at the end

Builders seem to have taken Vitalik's advice, as the energy of L2-based on-chain gaming infrastructure is exploding!

While scaling challenges remain, the framework for building application-specific L2 optimized for on-chain games like AltLayer, World Engine, Paima, and Keystone is helping to provide solutions to many of these problems.

Of course, there are other complementary scaling technologies that will come into play in the future, such as client-side proofs for Playmint and general-purpose rollups with a strong ecosystem of on-chain games, such as Starknet and Arbitrum Nova.

As we have seen, the expansion war has arrived, and it has only just begun.

What really makes these L2 stacks stand out is not just their technology, but also the vibrant community that gathers behind them.