Unio has made some massive strikes in Web3 not too long ago, hiring former Shrapnel boss Mark Lengthy as its CEO.
Unio is a Web3 gaming platform that allows gamers to create, personal, and share digital belongings inside the “Unioverse”, a community-owned sci-fi franchise. Its sport, Vortex: Hoverdrome, is slated for October 2025. It’s a fast-paced, futuristic fight area the place gamers management hoverbikes.
The venture is led by a workforce of seasoned trade veterans who’ve labored on franchises like GTA, Star Wars, and Name of Obligation. Mark Lengthy, the previous head of Neon (Shrapnel) simply joined as CEO.
The Unioverse is not only a single sport however a platform designed to assist quite a lot of video games and content material, tied collectively by means of a shared sci-fi narrative. That is made attainable by blockchain, which permits digital belongings—comparable to characters, skins, and maps—to be owned by gamers and transferable throughout a number of video games.
Lengthy not too long ago parted methods with Shrapnel after a dispute with buyers who had been accused of attempting to take firm’s money as they confronted debt issues. It’s an instance of a civil struggle between a CEO and buyers leading to a major enterprise disruption. The case was settled.
Lengthy mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that he made the connection to Unio by means of the previous CTO at his first sport firm, Zombie. The pal, Wyatt Ridgeway, had labored with Lengthy on and off for 20 years.
“Once I began Shrapnel, I type of evangelized him on blockchain, and he launched this new studio Unio, on the same mannequin to Shrapnel, with a user-generated content material (UGC) neighborhood centric mannequin constructed on blockchain.”
After Lengthy left Shrapnel, Ridgeway requested him to guide Unio.
“I’m right here to assist him take considered one of their video games to market and attempt to get income optimistic,” Lengthy mentioned. “It’s the largest venture you’ve by no means heard of as a result of they’re to date alongside. With shrapnel, we nonetheless didn’t have the editor instruments out but, however he’s acquired three. Wyatt has a automobile editor, weapon editor, character editor, and two pattern video games.”
One of many video games is a Rocket League fashion sport. The sport is launching quickly on Steam. The workforce is just 13 folks nevertheless it has made plenty of progress. The earlier CEO took a private go away and stepped down.
There may be extra daylight for the cryptocurrency trade within the U.S., now that Donald Trump is president. He has been accused of doing his personal “rug pull” in a pump-and-dump scheme associated to his personal token gross sales. And so Trump’s administration is anticipated to be lenient on the crypto trade. Regulators have scaled again their enforcement actions. For blockchain video games, which will imply they gained’t must do as many worldwide maneuvers to boost cash.
Lengthy mentioned that the Web3 gaming market didn’t materialize like many anticipated. Lengthy believes it was hyped just like the early web the place everybody jumped in with out understanding it. He mentioned the “soiled secret” of Web3 is there are solely about one million gamers.
“For internet three gaming to achieve success, you’re going to must convert Web2 gamers. I imagine that it’s important to give them worth for them to need to create a pockets,” Lengthy mentioned.
However Lengthy didn’t view that as a motive to remain out of Web3 video games.
“, the web proved itself with the following technology. I really feel like that the primary technology of blockchain sport corporations sadly skilled that expectation after which non supply,” he mentioned. “However I feel the following technology will change the economics of the trade.”
He famous that Matthew Ball’s slide deck captured how gaming stalled and gamers are enjoying the identical video games again and again. They’ve a small period of time to dedicate to enjoying model new video games.
“So think about a future the place that continues, however blockchain catches on,” Lengthy mentioned. “There’ll in all probability solely be a handful of video games which are profitable. And the NFT buying and selling is a manner for gamers to seek out new video games and hold the cash transferring across the ecosystem.”
To date, Lengthy acknowledges that blockchain and crypto has been actually arduous to make use of. When you make a easy mistake, you’ll be able to ship 1000’s of {dollars} off into the ether and by no means get it again, he mentioned. He thinks that must be mounted, and that’s one of many issues that Unio has completed with frictionless onboarding.
Lengthy is attempting to get consideration for the corporate and its video games with out spending some huge cash on advertising and marketing. The corporate is bootstrapping its manner by means of the method and attempting to get the sport found.
“I’ve at all times maintained that if the sport is enjoyable, and I speak my pal into enjoying it, it’s going to succeed,” Lengthy mentioned. “If it’s not enjoyable, then it doesn’t matter. You are able to do something you need and it gained’t work.”
One of many issues you are able to do within the Rocket League-like sport, Vortex: Hoverdrome, is modding. That’s one of many ways in which Unio’s Discord channel has grown to a whole lot of 1000’s of gamers.
“We construct instruments which are already full and very easy to make use of to construct your individual maps, your individual automobiles, your individual characters, your individual weapons,” Lengthy mentioned. “Considered one of my favourite issues about Web3 gaming is that the followers are passionate.”
An outdoor view
Catalin Alexandru, a sport economist and outsider on Unio, famous that Shrapnel’s token value collapsed very similar to different Web3 sport tokens. He mentioned in a message to GamesBeat, “This new venture additionally having a token speaks for itself, because it’s the identical management.”
He disclosed he was at Economics Design once they did the tokenomics for Shrapnel however Alexandru was indirectly concerned in designing the mannequin.
“The lockup interval for buyers is laughable. They’re additionally making folks pay to create UGC which is totally backwards to standing up a purposeful UGC financial system from scratch,” Alexandru mentioned. “There doesn’t appear to be a effectively thought out plan as to how the UGC financial system truly works. Additionally no acknowledgment of Shrapnel errors and plan to deal with them, simply the previous Web3 ‘for those who construct it they are going to come’ cliches and the roadmap is ‘coming quickly’. Extraordinarily low confidence.”
