Is Flame The True ‘Steam of Web3’?
Ryu Games’ decentralized storefront and marketplace promises to be an all-in-one solution for all things blockchain gaming. Can they keep that promise?
SEPTEMBER 16, 2022. NEWS. WRITTEN BY JENZ ALIPAR.
There’s no denying that blockchain gaming offers exciting new frontiers for gamers and developers alike. Still, its rise is not without problems, from expensive NFT access passes and lacklustre titles to unhealthy and uncalculated in-game economies.
Even discounting those issues, a lot still needs to be done in terms of making these games more discoverable and accessible. Currently, it’s not as simple as just downloading a game and hitting the play button – and for many, especially non-crypto natives, this can be a major deterrent.
Ryu Games aims to solve these issues with Flame, an all-in-one Web3 marketplace, multi-chain wallet and game launcher, built with the goal of making the process of buying, selling and playing blockchain-based games simple and straightforward.
Flame connects its users to a host of major crypto exchanges, providing a seamless on-ramp for gamers to buy crypto and enter games as quickly as possible. The platform is still in beta, though it’s already looking to benefit from Steam’s lukewarm response to blockchain games.
Some titles currently available on Flame include Pegaxy, Splinterlands, Nova Rally, Cryptoblades, Ultimate Battle Arena, Rune and many more, with the team announcing new games hitting the platform via their Twitter every week.
Ryu Games are also building their own game, to be available exclusively through Flame, titled Crystal Quest. This will be a collection of casual blockchain-based minigames where players compete against one another for cryptocurrency prizes, with a Solitaire variant confirmed as the first minigame available.
The team behind Ryu Games is fully doxxed, with Ross Krasner as CEO, Wyatt Mufson as CTO and Nick Fujita as Lead Blockchain Developer.
Ryu Games is on a mission to make Flame the go-to marketplace for blockchain gamers – and hiring former Steam Senior Engineer Rick Ellis as Chief Product Officer is a step in the right direction. With Ellis at the helm, Ryu Games is setting its sights on becoming the top destination for crypto-powered games.
As the world of digital assets and NFTs continues to grow, so too do the platforms and marketplaces that support them.
Flame isn’t the only platform looking to explore this growing market – Kongregate, the popular browser game platform, announced a partnership with Immutable X to relaunch as a Web3 platform later this year. LootRush, a similar Steam-like platform secured a $12M seed round back in May. There’s also Mavis Hub, from the developers of the famed Ethereum-based blockchain game, Axie Infinity.
Whether it’s one of the above or another of the myriad platforms popping up, it’s clear that having a centralized platform for decentralized game titles will make it easier for gamers to find what they’re looking for.
Will Flame be that platform to become the ‘Stream of Web3’? Only time will tell.
