The South Korean gaming giant Wemade (WEMIX) just partnered with Chainlink Labs to transform the Web3 gaming ecosystem and enhance interoperability across blockchains.
The collaboration is part of Wemade’s Unbound Networking & Accelerating Growth Initiative (unagi), which aims to build a unified gaming ecosystem with seamless interactions between blockchains. The partnership will help merge isolated blockchain networks in order to enable secure communication and asset transfers by users.
The news, which was announced October 3rd, specified that Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) will serve as the foundation for Wemade’s unagi(x) engine. Chainlink CCIP is known for having robust security protocol supported by the Risk Management Network, a protocol that monitors on-chain transactions for illegal activities.
Chainlink Labs will also become the first member of COURT (Certified Organizations for Unagi Round Table) — a project to develop, research, and pioneer the omnichain ecosystem, as well as address the challenges posed by cross-chain connectivity.
Henry Chang, the CEO of Wemade, said that both companies have the same goal — to “connect disparate blockchains and create an interoperable Web3 ecosystem for games,” as well as other applications on-chain. The co-founder of Chainlink, Sergey Nazarov, added that the collaboration “will unlock a new era of cross-chain gameplay.”
Wemade was founded in South Korea in 2000. Its two most popular games are ‘The Legend of Mir 2’ and ‘The Legend of Mir 3.’ The two games have over 120 million users in Asia and generated over $65 million in monthly revenue during the height of their popularity.
At the time of writing, unagi supports a total of eight blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Optimism, Arbitrum, Avalanche and others. But if the companies can build cross-chain systems that connect even more blockchains, the results could have huge implications for gamers and the Web3 ecosystem.
Web3 Companies Seek Interoperability for Gaming & the Metaverse
Making blockchain games interoperable so that players can move their characters and digital assets across different blockchains is a difficult thing to pull off. However, if it can be done on a large scale, it could revolutionize gaming as we know it. And interoperability isn’t just important for gaming, but for the metaverse as well.
Fortunately, Wemade and Chainlink aren’t the only companies working on increasing interoperability across blockchains. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve covered several articles about companies investing in making Web3 gaming and the metaverse interoperable. Here are two of the top stories.
First, about ten months ago, the Web3 gaming DAO Game 7 launched a $100 million grant program for developers to work on blockchain-based gaming. Game7 is a firm believer that blockchain-games and the metaverse should be interoperable, open-source, and accessible to the public.
Next, Animoca Brands, a Web3 gaming giant and venture capital firm based in Hong-Kong has been investing heavily in companies that aim to build an open metaverse and advance interoperability. Its $2 billion Animoca Capital fund was launched for this reason, and it aims to counter the threat of centralized metaverses.
Some of the things that set Web3 apart from Web2 is that it is decentralized, open to everyone, and allows users to be in control of their data. But these revolutionary ideas will not come without a fight, and that means companies must put time and money into building this vision.
Wemade and Chainlinks partnership may sound boring in the details. But the goal of bringing interoperability to Web3 gaming is something that here at Rarity Sniper we believe is critical to the future of Web3.
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