A brand new gaming blockchain has entered the foyer in 2024: Xai.
“Xai is constructed to allow open commerce within the subsequent era of video video games,” the official website says. In its quest to take action, the community goals to scale back charges, supply account abstraction to cover a few of these pesky blockchain components, and empower sport creators within the course of.
The layer-3 blockchain is developed partially by Offchain Labs, the unique creator and first developer behind the Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum community that Xai is constructed on high of. And Xai is getting assist from sport developer Ex Populus, which can deploy the primary video games deliberate to launch on the community in collaboration with the Xai Basis.
However what does this actually imply? We’ve rounded up all it’s worthwhile to know.
What’s Xai?
Many crypto customers are aware of the idea of layer-1 blockchains and layer-2 scaling networks constructed on high of them, however Xai manufacturers itself as a layer-3 community. It’s because it’s constructed atop Ethereum layer-2 scaling community Arbitrum.
In practicality, which means Xai retains Arbitrum’s core functionalities the identical whereas tweaking sure points of the community for a extra focused expertise supposed for a particular use case. Whereas Arbitrum is a common layer-2 scaling resolution that may be tapped for all types of apps, Xai particularly caters to the wants of players and sport builders alike.
For instance, Xai presents account abstraction—that means it’ll conceal complicated components from customers—in the case of the blockchain pockets and account expertise. The community additionally gives builders with elevated gasoline and contract limits.
Most notably, the Xai website says that it “introduces parallel processing and developments for enhanced scalability, effectivity, and value discount.” That’s on high of Arbitrum’s present layer-2 method, which handles transactions away from the Ethereum mainnet to take action at a decrease value and better quantity by way of its optimistic rollup tech.
By decreasing charges and growing transaction instances, Xai goals to create a smoother gaming expertise whereas embracing the distinctive components that make blockchain gaming what it’s—comparable to true possession of distinctive, in-game objects, in addition to tokenized economies.
“The cheaper and sooner we are able to make issues,” Ex Populus co-founder and CEO Tobias Batton advised Decrypt, “the higher expertise we are able to present customers.”
What’s the XAI token?
Kicking off 2024 with a bang, 125 million XAI tokens (5% of the token provide) had been airdropped to players, in keeping with the Xai Basis. The airdrop’s whole worth was almost $70 million at launch, rising to $140 million lower than per week later.
The XAI token’s major objective is for use because the gasoline payment token on the layer-3 blockchain. However there are additionally potential advantages, as XAI tokens will be exchanged for esXAI (or escrowed XAI) tokens and staked to earn interest-like rewards.
After you have staked your esXAI tokens, you are capable of take part in staking swimming pools. Coming in This fall 2024, you’ll additionally have the ability to take part in governance in addition to acquire “unique entry” to particular occasions and property related to initiatives on the Xai blockchain.
Which video games are constructing on Xai?
All of this technical stuff is nice, however a gaming community is finally outlined by the video games on it. In spite of everything, nobody would purchase a PS5 if it had no video games. So which video games are being constructed on Xai?
With Ex Populus as a key companion, the developer has dedicated its suite of video games to the layer-3 community. At present, we all know two of the video games which are in improvement by Ex Populus: rogue-lite auto-battler Ultimate Type, and hover automotive motion shooter LAMOverse. However the studio’s web site additionally states that an open-world expertise is at the moment in pre-production, with particulars nonetheless to be introduced.
Outdoors of this partnership, early this yr it was introduced that Crypto Unicorns and its associated NFT video games will migrate from Ethereum sidechain community Polygon to Xai. Crypto Unicorns NFTs have generated $35 million of buying and selling quantity. The change was motivated primarily because of “challenges” that arose when working a sport on Polygon, the workforce advised Decrypt, specifically within the type of community gasoline payment spikes.
After that, a outstanding indie gaming curator known as The MIX, or The Media Indie Alternate, mentioned that it plans to launch over 100 video games on Xai earlier than the top of 2024. Whereas what video games shall be launched on the community is but to be confirmed, Xai mentioned that “many” of the video games are already on Steam and shall be reworked to profit from blockchain tech.
Because of this it is doubtless that at the moment Web2 video games are going to get Web3 performance utilizing Xai, which The MIX suggests will bear a “hanging resemblance” to how Valve permits gamers to purchase and promote Counter-Strike: International Offensive in-game objects.
Most just lately, Reboot, the crypto gaming protocol powering Pixel Vault’s flagship sport BattlePlan, introduced an alliance with the Xai Basis emigrate the sport to the community. Someday this quarter, BattlePlan will transfer one layer deeper from Arbitrum Nova to Xai in an try and “improve participant expertise.”
How staking works on Xai
As an incentive to maintain customers on the community and reward them for supporting its consensus mannequin, Xai started rolling out staking throughout two waves.
Model one allowed homeowners of Sentry Nodes—that are liable for monitoring and flagging blocks on the Xai community—to stake as much as 25,000 esXAI they maintain. Then, in April, model two was rolled out, which opened the gates to any holder of esXAI.
Now, staking swimming pools will be created by Sentry Key holders—the NFT is used to function a Sentry Node to assist the community—after which anybody can stake esXAI within the swimming pools which have been created. Pool operators can decide the distribution of pooled community rewards, specifying the chances allotted to themselves, Sentry Key-holding stakers, and normal esXAI stakers.
Xai additionally launched a tier system the place the upper the tier of a staking pool, based mostly on the quantity of esXAI staked, the better the reward multiplier for the staked Sentry Keys.
For instance, if 500,000 esXAI is staked, then the Sentry Key will see a 3x reward multiplier. This begins at “bronze” with no bonus reward, however climbs all the best way as much as “diamond,” which has a 6x reward multiplier.
The longer term
Xai is like an onion: It has layers. As a layer-3 blockchain, it makes an attempt to enhance on the layers that got here earlier than it to optimize the gaming expertise. Peel again extra layers and also you discover a sturdy token and staking system with governance in layers to come back.
After all, the one layer that’s nonetheless a bit skinny as of this writing considerations the precise video games themselves construct on high of the community. However based mostly on the bulletins to this point, it seems these video games are coming.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
