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Blockchain technology is being used to create an all new video game experience where the worlds of multiple disparate games are connected together.

UDPATE: Two new titles have since joined the below list, bringing the total to nine.

Enjin is not yet a household name among gamers, but the Singaporean developer is on a trajectory to achieve great things in the gaming industry. Don’t be surprised to hear the name Enjin mentioned in the same breath as Ubisoft or Bethesda or Epic Games in future years, such is the company’s innovation.

Regular watchers of our GxB: Video Games and the Blockchain TV show (see above) will certainly have heard the Enjin name a lot. Nearly every week an announcement comes out of the company that can’t be ignored. Something that furthers the blockchain gaming space. And there’s been none bigger this week.

Who is Enjin and what is Enjin Coin

A quick recap: Enjin first made a name for itself as a community hub for gamers. Through the Enjin portal, groups of gamers – for example, members of a MineCraft server or a Counter-Stike clan – could meet up and have a space to socialise. It was (and is) popular, with over 20 million gamers using the platform at its peak.

As the cryptocurrency phenomenon began to gain momentum, Enjin introduced the Enjin Coin, a derivative of Ethereum, as its in-ecosystem currency. While the coin is publicly traded and doing reasonable well (in that it is not nearly as volatile as other altcoins), it’s the Enjin blockchain technology that has made the more meaningful impact.

Armed with this blockchain tech and its Enjin Coin, over the course of 2018, Enjin has:

Taken a booth at E3 2018 to showcase the Enjin blockchain-based game War of Crypto by Lucille Games. Created a new ERC-1155 standard, specifically built for gaming. (It allows fungible and non-fungible tokens to exist and be traded together on the same blockchain). Released a software development kit (SDK) for its blockchain that is available as a plugin for the popular Unity Engine. Made that plugin free for early adopters who want to use the Enjin blockchain to power their games. Kept the whole network decentralised so any developer is free to jump in and be part of the network without boundary. Created the Enjin Multiverse.

It’s impressive!

What is the Enjin Multiverse?

The Enjin Multiverse is what we’re here to talk about. Perhaps the most important feature facilitated by blockchain technology is true ownership. When everything in a game – items, characters, skins, achievements, branching story decisions, etc. – is stored on the blockchain, it is owned and controlled by the player, not the developer. This gives everything in a virtual game world – including a player’s investment in time - a real-world monetary value. Something that can be traded, sold or HODLed.

This means that all games that use the Enjin blockchain are compatible with each other.

The Enjin Multiverse is a collective of nine games (as of the time of this writing) all built on the Enjin blockchain that will exist in the one fluid marketplace. In its simplest form, it means that an item earned, traded, bought or simply levelled-up in one game, can be used in another. So, if you score a really great, rare sword in Game A, you can easily bring it into Game B and add it to your arsenal.

One layer deeper than that, it will allow a developer to monetise an item in another developer’s game. Imagine, for example, you were playing Call of Duty and you decided you’d prefer to use the AK-47 from Battlefield. This concept would mean that within the Call of Duty ecosystem, you could buy that Battlefield gun and begin playing with it. (That will never happen, but as a theoretical example, you get the gist).

Which games are in the Enjin Multiverse

Often with these blockchain gaming announcements or new platforms, the biggest missing ingredient are game experiences that look, well, fun. This is not the case with the Enjin Multiverse. We’ve been consistently impressed by the quality of titles coming through this ecosystem.

Alongside the initial announcement, six games from six different developers had signed on for this revolutionary new concept. Then in the week that followed, a seventh game – Cats in Mechs by Megaworld Studios – joined the fun. Megaworld Studios was also revealed as the developer building the Multiverse Marketplace, the singular space through which gamers can explore the entire secondary market produced by all these games.

A few weeks later, developer Vrainiac revealed it's next two titles are also going to be part of the Enjin Multiverse.

You can watch the GxB episodes listed below for in-depth analysis and footage of some of these games, but as an overview, these are the titles signed on for the Enjin Multiverse.

9Lives Arena by Touchhour (watch) Age of Rust by SpacePirate Games (watch) Bitcoin Hodler by HODler eV Born to the Sky by Vrainiac Studio (watch) Cats in Mechs by Megaworld Studios (watch) CryptoFights by Thoughts in Motion Helihunter by Vrainiac Studio Forest Knight by Chrono Games War of Crypto by Lucille Games (watch)

What we love about Enjin Multiverse’s potential

There’s more to this concept than just swapping items and skins between games. In many cases that might even be weird. 9Lives Arena is an ancient mythology hack’n’slasher whereas Cats in Mechs is a cyberpunk styled sci-fi experience, for example. Other than a Lego Dimensions or Disney Infinity style mashup played just for laughs, only a few in-game assets would seem transferable in a meaningful way.

But the announcement alluded to other exciting possibilities. Enjin specifically spoke to the idea of levelling-up occurring across multiple titles. Suggesting that if you improve your character in one game you’ll see benefits in the other.

The benefit of the Ethereum smart contract system means that triggers can be sent across the games based on any action. You could have an action in one title unlock a sidequest in another. Storylines could branch in one game based on actions in another. Imagine this concept on a grander, MMO scale. If 1000s of players influenced the world in a certain direction, shifting the narrative across multiple other titles in the process.

Come to think of it, Marvel should do this!

It’s early days of course, and we’ve seen multiverse concepts attempted before without any success. But blockchain technology makes it all possible on a level not possible before due to its ability to automate processes while keeping everything decentralised and without boundaries. We sure hope Enjin and its fellow developers find an interested audience and gain the momentum required to bring this concept to its full fruition.