Demonstrating Item Interoperability Through the Alto Cryptogame Challenge

Empowering developers to make the jump to the blockchain with a contest prize pool of $150,000

Up until now, we have talked at length about our belief that the blockchain will revolutionize the game industry. We have explained how giving players the freedom to sell and trade items outside centralized applications will compel developers to offer real value and level the playing field for small and large studios alike. We have extolled the virtues of the item-first economy as a new, sustainable monetization model.

Our efforts (and those of many others in the industry) have started to pay off. Outlets like Forbes are reporting on the innovations brought to the gaming space by blockchain technology. Every gaming conference in the past year has hosted panelists and speakers from cryptogaming projects, including Alto’s very own. Cryptogame-specific conferences have also started popping up, some even backed by industry heavyweights like Pocket Gamer. People are catching on, one evangelizing speech at a time.

But, as is usually the case in the early stages of a new technology, there is still a lot of uncertainty and distrust — especially among those in the status quo who don’t believe blockchain can be a true disruptor of the gaming industry. The truth is, this is still an uphill battle, and we won’t reach that tipping point until we achieve a critical mass of products and users that proves this is a sustainable model.

Efforts are being made by many experts in the space, not least of all Alto. And for us, the most important thing is to create a thriving, shared cryptoitem economy in which unique weapons, potions, and pets are usable across multiple games and universes. This is why we created the Alto Cryptogame Challenge (ACC) with a total prize pool of $150,000.

The ACC is a way for developers to become familiar with the Alto platform, and to experience for themselves the potential of the item-first economy. It is only natural that developers, used to having full creative control of in-game assets, might be wary of relinquishing some of that control to third-party item creators. But we aim to show that there’s no need for them to sacrifice their vision if the games are built from the ground up with item interoperability as a core principle. The ACC will allow them to dip their toes in the water and see the countless possibilities that this new model offers.

Participants in the ACC will have to go through two rounds of judging. In the first round, they will submit their proposal for a game that uses a set of pre-made, fantasy-themed, non-fungible items which will be available on the Alto platform. These limited edition items will be fully interoperable across each of the contestants’ games and will be made available on the Alto Challenge Loot Store.