Bright Star Studios has just announced that the Web3 action fantasy MMO Ember Sword will be moving from the current popular gaming protocol Immutable X to a different layer 2 protocol known as Mantle in a surprise partnership. The alliance with Mantle will purportedly bring some welcome additions to the game, such as easier onboarding experience to players without the hurdles usually encountered by Web3 games.
It was only 2 short years ago the team at Bright Star Studio hopped from the Polygon network to Immutable X, which put a series of events in motion that required NFT (non-fungible token) owners to go through a migration progress over the course of several weeks. Now, the team at Bright Star has announced they will be migrating from Immutable X to the Mantle Network, a different layer 2 protocol that runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Mark Laursen, Founder and CEO of Bright Star Studios memorialized the shift to Mantle by stating the following:
"Our alliance with Mantle is a significant milestone as we begin to release the game to users regionally. By integrating Mantle's advanced blockchain capabilities, we are enhancing how players control their in-game assets and delivering an unprecedented onboarding experience for all gamers who love MMORPGs, regardless if they are web3 natives or not. This collaboration represents a giant leap forward for both Ember Sword and the gaming industry."
– Mark Laursen, Founder and CEO, Bright Star Studios
While we have yet to be provided specifics as to what the changes on the horizon will be, the talk of features such as a seamless onboarding process are paramount for a more mainstream adoption of Web3 gaming, especially where MMORPGs are concerned. However, there’s a huge hurdle of a second network migration that will undoubtedly raise some concerns, especially for those that have already migrated their assets once, and fear another lengthy transfer process. Still, the process may be well worth the headaches if Bright Star has found a way to streamline the ecosystem from tip to tail to make it easier for MMORPG gamers who just want to play without having to learn about tokenomics and Web3.
Another unique inclusion in the announcement was the mention of Mantle’s Ether Liquid Staking Protocol (LSP) Mantle LSP. For those unfamiliar, a Liquid Staking Protocol essentially allows users to stake their tokenized assets for a percentage yield. You can think of it almost like a savings account where you earn interest, though Staking Protocols are often higher risk due to the potential for volatility on certain chains. However, it’s not directly clear how this might play a part in Ember Sword, or if it will play any part at all, but there is a lot of potential there for players and the developers to leverage assets as part of an ongoing revenue plan.
Ember Sword has been rounding the bases on their development cycles, as they are winding down their Beta 1 test after running multiple Alpha and Technical Tests over the past couple of years. As of the most recent test, the team has seen over 110k play sessions totalling over 41k hours in game, with over 25k collectibles found. Defeating the difficult boss Canavar was of particular interest, but recent patch notes show that Canavar’s difficulty will be tweaked some.
Beta 1 will end on August 23rd, 2024 at 6:00 am, as the team shifts their focus to prepare for the next playtest. The team has stated they have learned a lot from their latest test, and they’ll be opening the flood gates to more players very soon. In the meantime, we’re keeping a keen eye on how the shift to Mantle will play out within the community, and what enhancements players can expect from the new partnership in the future.
