If a player picks up an object in an online video game, which possesses this article? The player or the company that created the game?
In most cases, the answer is probably closer to the latter. The item can be in the player’s digital inventory – but the company can remove it as they please, prevent the player from selling or giving it away, etc.
Horizon Blockchain Games try to evolve the idea of ownership of the games (starting with their own title) and they have raised an additional $ 5 million to do so.
Horizon works on two paths in parallel here: on one path, they build an Ethereum-based platform called Arcadeum to manage the objects in play – establishing who owns a specific instance of an object and allowing that object to be traded verifiable, sold or given from one player to another. Once an object is in the possession of a player, it is up to him to use, trade or sell as he pleases; Horizon can’t just take it off. Over time, they will open this platform to other developers to rely on.
On the other path, the company is building its own game – a digital trading card game called Skyweaver – intended to thrive in its own right while simultaneously presenting the platform.
Skyweaver is a fancy collectible card game, perhaps more easily compared to Blizzard’s Hearthstone. It is free and cross-platform on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android.
Skyweaver players compete against each other using the cards they obtained by buying, winning or redeeming. There are currently around 500 different cards in total, and each card is available in two different versions: silver and gold.
ANY card in the game can be purchased in its basic “silver” form for $ 2 – a move the team tells me is intended to level the playing field by allowing anyone with a few dollars to get the cards that the player base judges to be the most powerful. Meanwhile, the “gold” variant of a card – which only changes the card in appearance, and not in capacity or utility – must be won through the competition or bought from other players on the open market. While silver cards can still be purchased for $ 2, the values of gold cards are expected to vary more widely depending on rarity / demand.
The cards in Skyweaver are stored in a player’s Arcadeum wallet on the blockchain – although, for the sake of simplicity, most of the complexities of the blockchain are hidden behind the scenes. If a player wants to manage things himself, the cards can be transferred to any other Ethereum-based wallet.
Skyweaver has been in private beta since around July of last year. Horizon chief architect Peter Kieltyka tells me that the game currently has about 12,000 users, with 92,000 more on the waiting list.
Horizon raised $ 3.75 million for the first time in a seed round last year; they classify this cycle as an extension of it. The round is led by returning investors Initialized Capital, and supported by Golden Ventures, DCG, Polychain, CMT Digital, Regah Ventures and ConsenSys.
The company says Skyweaver is expected to become an open and public beta later this year.