Solana Breakpoint 2024
Solana GameShift
We are thrilled to inform how Google Cloud, through its partnership with Solana Labs, is influencing the future of gaming as it join the vibrant community at Solana Breakpoint this week.
The core of its collaboration is GameShift, which offers all of the Web3 primitives and actions that games need, including wallets, tokenized assets, and on-chain markets. As of right now, Gameshift’s products are accessible via the Google Cloud Marketplace.
The promise of Web3 in games, how GameShift can assist developers in realizing this potential, the security of utilizing Solana GameShift for Web3, and the current smooth integration between GameShift and Google Cloud with the Google Cloud community.
Google Cloud has been aware of Web3 technologies’ potential for a while now. Its Web3 BigQuery datasets, Blockchain Node Engine product, and Web3 for Startups initiative are some of the ways it supports this ecosystem.
The evolution of gaming on Web3
Games may now reach players through a new channel with an enhanced value proposition thanks to Web3. Games can effortlessly transform their players from clients into collaborators and co-creators with Web3. This is significant because players are becoming more and more aware of how they add value to games and earn money from them.
Through the process of “composability,” or the simplification of interactions between on-chain programs from various suppliers, blockchains facilitate innovative experiences and developer efficiencies. Composability significantly lowers the cost and complexity of delivering real-money gaming services, generating interest on stored value balances, and giving players a choice in payment options and payout schedules in the payments domain. Additionally, compositability makes it possible to include cutting-edge Web3 game development features like global player reputation systems, open modding, and guild management.
Web3 for gaming is simplified with GameShift
Developers of video games can start using Solana GameShift API-first approach without needing any prior blockchain knowledge. The general manager of GameShift, Davis Hart, stated, “Our goal in building Solana GameShift is to leverage the unique capabilities of Web3 and provide a development and player experience as similar to existing services as possible.”
Principal Benefits
With its developer-friendly REST API, Solana GameShift offers every feature related to Web3 gaming. The Solana Labs team provides GameShift clients with growth support, assistance in creating Web3 gaming strategy, and deep access to the Solana ecosystem. This implies that studios may use GameShift with confidence, knowing that it will expand along with them over time, and that they won’t require numerous providers or expert blockchain developers.
GameShift now provides five essential features:
Wallet integration done well
Build wallets right into your game or help users who already have Solana wallets. Players may have a seamless, safe experience with GameShift wallets since they abstract key storage and offer a clear, user-friendly transaction signing flow without forcing them to exit your game environment. Because its wallets are non-custodial, games do not have to keep track of user asset pools.
Game asset management
With specific asset qualities, rarity, and in-game functionality, creating and managing in-game assets on the Solana blockchain is simple. Additionally, it manages asset transfers, which simplifies the implementation of features like gifting and trading in your game economy.
Pay-in and pay-out systems
Use safe, affordable transactions for rewards, subscriptions, and in-game purchases. This API manages transaction processing and currency conversion behind the scenes, supporting payments with both fiat and cryptocurrency. It also makes withdrawals simple, enabling users to return in-game assets to their bank accounts or personal wallets.
Marketplace functionality
Establish and maintain in-game markets with ease, allowing users to exchange, buy, and sell their assets. By managing listings, bids, transactions, and transfers, this API makes sure that the market is safe and effective. Additionally, it offers royalties implementation tools that let you profit from secondary sales even on user-generated material.
Reward schemes
Create and put into place complex reward schemes utilizing blockchain technology. With the help of this API, you can develop achievement- or token-based loyalty programs that give players real benefits. It uses custom logic to manage program enrollment, tracking, and prize distribution, giving you creative ways to encourage player involvement and retention.
Lowering Web3’s hazards in gaming
“Given the history of hacks and scams in Web3, developers are rightfully concerned about player safety,” stated Hart. But these issues can be raised to the level that developers regularly address in their off-chain systems with the help of game designers and appropriate security protocols.
The secret to GameShift’s approach is its non-custodial, invisible wallet architecture. With the use of distinct user wallets, each secured by unique cryptographic keys, this feature allows users to separate their assets from one another and lowers the possibility that an attacker may access all of the users’ assets at once. The hazards connected with user-managed keys and seed phrases are eliminated when key management is abstracted away from the user.
Because the game controls when and what kinds of transactions are exposed to the user, users who utilize Solana GameShift wallets are much more protected from scammers. Transaction approval flows notify the user of any changes to their balance and mimic the impact of any on-chain activity. Only on-chain services from verified and reliable vendors are used by GameShift. These tactics stop third parties from using hacks or phishing attacks to cheat users of their assets.
Using Web3 and Google Cloud
Developers may now easily enable Web3 within their current Cloud game backend services by deploying Solana GameShift on the Google Cloud Marketplace.
What can be achieved using GameShift on Google Cloud is hinted at by this reference architecture, which includes:
- Integrating GameShift transactions with already-existing player data in BigQuery to produce a more comprehensive picture of player behavior.
- Using the Solana public BigQuery dataset, BigQuery and Vertex AI are being used to analyze player behavior on-chain.
- Easily host user-generated content worldwide using cloud storage.
- generative AI is being used to game assets and user-generated material to guarantee adherence to content policies, toxicity, content moderation, anti-cheat measures, player privacy, safety, and security.
- In order to quickly consume real-time blockchain event data and start in-game activities, use Pub/Sub.
Breakpoint Solana 2024
Web3 gaming has a bright future ahead of it, and looking forward to further developments:
Solana Mobile
The upcoming web3 mobile gadget, which was unveiled at Breakpoint 2024, will provide a new platform for mobile Web3 gaming.
Solana Permissioned Environments
By integrating Solana Permissioned Environments with GameShift on Google Cloud, studios may take advantage of the Solana ecosystem while still having control over their chain access.
Tournament administration
To make the integration of fiat and Web3 payments for gaming tournaments easier, GameShift recently announced the release of a real-money tournament administration tool.
In order to enable game creators to produce the next wave of captivating, safe, and inventive gaming experiences, Google Cloud and Solana GameShift are dedicated to providing them with the resources and infrastructure they require. With the support of GameShift and its partnership with Solana Labs, Google Cloud is assisting in realizing the potential of Web3 gaming.
