From HTML games and Web 2.0 games to the emerging Web3 games, the gaming industry has witnessed several paradigm shifts over the years. The synergy between the gaming industry and core elements of Web3, particularly decentralization, marks a transformative step. Engaging Web3 MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) — is it a revolution or an unstoppable evolution?
To uncover the answer to this question, TheNewsCrypto conducted an exclusive interview with JC Kim and Kijun Seo, co-founders of Planetarium Labs, the parent company of Nine Chronicles, a leading fantasy-based MMORPG. As pioneers experimenting with various trends in the gaming industry, our guests emphasized every aspect of Web3 MMORPGs, including ecosystems, token economics, new opportunities for users, and the corresponding complexities. Furthermore, as the discussion unfolded, they expressed excitement about the upcoming chapter: the mobile version of Nine Chronicles.
Through this conversation with Nine Chronicles, you will gain insights into the fundamentals of Web3 MMORPGs.
TheNewsCrypto: Could you share the story of how you ventured into the realm of Web3 MMORPGs?
JCK Kim (JCK): Kijun Seo and I have been good friends for many years and have collaborated on various hobby projects. Our first entrepreneurial venture, Nine Chronicles, is an open-source game. Our initial motivation was to replicate Bitcoin’s decentralized features within a game context. Bitcoin operates without relying on any individual or country—anyone can run a node and verify its records. Our goal was to create a blockchain-based, user-recorded massive multiplayer online gaming world that anyone could participate in and contribute to. About five years ago, we embarked on this mission. Our current team comprises over 60 people, mostly in Korea and Singapore, collaborating ambitiously with over 20 Web3 gaming companies on game projects.
Kijun Seo (KS): JC Kim and I met in our early twenties and began discussing how blockchain works as a world computer. Hosting the entire game world on this technology to ensure transparency of rules and data gradually took shape. Initially, Nine Chronicles was just a small project but exceeded our expectations. Currently, we are nearing the launch phase of the game, which will provide people with more freedom and ability to build and engage in the game world.
TheNewsCrypto: Could you introduce Nine Chronicles and its inspiration to us?
JCK: Nine Chronicles is the first fully blockchain-based open-source role-playing game. Anyone can download the source code from our GitHub and independently expand and modify the game. Importantly, it does not rely on our company. The world of Nine Chronicles is eternal for every player who wants to play the game.
Each user’s transactions are recorded on Nine Chronicles’ local blockchain, not on our private servers. Therefore, we designed the game’s ecosystem and economic system to be independent of our privileges. Any player looking to progress in the game must find materials from dungeons according to protocol rules.
Including ourselves, players must obtain materials from dungeons to craft equipment. If we want to supply them, we need to trade through our decentralized in-game marketplace. This maintains Nine Chronicles’ decentralized ecosystem and economy.
KS: We drew inspiration from Norse mythology, incorporating a cat theme. Through three years of continuous updates, users will be able to explore diverse content, equip themselves, engage in battles, and connect with others in the network.
TheNewsCrypto: Interestingly, the game’s blockchain is named after prominent figures from Asgard—Odin and Heimdall. Could you explain Nine Chronicles’ native game engine, LibPlanet?
KS: What’s intriguing about Libplanet is that you’re building a blockchain specific to an application using C#, the programming language choice for Unity, the world’s most widely used game engine. Using Unity and C#, we construct a network that processes all user actions such as transactions, dungeon entries, battles, and rewards. These actions are not only stored but also validated by the blockchain itself or even run as simulations.
We decided to launch a new chain called Heimdall to attract more mobile users and surpass the PC user base. Designed for mobile from the outset, Nine Chronicles is launching on this new chain, allowing us to reach a new user base eager to explore this new world.
This move represents a natural evolution of the game from being the sole chain operator to allowing players to organize themselves. Players can now initiate new chains and name them after guardians of the Asgard system. This approach empowers users to drive chains, reducing reliance on our infrastructure and game operations. Opening up capacity for more users, it ensures new players have a fair starting point. It also paves the way for future developments in the player community with new worlds and chains.
TheNewsCrypto: How revolutionary do you think the integration of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs is for the gaming industry?
KS: This is undoubtedly a revolutionary evolution. Games have always been about community, even in the Nintendo era. When playing Super Mario, people would discover things in magazines and discuss them at school.
Online gaming has evolved into a data-driven society with rules, participation, and interaction. What players have always lacked is open governance and transparent data. Data, rules, and all game simulations have always been set within private networks that have the power to change or even delete their accounts for any reason. As a society, gaining access to data and all these things in the digital world is becoming more and more like identity.
To some extent, this evolution was foreseeable. Many people hoped for public infrastructure to support their social activities in games. Thus, it marks a revolution, indicating self-realization of infrastructure.
JCK: Using blockchain technology to provide ownership to player communities is the most important thing. Beyond asset ownership, we can also share network or intellectual property income through tokenomics and on-chain ecosystems. Our goal is to see the community as a global family of intellectual property.
We expect many great things to happen in the next year or two. There are now more games ready to scale up and innovate the gaming industry.
TheNewsCrypto: From your perspective, what trends do you expect to see in the Web3 gaming space?
KS: In the first phase of blockchain games, one of the most interesting aspects is cryptocurrencies—having dual tokenomics and distribution. Over time, blockchain games have developed significantly, and we are now integrating Web2 and Web3. We’re considering bridging fiat spending and encouraging people to invest in game tokenomics for long-term stability and widespread mass adoption.
We’re not forcing everyone to accumulate cryptocurrencies and follow trends, but rather trying to involve billions of players in the space supported by blockchain backend in a subtle way, enhancing ecosystems and economies. I believe this approach will appear in the next wave of blockchain games aimed at mass adoption. These games will include in-app purchases, credit card payments, and other features, but will operate on highly advanced tokenomics.
I believe we are about to cross a threshold, where much of this knowledge applies not only to Web2 games but also to online games to a large extent.
JCK: Next year, Web3 games will integrate into the traditional gaming sector. We can see this happening as most publicly listed gaming companies in South Korea have begun creating their Web3 game projects.
After the App Store and Google Play Store started supporting NFT-related games, we can introduce the Web3 aspects of games through these channels to regular and mass users. There are many straightforward ways to support this without needing to purchase tokens from cryptocurrency exchanges and bring them into personal accounts.
We can eliminate various other steps within a year, and most of the steps are already underway. Even Nine Chronicles doesn’t require players to use any Web3 elements. They can download the game directly from Google and Apple Store and use in-app purchase functionality integrated with their credit cards.
TheNewsCrypto: What are the benefits of Nine Chronicles’ tokenomics for its users?
JCK: In Nine Chronicles, NCG serves not only as a utility token but also as a governance and ownership token. Users can stake their NCG tokens in the game to earn and produce core rare items. For instance, if a user wants to extend or shorten game time, they can acquire AP potions and hourglasses by holding and staking NCG tokens. These items are not directly sold by the company. Like players, we also need to stake game tokens to produce these items or assets.
As network revenue grows and more users join based on the scarcity of these items, their value increases, benefiting all users. Shared ownership means shared net revenue. NCG stakers play a core role in the game’s decision-making process. We present agendas to the community and leverage their staked NCG tokens to make significant decisions, such as deploying rare items in collectibles or determining material production for new dungeons.
TheNewsCrypto: Can you tell us more about the native NFT collectibles — Decentralized Cats (D)?
JCK: D
is a multifunctional NFT. People not only use these NFTs as profile pictures (PFPs) to showcase on platforms like Twitter or Telegram but also utilize them within core games. They deploy them as profile pictures for characters and play with them in-game. Additionally, D
offers staking functionality. When users stake D
, they can earn additional usable materials through the game protocol. By bringing these materials back into the game, they can also produce pets, some of which contribute to in-game items. Thus, D
is highly practical and useful.
TheNewsCrypto: Currently, does the Nine Chronicles ecosystem support interoperability?
KS: We aim for important game elements like NCG or D
NFTs to move from one network to another. NCG tokens currently act as cross-chain tokens, hosted on both LayerZero and BNB chains. The idea is that items of specific value, such as identities within the entire Nine Chronicles ecosystem, should be able to move between different chains.
However, for certain things, it’s preferable for them to stay within a specific chain, possibly due to bandwidth issues or to ensure fairness among users within that ecosystem. Essentially, as we build the community, users should have the choice of what data can be transferred and what should remain on a specific chain, for reasons of competition or fairness.
While LibPlanet isn’t an EVM chain, we’re focusing on compatibility with EVM chains. For example, we have a game called BNB Chronicles, currently among the top five in daily active users (DAU) on the BNB chain.
Our goal is to further drive this dynamic and, following integration with LayerZero, easily acquire and support NCG on other EVM-supporting chains, particularly those with high liquidity. We primarily focus on chains with high liquidity but are also open to collaborating with different platforms and chains that align with our open-source and on-chain data principles.
TheNewsCrypto: In 2022, Nine Chronicles collaborated with major industry players such as Binance Labs and Animoca Brands. Can you provide insights into ongoing collaborations?
JCK: These collaborations primarily focus on the transition to Proof of Stake (PoS). Nine Chronicles initially operated on Proof of Work (PoW), which progressed slowly. Therefore, we’re transitioning to PoS. Regarding this transition, we’re in discussions with game and blockchain companies about validators. We’ll announce them within a year.
TheNewsCrypto: What are your expectations for the evolution of Web3 games?
KS: Establishing a game company is challenging. Creating a game that truly resonates with users and builds a community is even harder. With significant investment flowing into Web3, there’s a belief that attaching a token to a game will automatically make it successful, but that’s not necessarily the case for many followers. I think as an industry, we’re learning more about creating games that have distinct advantages and appeal to players seeking those advantages.
In the case of Nine Chronicles, the idea of players running nodes and owning their data stood out, attracting a specific user base. From there, we began building more user-friendly features. Finding your unique proposition is an existential question every game company ultimately faces, and in that regard, I think we’re creating a very positive experience for the industry. Many of us are trying different things, and importantly, openly sharing our knowledge to push boundaries.
Even mobile games, initially, weren’t great. People might say, “I can carry it, but why not play on my PlayStation or Xbox or Nintendo?” But over five years, the gaming industry resolved many of these usability issues, and it exploded.
I believe Web3 games have made progress in adoption over the past year. Acquisitions are still significant. It doesn’t mean we’ve passed the initial hype cycle. We’ll have to reach that point and still create content that caters to specific users and truly makes an impact.
JCK: Web3 games will be the fastest-growing new paradigm in the industry. Particularly, the mobile game paradigm took seven years to take an important step. Online games also took about eight years to become major games. I think in Web3 games, we can move to a major level within four years.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this interview article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as investment advice, financial guidance, or recommendations for making any specific decisions. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research.
