Zilliqa Research Pte. Ltd., developers of the Zilliqa blockchain, have announced the spin-off of its gaming division into a new standalone business, Roll1ng Thund3rz (RTz).
Zilliqa is a layer-1 blockchain protocol that was founded in 2016 with the goal of creating a high-performance, secure, and scalable platform for decentralized applications.
The company has achieved several key milestones in its journey so far, including the successful launch of its mainnet in January 2019 and the implementation of its unique sharding technology, which enables linear scaling of the network as it grows.
In recent years, Zilliqa has expanded its focus to include a range of industry verticals beyond finance, including gaming, advertising, and the metaverse.
The spin-off marks a significant milestone for the company as it looks to build and incubate businesses that demonstrate innovative use cases for Web3 and blockchain technologies.
Roll1ng Thund3rz will be led by Zilliqa’s Head of Gaming Technology, Valentin Cobelea, who will serve as co-founder and CTO.
The new company will continue to work closely with Zilliqa’s core and technical teams to ensure seamless integration with the Zilliqa blockchain, which underpins some of the capabilities in Roll1ng Thund3rz games.
The company is set to release its first title, Web3War, next month.
Web3War is a free-to-play, cross-platform, first-person shooter game. The game is currently in open beta and has attracted nearly 7,000 players in its pre-release phase. The game features the Skill2Earn system, which rewards players for their in-game play, not for how much they pay to participate.
Zilliqa CEO Matt Dyer stated that gaming in the blockchain and Web3 space has been a key area of focus for the company and represents a largely untapped market with potential.
Roll1ng Thund3rz co-founder and CTO Valentin Cobelea stated that the company’s philosophy is to build fun games first that leverage blockchain technology to provide genuine utility to players, not financial products that masquerade as games.
The spin-off of Zilliqa’s gaming division into Roll1ng Thund3rz is a significant step for the company as it looks to build and incubate businesses that demonstrate innovative use cases for Web3 and blockchain technologies.
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