Unity Adds “Decentralization” Tools to Its Asset Store to Support Web 3 Game Development

Popular game engine Unity has added a “Decentralization” category to its assets store that offers access to blockchain solutions for in-game asset development.

In a press release on Tuesday, February 28, Unity announced that its “Decentralization” category page “offered vetted solutions to support developers interested in technology that enables decentralization in gaming.” With blockchain solutions at their disposal, game developers can now add numerous innovative experiences to their games.

🚀 Thrilled to announce that we have listed @MetaMask, @Infura_io, and @Trufflesuite in the new decentralized section of the Unity Asset Store to empower developers to build #web3 games!

🔗 https://t.co/hzeGahgVMz pic.twitter.com/rPHYxxhqIi

— ConsenSys (@ConsenSys) February 28, 2023

Free Access to 13 Blockchain SDKs

According to the announcement, its new addition to the assets store offers free access to 13 blockchain software development kits (SDKs) that will empower developers to build web 3 games.

The blockchain solutions include Algorand SDK, Dapper Labs’ Flow SDK, ConsenSys’ Infura, MetaMask, Truffle, Tezos SDK, Solana SDK for Unity MagicBlock, Immutable X, Nefta SDK, Aikon Ore ID, Altura SDK, Aptos SDK, and Quarters.

1/ Today, @unitygames has announced a new asset store category for verified decentralized technologies in gaming — including the Solana SDK for Unity by @magicblock.

Solana games are already next level — and now, they can go even further. https://t.co/KevKja5SK7

— Solana Foundation (@SolanaFndn) February 28, 2023

Any of the 13 Web 3 tools can be added directly to projects through Unity’s Asset Store, adding another layer of ease of adoption without developers having to navigate through third-party websites to find tools. This enables developers to add new experiences to their new or existing games like NFTs, smart contracts, and play-to-earn (P2E) features.

According to the press release:

“Decentralization in this context typically refers to models of ownership in games that allow players to create, earn, or obtain in-game resources that they can then sell or trade. This dedicated page on the Asset Store will help interested developers find verified solutions to manage digital assets, set up smart contracts, build on blockchain networks, and more.”

However, the popular game engine Unity is not entirely new to blockchain games. Some popular blockchain games, including Decentraland, The Sandbox, and DOGAMi are made with Unity. Decentraland (MANA) and The Sandbox (SAND) have the second and the fourth-largest gaming tokens respectively.

Following NFTs, blockchain games are new drivers of blockchain activity. As per a recent report by DappRadar, blockchain gaming is off to a promising start for 2023 as it contributed 48% to the overall dapp activity in January 2023.

In January 2023, the surge of the top gaming tokens was nothing short of impressive. According to Coinmarketcap’s gaming token ranking, BAYC’s Apecoin (APE) is currently leading the way with a market cap of nearly $1.9 billion, followed by Decentraland (MANA) and Axie Infinity (AXS) with a market cap of above $1 billion.

NFTs are adding more colours to the gaming industry. As reported, a Golden Key NFT from Dookey Dash, a skill-based NFT game by BAYC creator Yuga Labs, was sold for $1.6 million (1000 ETH).