Since its early release, Off The Grid — a Battle Royale developed by Gunzilla Games, has gained prominence on the Epic Games Store. Last weekend, the game became the most popular free title on the platform, surpassing even big names like Fortnite and Rocket League. It was also placed first on the store's list of trending games.
For a game little known before its initial access — Early Access, this performance is surprising, with engaging shooting mechanics and fluid movement that has pleased players. Blockchain is still on the testnet, but it already has more than 6 million wallets.
The gameplay follows the traditional format of Battle Royales, such as Fortnite and Apex Legends: the player must shoot, loot and survive while the map shrinks. However, Off The Grid differentiates itself by being built on GUNZ, a dedicated L1 (or subnet) on Avalanche.
Currently, GUNZ is on the testnet and the $GUN token is not yet available on the mainnet, although such a move is in the plans. Items in the game are traded in $GUN, which so far can be obtained by completing missions. For now, it is an in-game currency, as the token has not yet been released.
Eventually, when the GUNZ network launches its mainnet, Gunzilla claims that players will be able to mine items as unique NFTs, which can be traded and sold in the game itself and also on the secondary market. Gunzilla created the GUNZ network to allow other developers to use the technology as well, so the ambition is for $GUN to be useful for other games in the future.
The game's success also had repercussions on the streaming platform Twitch. On Friday, Off The Grid was one of the most watched games on the platform, accumulating 148,000 viewers across dozens of streams, which placed it on the same audience level as established titles such as League of Legends and Grand Theft Auto V.
Mathew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, highlighted the game on X (formerly Twitter), stating that its success “demonstrates how blockchain technology can empower players with ownership of real assets and a decentralized economy.”
Despite early access being released last Tuesday, Off The Grid was released on a limited basis, with only one map (albeit a very large one) and mode available. In the future, players will be able to craft rare weapons and items as NFTs, but this feature is still in development. There are still questions about how Sony and Microsoft will react to the inclusion of blockchain in their console games.
With user-friendly gameplay and quality graphics, Off The Grid could be the first truly fun blockchain game capable of attracting players without forcing the purchase of tokens or pushing the logic of NFTs in an invasive way. This could be a promising step for the future of the blockchain gaming market as a whole, and we will be keeping an eye on upcoming trends and opportunities.