Will ‘Off Grid’ Take Crypto Games Mainstream?

Off the Grid is now the talk of the gaming world – but can it stay on top?

Last week, the Battle Royale game (which launched in Early Access) quickly became the top free-to-play title on the Epic Games Store, with 148,000 viewers watching countless streams play it on Twitch. Developed by Gunzilla Games, players are thrown into a real-world online shooter experience equipped with robotic limbs that give them powerful abilities.

What most gamers don't know is that Off the Grid is actually a crypto game based on Avalanche. In the current state of early access, the crypto elements aren't fully implemented—but the game's GUN token is in the works, and there are plans for in-game items to be created as NFTs and traded on the marketplace.

Here at Decrypt's GG, of course, we're all in the crypto game space. Our managing editor Andrew Hayward and reporter Ryan S. Gladwin sat down to discuss the initial impact of The Grid, how it will affect the gaming world, and whether it can keep the hype going.

Ryan: In my time reviewing and previewing crypto games, I feel like games are trying too hard to be the crypto version of an already established title rather than truly creating something new. I believe this has hindered the growth of the industry. Why would I play the web 3 version of the game when I can play the real deal?

Off Grid, on the other hand, adds fun and unique mechanics to the battle royale genre. I Cyberlime mechanic – being able to swap your arms and legs for robot legs with fun abilities – is the main reason this game resonates with players. We've yet to see another game in the genre allow players to access such a wide range of interchangeable abilities.

Apex Legends is close with characters having different abilities, but being able to mix and match in the heat of battle is a lot of fun.

Andrew: Yeah, I'm still getting more from the jetpack and the limbs and the Off the Grid stuff than another Battle Royale clone. I'm still watching the game, but that doesn't surprise me. I don't have hours to pour into it!

But just check out the highlights we've gathered from influencers and streamers from earlier this week. Undoubtedly, Off the Grid already has the viral-factor that draws such games into the limelight. Whether it stays there depends a lot on how quickly it adds content and improves, and how much polish it gets, but it already has a lot of potential.

Ryan: Speaking of Polish, as a PC gamer I've struggled with how poor the game's performance and optimization is. With a 12th-gen Intel i5 processor and an RTX 4070, I have to play at very low settings and reduced resolution just to keep my frames from dropping below 30fps. If I have to do this on a fancy computer, I'm worried that the game will turn away the casual audience it so desperately needs.

Another criticism is that I feel that both landing shots and damage are unclear to the player. When my shots hit their target, I want that hit marker to slap and feel like I'm actually doing damage – something that's lacking at the moment. Similarly, I took an injury in a game and didn't really realize how serious the risk was, causing me to die prematurely. But that's something many early access games don't achieve at this level.

Andrew: That's the downside of early access, right? It's a badge you can slap on when the game is in abundance, but not entirely. In this case, I feel that Off the Grid is strong enough to persevere through these initial setbacks and flaws. Optimization will surely come along with other improvements and improvements. And luckily, my experience so far is that playing on PS5 is pretty easy.

While Off the Grid comes in this limited form and needs more polish, it's still incredibly well-built and more ready to roll than most “public build” crypto games.

Like, I totally get it: that's decentralized ethics, right? But now I'm thinking back to games like Deaddrop and Shrapnel that have been slowly being developed over time, hoping that NFT buyers and fans will get to experience the gradual evolution and add something special one day. Off the Grid, meanwhile, I kept a relatively low profile and then boom, you have a AAA game that makes a seismic impact. This could change everything for crypto games.

Ryan: I totally agree, first impressions are important! Just look at Cyberpunk 2077, it was shipped as a bug and a lot of people didn't want to revisit it after it was fixed. It took years of extra work to get to where it was supposed to be.

This is the first time we've seen Web3 gaming break out of the industry bubble, and we're seeing people open up to the idea of ​​crypto gaming as a result. This may be the time of discovery for the crypto game. But – and it's a big but – the implementation must be meaningful. If Off the Grid exploits or introduces a win-win system, it can do irreparable damage to the crypto game.

I hope Gunzilla makes it easy, just allowing skins to be sold on the market. The worst case scenario is that they create an economy that encourages whales to stockpile all the most powerful weapons, making it unappealing to regular players.

Andrew: Along with publicizing the concept of building, Off the Grid could also significantly affect the crypto games' approach to the launch of tokens and NFTs. So often, we've seen smaller groups selling NFTs or running air-to-air gaming campaigns.

Off the grid didn't do that. The token has not been released yet and NFT functionality is still on the horizon, although they have sold some nodes on the testnet that are currently earning rewards to owners. In any case, it's fair to say that Off the Grid hasn't yet put its crypto foot forward, and we'll see if that ultimately turns out to be positive overall.

At least I think it's positive for perceptions. That said, I still haven't gotten Gunzilla Games to explain their crypto integration plans to us, and I'm wondering why Gunzilla isn't talking when we see other crypto games announcing console launch plans that don't include blockchain components. More there. Partly, I think, is to focus on gameplay and not alienate web2 players. But I think they are still trying to navigate things with Sony and Microsoft.

Undoubtedly, the hype has cooled from last week's expensive marketing spree, which is already raising doubts about Off the Grid's staying power. This is inevitable, but also a valid criticism. From what I've played and the reactions from players, I think Off Grid could be a major player, and I'm excited to see how its success ripples through the wider gaming industry – not just crypto games.

Edited by Stephen Graves