The landscape of Web3 gaming has undergone a remarkable transformation. Today we find ourselves at the stage where the underlying technology enhances rather than restricts creativity and innovation in game development, moving beyond initial experimental models like Play-to-Earn. Leading the efforts is Beam, who has taken on the responsibility of ensuring that the potential of this space can be fully realized. Blending revolutionary technology with a nostalgic feel, Beam addresses the issues that have held the space back in recent years, with every aspect of the platform designed to shift power back into the hands of the players. We will be exploring the individual components of Beam, demonstrating its commitment to bringing to life a new way of gaming.
An Introduction to Beam
Beam stands at the frontier of the gaming evolution. As a pioneering gaming blockchain leveraging Avalanche’s Subnet technology, Beam is building a platform for game developers to easily integrate the Web3 features that are revolutionizing the fundamental framework of game design. By empowering developers with a rich suite of tools, an entire ecosystem of games is taking shape on Beam, offering players a gateway into a multitude of new experiences.
The decision to utilize the Subnet design was an easy one – Subnets are one of the few solutions that offer such a high degree of flexibility whilst still being rooted to the speed and security of the Avalanche network. A sovereign blockchain allows the freedom to choose your own native gas token, a customized validator set to ensure regulatory or hardware requirements are met and of course, private blockspace. Crucially, with Avalanche’s consensus mechanism, it achieves sub-second finality – a vital component to the gaming industry where high throughput and low latency are key requirements.
Merit Circle DAO: A Collaborative Force Behind Beam
Beam aims to offer the most powerful set of gaming-focused tools as well as an ecosystem for a passionate community to come together and foster growth. But above all, games building on Beam have the opportunity to collaborate and tap into the expertise of Merit Circle DAO, a leader in the Web3 gaming industry.
Since its original roots as an Axie Infinity guild, bringing together an entire network of players from across the world, Merit Circle has not only experienced first-hand, but has also been a key contributor to the Web3 gaming evolution. Throughout this journey, they have gained a profound understanding of the industry’s missing pieces and what it will take to usher in a new era of gaming, which has resulted in the creation of Beam. Few teams possess the extensive knowledge of the gaming space that Merit Circle has, along with their deep commitment in pushing the industry forward.
A Player-Focused Philosophy
The core philosophy of Beam is to empower players with new gaming experiences that allow levels of ownership that have simply not been possible in traditional game design. They also understand that this may not be for everyone, which is why Beam has removed all blockchain complexities for the average player. However, it simultaneously caters to those who do want to take ownership of their in-game assets. This flexibility to opt-in for ownership is perhaps what makes Beam’s approach so effective, striking a unique balance between innovation and accessibility.
Beam has a crystal clear vision: to give power back to the players by simplifying Web3-enabled game development and accelerating the next generation of games being built. With an entire library of games already integrating with the network, Beam is a testament to how far the gaming industry has come through the impact of blockchain technology.
How Beam is Reshaping the Future of Gaming
Beam has been carefully designed to give players a superior gaming experience that expertly merges Web3’s capabilities with uninterrupted gameplay. Every element of Beam embodies this philosophy, ensuring that all players can benefit from this revolutionary era in gaming.
Effortless Ownership
Blockchain technology has redefined the concept of ownership in gaming and with it, what players should expect from the hours they put into a game. Beam’s Companion App allows players to easily link their in-game profile to set up an account which gives them full ownership of their in-game items. Working with OpenFort to leverage Account Abstraction, a player can setup an account with their chosen social login in seconds. Their private key is securely encrypted into their device so that there is no need to worry about any recovery phrases. This simple flow addresses one of the biggest challenges that has been holding the space back, preventing adoption from millions of traditional gamers.
By giving players the option to take ownership only if they choose to, Beam empowers them to simply enjoy the gameplay without ever having to deal with the blockchain layer. For experienced Web3 gamers or those who want to explore the ownership aspect, the Companion App can be used to swap assets, send in-game items to friends or lock up their items in a secure vault. This level of flexibility also allows players to unlock true ownership only when they feel it is worthwhile.
The Companion App showcases Beam’s dedication to building an inclusive blockchain-powered platform. It offers a versatile and robust solution, designed to meet the diverse needs of all players on Beam.
Player-Driven Economies
The industry’s shift away from the Play-to-Earn model has brought into focus a key element that is lacking in traditional games: the ability to freely trade digital assets which hold real value. Before the integration of blockchain infrastructure, players faced very fragmented and limited ways of trading their assets. There was no true ownership involved as these items technically belonged to the game studio and there was no reliable way of verifying the authenticity of an item.
As digital items found their space in the Web3 landscape, multitudes of NFT marketplaces have appeared but none have focused solely on gaming. Merit Circle took this problem into their own hands and have built Sphere – a marketplace built specifically for trading gaming assets. Although it can act as a standalone marketplace, Sphere’s primary role is to enable games to easily build their own in-game marketplace which uses Sphere’s API as its foundation.
At Beam, transparency is one of the core values. Unlike many other platforms, Sphere will include information that is important to gamers – such as the context of the rarity of an item and its actual utility within the game. These are small but essential details to enhancing the gaming experience, which have often been overlooked. Sphere’s design is centered around a seamless user experience and aims to offer the premier solution to facilitating player-driven economies.
Simplified Integration
To best serve the players, Beam first has to provide game developers with the tools needed to build the most fun and engaging experiences. Beam SDK acts as the invisible link for builders to seamlessly integrate their game to the Beam Network and leverage blockchain’s capabilities. It has been created to allow developers to focus on the creativity of game development and not have to worry about the complexities of blockchain integration. At its core, the Beam SDK is a flexible tool that gives developers the power to maintain control over their game design throughout the development process. By utilizing Beam SDK, developers gain access to the innovative possibilities offered by the Beam Network, enhancing the overall gaming experience without compromising their creative vision.
A Unified Ecosystem
Beam’s core mission is to foster an ecosystem that unites passionate gamers and developers, driving the advancement of Web3 gaming into the mainstream. Beam Hub acts as the home of the Beam ecosystem, where players can come to discover new experiences, rate and review games and connect with other players. Its thoughtful design caters to two key audiences – early access players and competitive players, making Beam a truly universal platform. Because at Beam, the voice of the player matters and building a strong player-first community is central to its vision. Beam Hub is not only a place for discovery but empowers players to actively participate in the development and evolution of their favourite games.
As Beam’s product suite grows, BeamOS is where you can discover every tool and feature built on Beam.
The Beam Expansion
Launching as an Avalanche Subnet was the first step in Beam’s vision of evolving into a chain-agnostic gaming hub. Beam has recently announced that it will be joining forces with the Immutable zkEVM, powered by Polygon. This collaboration will kick off with two major developments: the launch of the Sphere marketplace on Immutable and the integration of the Immutable Passport into Beam’s Companion App. This is a significant step in making Sphere the go-to marketplace for all games.
Through Beam, we are witnessing the largest names in Web3 gaming working together to unlock the most powerful gaming infrastructure. In doing so, this will accelerate Web3 game development and create an even more enriching gaming experience. Beam’s commitment to becoming chain agnostic will enable it to reach players from all corners of the gaming landscape.
The BEAM Token
With the launch of Beam and the approvals of MIP-28 and MIP-29, the Merit Circle token ($MC) has now migrated to the $BEAM token. BEAM has several built-in utilities which include:
- Delegation – BEAM holders will be able to participate in securing the network by delegating their tokens to a Beam Validator.
- Governance – Participate in the governance of the Merit Circle DAO.
- Gas Token – Every transaction on Beam will require BEAM to be paid as gas, with part of this fee distributed to validators and another portion burned.
- Validation – Secure the network by running a Beam validator node and receive BEAM rewards.
- Buyback & Burn – As part of MIP-7, which ensures that the Merit Circle DAO maintains a self-sustaining system, 15% of the DAO’s investment proceeds will be used to buyback & burn BEAM to decrease its supply.
Beam Spotlight
City of Greed
“Mastermind your strategy, accumulate resources, and triumph over escalating land taxes as you navigate this dynamic blend of Roguelike, Resource Management, and Deck-building.”
Megaweapon
“Prepare for an action-packed gaming experience in the fast-paced, top-down shooter world of Megaweapon, featuring various avatars, game modes, and maps to explore!”
Raini: The Lords of Light
“A card game set in the fantasy world of Rainiverse where players have to strategically manage an army of creatures to defeat the main enemy, Quantum Rug.”
Play Raini: The Lords of Light
Castle of Blackwater
“Experience the mysterious fantastical 2D social deduction game with Castle of Blackwater, where players can play different roles, scout the village, and finish quests.”
Explore and keep updated with all the new games building on Beam.
Conclusion
Although Beam’s journey has just begun, it represents a monumental force in the gaming industry, bringing together the expertise of Merit Circle, the powerful engine of Avalanche technology and deep industry partnerships such as Immutable and Polygon. In the search for the perfect balance between Web3 features and enhanced creativity in game design, we are finally seeing this vision come together. Players’ growing desire for ownership and agency in their gaming experience is central to Beam’s philosophy. The platform’s unique approach of allowing players to opt-in to the ownership element, while simultaneously abstracting the complexities of crypto, is pivotal in attracting a broader audience. Beam is dedicated to solving two fundamental challenges – streamlining the on-chain experience for players and simplifying all blockchain elements for developers.
However, Beam is much more than just a place to have fun, it’s a platform where communities can come together to create meaningful experiences whilst pushing the technological boundaries of innovation. The ultimate goal is to bring these dynamic experiences to a global audience. Beam’s ecosystem represents a significant leap forward in the gaming industry, where player engagement and cutting-edge game development converge to make way for the next generation of gaming.
