Space Nation co-founders Roland Emmerich (left) and Jerome Wu show off their new game, Space Nation ONline, in San Francisco in March. (Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Space Nation Inc)
Mentioning blockchain or NFTs can scare people. It doesn't have a great reputation among gamers, but Space Nation Online is trying to change that. His upcoming MMORPG has a fascinating pedigree. It was co-founded by a group highlighted by Blizzard's Jerome Wu, Hollywood producer Marco Weber, and director Roland Emmerich.
Together, they create an ambitious transmedia science fiction project that follows humanity in the distant future. Earth has been destroyed. According to Space Nation Online, humans fled to the Telikos star cluster, and many went into hibernation until they were awakened by their race's descendants, the Palusians.
Space opera and high quality games
Players and survivors find themselves in a high-stakes war where all sentient life is at stake. Co-founder Jerome Wu said that while the project is built on promising technology, it's nothing without great gameplay, and the team's goal is to “make high-quality games.” He said that this is one of the big parts of that. Experience is the onboarding process.
He said this is one of the keys to such a complex game. From what he showed off, players start in a ship and fly through the air in dogfights. To make it easier for the player to control, we limited some of the movements to allow the player to focus on the action without doing flashy maneuvers that could be disorienting. From the sounds of it, it sounds more like a “Star Fox” type experience than an “Ace Combat” one. He said this is to make Space Nation Online accessible to a wider range of people. Aim assist is also included for those who don't like aiming at enemies.
3 types of ships
Initially, there are three types of ships in the game: battleships, mining ships, and exploration ships. These are built for different types of gameplay. The first one is aimed at attacking the enemy, the second one is aimed at collecting materials to sell to others in the market. The third is built to explore the unknown. They all cater to different playstyles.
“It's a little bit like 'Eve,' but it's more like 'World of Warcraft,' with ships,” Wu said. “What we're trying to do is blend World of Warcraft and Guardians of the Galaxy.”
As for the social aspect of Space Nation Online, Wu said there will be guilds, and the most powerful guilds will be able to build several large motherships in the game. He showed off different tiers of spaceships, from tier 0, which looks like a standard fighter-type vehicle, to large spaceships, which are gigantic in scale. Guilds can build Tier 5 or Tier 6 ships. This is basically similar to the invasion ship from “Independence Day.” Its length is 10 kilometers.
Again, what sets Space Nation Online apart from other titles is how the developer plans to monetize two things: the ship and the crew. According to Wu, his team has designed 85 ships so far, which players can purchase. Thanks to blockchain technology, once they buy it, they own it. He said it was an NFT and could be traded. The same goes for the player's crew. As Wu explains, the player's crew will have a unique character, and may be sent on quests to bring back resources or prizes that the player needs.
Additionally, “Space Nation Online” is being touted as a transmedia project, so the ship and crew can also be used in other games they have planned. “Once you get a ship, it's not like he's limited to one game,” Wu says. Players can also lend it to others.
In addition to other planned initiatives, such as a TV show that will serve as a prequel to the game, “Space Nation Online” also has a number of features aimed at changing the way people think about blockchain integration into gaming, according to Wu. It is said that there are many projects. The big question is whether players will buy into it.
Space Nation Online is currently in closed beta and will be released in early access this summer with a full release on both PC and mobile platforms.
