Major Mobile NFT Shooter Game 'MadWorld' Uses Linux Foundation Subsidiary's Game Engine

A Linux Foundation subsidiary has developed a free and open-source 3D game engine distributed under the Apache license. And last week the Open 3D Foundation announced "a big step forward, showcasing the power of open-source technologies in giving gamers around the globe unforgettable gaming experiences."

"We are proud to unveil MadWorld as the first mobile title powered by O3DE," said Joe Bryant, Executive Director of the Open 3D Foundation, "demonstrating the large potential of open-source technologies in game development."

And then this week Los Angeles Business Journal reported that El Segundo-based gaming studio Carbonated Inc. "has raised $11 million of series A funding to finance the development and release of its debut game title... Prior to its most recent round, Carbonated closed an $8.5 million seed funding round in 2020, which also included participation from Andreessen and Bitkraft." Since its founding [in 2015], the company has been focusing on research and development for its upcoming first title, called "MadWorld." The third-person, multiplayer shooter game is set in a post-apocalyptic world and features both player-versus-player and player-versus-environment features. Players of the game will battle for land control in a dystopian setting. Using a combination of open-source mapping tools and Carbonated's proprietary custom operations technology, called Carbyne, the game's world is designed around real-life cities and locations. Players are initially dropped into the game's version of their own real-time location.

The game allows players to optionally engage using blockchain technology with a digital asset-ownership layer powered by a blockchain network called XPLA.
Earlier this month Madworld "opened up for Early Access registration," reports the egamers web site, arguing that the game "is set to redefine the gaming landscape and will make its public debut later this year." After a catastrophic event named "The Collapse," MadWorld takes place in a desolate Earth where players engage in a battle for survival, highlighting the game's unique setting and immersive experience. The game's world is intricately designed with 250,000 land plots mapped out on a hexagonal grid, each presenting unique resources and strategic benefits. This innovative approach to game design enhances the gameplay experience and introduces a new layer of strategy and competition.

MadWorld's gameplay is centered around integrating Web3 technologies, which allows for the ownership, enhancement, and trading of tokenized representations of real-world locations. This feature encourages players to create clans and work together or compete for essential resources that are spread across the vast game world. Clans can acquire these resources by paying tributes to NFT landowners using "Rounds," the in-game currency. This mechanism not only fosters a sense of community and teamwork but also creates unique economic opportunities within the game by blending traditional gaming elements with the emerging field of digital assets.
"With its use of O3DE, Carbonated can enhance the game's visual fidelity, performance, and scalability," according to the Linux Foundation's announcement, "in order to deliver a fast-paced adventure on mobile platforms." O3DE is an open-source game engine developed by a collaborative community of industry experts. It includes state-of-the-art rendering capabilities, dynamic lighting, and realistic physics simulation. These features have enabled Carbonated to build realistic dystopian environments and create action-packed gameplay in MadWorld.
According to its official site, MadWorld "is set to be released to the public sometime in 2024 and is currently being tested on iOS and Android operating systems."

Carbonated's CEO Travis Boatman made this prediction to the site Decrypt. "We think mobile is where the breakout will happen for Web3."

CryEngine =--) Lumberyard =--) O3DE

[Koen Lefever]

This O3DE game engine is a fork of Amazon's Lumberyard engine (used for Star Citizen), which is a fork of Crytek's CryEngine (Far Cry, Crysis).

Re:

[quonset]

So you're saying we'll be able to run Crysis?

Re:

[thegarbz]

This O3DE game engine is a fork of Amazon's Lumberyard engine (used for Star Citizen)

And like Star Citizen I suspect this game is nothing more than a scam.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

And like Star Citizen I suspect this game is nothing more than a scam.

The problem was Godot was taken as a game engine name already.

Need to rethink branding as Web3 == scam

[Embedded2004]

Nft/Web3 are huge red flags, common indicator of scams Need to think about other ways to market this stuff if not a scam.

Re:

[Can'tNot]

There's no such thing as a major NFT game. Even Squeenix's NFT game, the one that Yosuke Matsuda bet his career on, has fallen to vaporware status. If this is not a scam then it's an advertisement by an overenthusiastic cryptobro.

Re:

[thegarbz]

No need to worry. This game will be DOA. Literally not a single NFT based game has even managed to get a proper release, let alone had the opportunity to fail after release. It's 2024. The current headlines for "NFT Games" is "How NFT games went from Fad to Flop", "The Quick Rise and Fall of NFT Games", "How Web3 gaming has failed", and "What We Can Learn From NFT Game Failures".

All of these headlines are in the past tense. This has happened already. NFT gaming is dead. These guys aren't just late for a par

Who asked for this?

[Powercntrl]

I can't imagine a single benefit to a game integrating NFTs, unless you want to pretend you still own that UltraPewPew 9000 after the game servers are shut down. The idea that you could bring something you own from one game into another still requires that the other game implements the same sort of items, and that's always been the difficult part. Sure, it would be neat if I could take my GTA V cars into Mario Kart, but in order for that to be a thing every car in GTA V would also have to exist in Mario K

Re: Who asked for this?

[martinheriksen]

But you still need their servers to verify that the id in the token translates into a specific virtual item. Even If the inventory list gets offloaded to a different registry, then you need trust that the new registry is not tampered, and thereby introducing a level of trust which goes against the entire idea of blockchain. Enabling transactions in a network that is inherently trust less. Unless of course the blockchain they are using is somehow different.

nice commercial

[Black Parrot]

nice commercial

open source but not libre.

[Gravis Zero]

The Apache license was specifically chosen so that the source could be altered and have no obligation to share the alterations. It seems more like Amazon is trying to have other people develop their game engine for them and then reap the rewards.

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

It goes both ways.

Re:

[Gravis Zero]

Not really. Amazon simply hopes to possibly recoup lost funds invested in it's initial development. There are already other libre game engines which doesn't make this one appealing.

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

Not really.

This isn't debatable.

The Apache license isn't a copyleft license.
What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.
A project, say for example probably the largest software project in all-fucking-time (or a scam, time will tell) is currently using that engine.
They are free to continue to take from Amazon's contributions, and give nothing in return.

Blast from the Past!

[TwistedGreen]

Seems like this is a press release that slipped through a wormhole in 2017 and somehow made it onto the front page of Slashdot 7 years later.

"NFT Shooter"?

[93 Escort Wagon]

What the heck does that even mean?

Re:

[subreality]

What the heck does that even mean?

From TFS:

MadWorld’s gameplay is centered around integrating Web3 technologies, which allows for the ownership, enhancement, and trading of tokenized representations of real-world locations. This feature encourages players to create clans and work together or compete for essential resources that are spread across the vast game world. Clans can acquire these resources by paying tributes to NFT landowners using “Rounds,” the in-game currency. This mechanism not only fosters a sense of community and teamwork but also creates unique economic opportunities within the game by blending traditional gaming elements with the emerging field of digital assets.

If you were hoping they just shit out some worthless NFTs during gameplay, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. They seem to have added landlords as a way to extract more money from an FPS.

Re: "NFT Shooter"?

[RedK]

What part of that requires NFTs ? They literally own the game servers, setting a parcel of world as owned by a clan requires a simple INSERT statement into a traditional relational database.

Re:

[ls671]

INSERT statements into a traditional relational database are so 1990. Like with many other things, we need to use modern technologies. Old stuff is boring. Blockchain is modern and trendy, thus much better. It should be used in any modern piece of software. Even MongoDB has been deprecated by blockchain nowadays. Don't matter how hard you try, you can't stop evolution! /s

Wow

[slashdot_commentator]

There are still investors with money to burn on the next pets.com .

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

Well, they made a killing in beenz and flooz, so why not?

Re:

[slashdot_commentator]

Two years ago, with the skyrocketing inflation, the Fed felt the only way to properly address the economic situation was by jacking up interest rates. We were in an era of "free money", where cash was easily available for new tech like IPOs, SPACs, M&As, bitcoin, woke Marvel Phase IV movies, and stoopid level, streaming company content production, . Its an end of an era; no more free money available to throw at sketchy gambles. So yeah, I can't believe there are still investors with money to piss awa

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

No more money to throw at sketchy gambles? Hahaha, what's the color of the sky on your planet, cuz it sure ain't blue.

There's a Wii game of the same name

[bidule]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

Re: There's a Wii game of the same name

[ZERO1ZERO]

Yeah. This was a interesting game graphically and also surprisingly on the usually family friendly Wii. Is a black and white stylised hack em up where you chainsaw people in half with contrasting red blood flying everywhere against the monochrome game back drop. It used the controller gyro functionality to emulate hacking and slashing game mechanic.

Re:

[fabioalcor]

Mod parent up.
I wonder how this will go in the matter of trademark ownership. Will this be overlooked by Platinum Games and Sega?