The developers of web3 RPG Castile have officially announced a partnership with gaming-focused blockchain network SoonChain.

What Benefits Does the Partnership Bring for Castile and SoonChain?

Specifically, this partnership will benefit the blockchain gaming studio, as they will now get to use “AIGG” to transform their workflow and enable AI-powered web3 game development. AIGG is a game engine that makes it possible for anyone to develop AI-generated games backed by blockchain technology. The AIGG Engine is said to use natural language, which likely means using prompts or similar to simplify programming all sorts of game features, making it potentially easier for teams to bring their creative vision to life.

Since this collaboration involves usage of the AIGG Engine, this likely also means that the developers are bringing their game over to SoonChain for potential cross-chain gaming. That part isn’t explicitly mentioned in the announcement, which teases the web3 gaming community to keep a lookout for more updates regarding this collab in the future.

What Is SoonChain?

SoonChain is an AI-powered layer 2 chain focused on blockchain gaming. Their goal is to innovate in the field of game development by providing creators with AI tools through the AIGG Engine. Not only do developers get to leverage the chain’s low cost and fast transactions for smooth gameplay, but they also get to automate game development using a variety of AI tools that could make it easier to turn ideas into proper web3 games. Blockchain integration is said to be simplified to make it easier for web2 game developers to easily add in web3 features. The gaming chain also comes with integrated tools for deploying GameFi tokens, alongside support for using AI agents as virtual players or interactive characters.

The first testnet for this chain went live in January 2025, with plans to upgrade to testnet 2.0 in Q2 2025 and bring with it upgraded AIGG Engine tools. The roadmap on the official website states that Q3 2025 will mark the launch of mainnet, the integration of AI tools and DePIN, and the building of their own gaming ecosystem. For their ecosystem, they’d like to have over 100 games deployed in Q4 2025, with the final quarter of the year also introducing more AIGG Engine features for anyone to use to easily create their game.

What Is Castile?

Castile is an idle RPG and roguelike set in the Cthulhu universe. The free to play fantasy title has players create their own party of distinct characters to progress through 3D environments and fight numerous monsters in chaotic battles. Each party member has their own special ability to strategically use to assure victory. Collect all sorts of heroes over time that you can further upgrade to make them stronger for the challenging adventures ahead.

This Aptos game hasn’t officially launched yet, but can be played on mobile devices for free on Android and iOS during playtests. There are no official store pages however, so you’ll have to go to the game’s official website to download it from there directly in the form of an APK file for Android, or a redirect to TestFlight for iOS, though space for that might be limited. Participants were able to play to earn $CAST in the Castile Beta Test back in September 2024, while this year kicked off with the launch of the Castile Pioneer Season, which had a 20 million $CAST prize pool up for grabs throughout a 30-day period.