Skillcap Studio, the developer of The Beacon, has officially announced the listing of their web3 game on Steam and the Epic Games Store, making the blockchain-powered title more visible to millions of gamers ahead of launch.
There is no release date available on either storefront at the time of writing, but you can wishlist it on both Valve’s platform and the Fortnite creator’s store ahead of launch to help the blockchain game potentially gain more visibility on those marketplaces. The game is set to launch on both Windows and Mac across these stores.
The links to both store pages can be found linked as part of the official announcement thread.
Of course, given the policies enforced in PC’s biggest digital distribution service, no web3 elements will be present in the Steam version of the game. The one over at Tim Sweeney’s platform however is allowed to have any blockchain features, with the store page showing a disclaimer clarifying to interested users that this is a blockchain game, in case anyone has a problem with that.
There is also an FAQ section for the Epic Games Store version that is dedicated to explaining how blockchain technology is integrated into this free to play title. According to that page, the game uses blockchain only to bring true digital ownership of in-game assets in the form of NFTs, which may represent items or simply cosmetics used for customizing player homes and characters.
Specifically, the game uses Arbitrum and ZKsync chains. Players won’t need to connect to any external crypto wallet, and there won’t be a need to interact with anything related to web3 to enjoy the core game. Anyone will be able to simply jump in and play the game like any other regular free to play title. Those interested in web3 and NFTs will be able to connect their crypto wallet if they want to, and while the game won’t have its own dedicated marketplace, players who would like to buy, sell, and trade assets will be able to do so on other platforms, such as the Treasure marketplace.
The Beacon is an upcoming free to play roguelite action RPG powered by decentralized game console TreasureDAO, who left Arbitrum to launch a layer 2 gaming chain on ZKSync. This opened up the game to a new chain, with its developers choosing to support both blockchain networks instead of fully migrating to a new one.
In this game, players can look forward to jumping into a pixelated 2D fantasy world consisting of MMO features that include social hubs, player homes, meta progression, and co-op gameplay. Explore the Dawnport settlement consisting of a diverse cast of characters to interact with. Chat and party with other players in social hubs such as the tavern before embarking on randomly-generated dungeons solo or with friends. No two dungeon run is the same thanks to Umbra’s chaotic forces changing the structure of each dungeon, so you can look forward to seeing different paths, weapons, field items, and enemies every time you venture in for some action-packed dungeon crawling gameplay.
The loot you gather from dungeons could end up being used for customizing your character and your own house. You will be able to customize your humble abode with various interior decorations while personalizing your character with a variety of handmade cosmetics.
Anyone interested can already try out The Beacon for free in the form of a demo that is playable through web browsers. This demo however represents an old version of the game. It can be accessed through the game’s official website without connecting a wallet. A new version is planned to launch on February 27th as part of New Frontiers Quest Phase 2 – Act II. The first act for this new phase kicked off this January to allow players to stake Writ of Passage NFTs, which can be found on the Treasure marketplace for the floor price of 970 $MAGIC as of writing. The staking period will end on February 20th, and will be followed by the launch of the new game client alongside new quests and rewards.
Details on the starting date for Phase 3 and a timeframe for the global release are not available at the time of writing.