Web3 gaming platform Immutable has started public testing of its Immutable zkEVM in partnership with Polygon Labs.
Work on the zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) network began in March after Immutable announced a partnership with Polygon Labs. Polygon’s own “holy grail” Ethereum extension, zkEVM, landed on mainnet on March 27.
In an Aug. 14 announcement, Immutable said its zkEVM will enable game developers to reduce development costs and gain the security and network effects that come with the ethereum ecosystem. In March, Robbie Ferguson, co-founder and president of Immutable, stated that zkEVM aims to increase ownership by Web3 gamers.
According to Immutable, more than 20 game companies have partnered with Immutable to support the launch, including GameStop, TokenTrove marketplace, online game publisher Kongregate, game designer iLogos, and more.
It added that at least a dozen games have already started building their Web3 games on zkEVM. These include CoinArcade, Galaxy Commanders, Medieval Empires, MetalCore, Meta Toy, DragonZ SAGA, Rune Realms, Shardbound, Infinite Victory, EF Defense, and SimWin Football. MetalCore specifically announced a beta release date for Immutable zkEVM of September 15th.
The immutable zkEVM testnet will use zero-knowledge proofs to secure transfers between itself and the Sepolia Ethereum, allowing developers to test how the mainnet version will work after launch.
Immutable said the network is fully compatible with ethereum applications, meaning developers can port ethereum projects to the network with minimal changes. The team will also soon deploy “immutable relayers for currency abstraction and gas sponsorship,” which will allow developers to create gas-free wallet accounts.
Immutable’s CTO and co-founder Alex Connolly expressed his view that the new network will be “irresistible” for developers, saying:
“This chain, combined with our suite of platform products, is the first end-to-end EVM solution dedicated exclusively to making games successful. We’ve seen an influx of games, players, and partners that will enable The Immutable ecosystem is an irresistible attraction for the next generation of web3 games.”
The developer of Immutable is Gods Unchained Web3 collectible card game, originally launched on Ethereum. In April 2021, the company launched Immutable X, the first zero-knowledge-based layer 2 network, in an attempt to reduce transaction fees for gamers.
related: Immutable’s Gods Unchained Arrives on the Epic Games Store
However, the network is not fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, the computing engine used by Ethereum. Therefore, users of Immutable X must create derived keys through the web interface in order to use the network. In contrast, users should now be able to simply switch networks within the wallet to access Immutable zkEVM.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently weighed the pros and cons of zkEVM, saying they could lead to data inefficiencies and latency issues, but could also greatly improve ethereum’s scalability.
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