9Lives Arena, a fantasy-style, 1v1 competitive PvP game with permadeath, created by Stargazer, was initially launched on Enjin, but has moved to Oasys HOME Verse as it ramps up for launch.

In 2018, when I co-founded Token Gamer, there was a minuscule selection of games that were looking at using blockchain. The first one we ever covered was a foetal indie PvP game called 9Lives Arena. To say it was barebones when I first logged in would be an understatement — it was merely a proof of concept back then — but there was something about it. In September 2018, we covered their upcoming Kickstarter campaign to fund the game, and as soon as it went live, I backed it.

From there, Token Gamer teamed up with 9Lives Arena a few times, including a giveaway for 10 special edition Token Gamer weapons called the Blood Comet. Unfortunately, creating a game is hard enough at the best of times, and doing so on a technology that is still very much finding its feet, is another matter entirely. So, it has been a slow process, and there were some teething problems with being so early.

One of the issues with being on the initial Enjin blockchain was the Ethereum gas fees which were not remotely appropriate for Web3 gaming’s high transaction count. 9Lives Arena has been looking for a new home ever since and at last, they have one.

9Lives Arena, Oasys HOME Verse, and the Epic Games Store

A little over a year ago, I first took a look at Oasys, a blockchain gaming-centric ecosystem. There wasn’t all that much to go on, but the team behind the new ecosystem was of the highest caliber. I wasn’t the only person to notice this and within a few months, Sega had partnered with Oasys for their first venture into Web3. Finally, toward the tail end of last year, Oasys utilized the expertise of Galaxy Interactive for a successful funding round.

HOME Verse, a product launched by Oasys, is a Web3 gaming platform that is built as a layer-2 blockchain on the Oasys network. It is designed specifically for gaming and has the high speeds and zero gas fees necessary. HOME Verse already has a handful of games, including their newest addition, 9Lives Arena

9Lives Arena isn’t just a part of the Oasys ecosystem now either, however, as they are now also listed on the Epic Games Store. The Epic Games Store is fast becoming the home for Web3 games and the replacement for Steam it has always wanted to be, onboarding many in-development blockchain games while Steam continues to reject them.

All in all, great news for 9Lives Arena. I’ve had high hopes for this game for 5 years at this point and my belief waned in places. There are so many impressive and attractive elements to this unique project that I’m pleased to see it’s back on the right track!

If you’re interested in playing, the Open Alpha for 9Lives Arena starts at the end of March 2023.