There has been a trend I have been tracking for a few years now: people who were/are influential in the Web 2.0 era have been gradually migrating to Web 3.0 projects or companies. We have seen everyone from the founders of Web 2.0 through to persons of talent occupying desirable jobs, make the transition. Edenbrawl has a number of examples in its development team and it’s a game that has recently found its way onto my radar for all the right reasons.
What Is Edenbrawl?
I’ll start with a reasonably common point I make that has become an indicator of a game I deem to be promising: I will be doing a comprehensive review or preview of Edenbrawl in the coming months.
Edenbrawl is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) like LoL or DOTA, but with a twist: it calls itself a “mobrawler” due to the frequency of combat. Edenbrawl refers to itself as similar to Battlerite in combat, and as I said in a recent podcast episode to John, I think Battlerite is one of the most underrated games of the last decade, so I’m interested.
In terms of the gameplay, it aims to be a modernized version of a MOBA with new game modes, champion depth, roguelike mechanics, and more. However, what grabbed my attention, in particular, is the use of blockchain — NFTs are cosmetic only. That is, there is no pay-to-win and the game is only Play-to-Earn insofar as you can presumably sell cosmetics, as well as compete in paid tournaments.
The developers, Worldspark Studios, has some great and relevant industry experience, with Riot, EA, Blizzard, and Bungie, among others, on their collective CV. They also have drafted in a world champion of Heroes of the Storm and world champion of Battlerite to advise on the project. Furthermore, they have investment courtesy of a funding round led, in part, by the company I reference in everything I write on the space because they’re ubiquitous at this point, Animoca Brands.
Analysis and Thoughts
Edenbrawl managed to avoid triggering a single red flag in my initial research. There is full accountability with real names, there is solid backing and investment, it is not pay-to-win, nor is it doing any cash grabs, and there is good communication and transparency. But, there is one gargantuan green flag.
Every week I have to reject covering projects or refuse to make a comment on them because they don’t show a lick of in-game footage. Edenbrawl has uploaded an entire, uncut match, as you can see above. I’m irked that I’m as pleased as I am to see this — it ought to be foundational. There are games trying (and succeeding) to raise seven figures in presales without showing so much as an in-game screenshot, and Edenbrawl — who asks for nothing — gives us a 30-minute alpha-build match.
Until I have played Edenbrawl, I cannot predict whether or not it is a game worth playing and one that will still be played a year after its release. What I can say is that so far, this project is batting 1,000.
