You may remember in March of this year, Immutable and Polygon partnered for the Immutable zkEVM. Firstly, what is the Immutable zkEVM and why is it useful? Here is an extract from the aforementioned article:
Immutable zkEVM is a new EVM-compatible (Ethereum Virtual Machine) ZK-rollup — a blockchain dedicated to gaming on Ethereum but that is low cost, highly scalable, and secure, powered by Polygon. Polygon’s own zkEVM is set to launch Mainnet Beta next week and is said to be the “Holy Grail of Ethereum scaling.”
If you’re unsure what a ZK-rollup is, or more to the point, are interested in learning about what they are, watch this video. The key takeaways from this partnership are that two previously leading but competing web3 gaming blockchains have combined their efforts — great news for the industry.
Today, Immutable has launched the public testing phase of its zkEVM.The zkEVM is said to be “tailored” to the needs of Web3 game developers by using “enhanced game functionality”, economies, and game design. This is already being put into action by studios producing some of the best-known projects in web3 gaming with a combined funding of around $320 million! MetalCore, Shardbound, and Ember Sword, among others are working within this ecosystem at present. In fact, MetalCore will be launching another Closed Beta event on 15th September which will showcase the Immutable zkEVM tech.
What’s interesting about the Immutable zkEVM is it’s not merely a blockchain for web3 games, with added SDKs, APIs, and developer tools. Immutable has partnered with many projects that provide services around the rich ecosystem of web3 gaming, such as marketplaces.
We’re immensely proud to finally release the Immutable zkEVM Testnet to the public. This chain, combined with our suite of platform products, is the first end-to-end EVM solution dedicated exclusively to making games successful […] We’re already seeing a massive influx from games, players and partners that will make the Immutable ecosystem irresistible for the next generation of web3 games.
— Alex Connolly, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder at Immutable
News like this can be a little dry and it doesn’t (nor should it) interest gamers. Nevertheless, these crucial building blocks will enable many of the seminal advancements in both web3 and the gaming industry, and deserve a flag planted in them for those who want to watch the ascent.
