Sparkball, by Worldspark Studios, the first game in the Sparkadia gaming ecosystem, has announced an early access weekend to test this innovative web3 game. But, What Is Sparkball?
One of my chief criticisms of web3 gaming is the lack of innovation. While blockchain can drastically improve web2 games, what I want is twofold; web3 games being innovative, and developers being innovative with the use of blockchain. That is, I want interesting and unique games in web3, not simply developers taking the path of least resistance (TCGs). Additionally, I’d love to see people showing what can be done with blockchain above and beyond simply ownership.
Sparkball perhaps doesn’t tackle the latter — a far harder issue — but it does address the former: it’s a unique gameplay experience. Sparkball has been referred to as “League of Legends meets Rocket League” — though I’m almost certain that line was started internally as it’s great marketing. It’s also called a “mobrawler” which just confuses matters to me! The first description appears far more on the nose.
Sparkball, previously Edenbrawl, is a fast-paced, 4v4 football/soccer-inspired game on a MOBA map. It really is difficult to explain it in any other way. As you can see in the above video, it truly is a blend of LoL and Rocket League, even if I’m suspicious of who first said that!
Sparkball is on the Polygon network and while there was a free NFT drop (that can be bought on secondary markets such Magic Eden), you can’t really buy anything for the game. What a refreshing and strange situation; a web3 game — and what is looking to be a damned good one — isn’t trying to shill you a $600 early access pass!
It's time! 🔥🔥🔥
Announcing Sparkball's first ever Early Access Weekend, "Ascension Weekend"! #findyourspark
When and Where? 👇
📅June 30th / 9 AM PST
🎮https://t.co/GCeQh7aFHRNext 100 players to use partner code "Ascension" get a free Steam key!
More details below! 🧵 pic.twitter.com/q5qCpS9BJG
— Sparkadia | #EarlyAccess (@SparkadiaGG) June 14, 2023
The only downside to this disinterest in hoovering up players’ money is that getting into the Ascension early access weekend isn’t necessarily easy. For the 30th June to 3rd July early access weekend, keys are being given away on their Twitter and Discord, as well as other outlets with an allocation, though be wary of scams. Early access will be on Steam with presumably no initial NFT integration.
In traditional game development, innovative gameplay is paramount if you want to stand out from the crowd. In web3, you are immediately in a far smaller pool of games and standing out appears to be less important. As a result, there aren’t many games that both use blockchain and are creating a new experience, but Sparkball is one of them.
