There is a now common occurrence in web3 that warms me when we’re in the icy depths of a crash: the influx of web2 pioneers in web3 and blockchain gaming. They have migrated en masse, creating a plethora of organizations; some I like, some I don’t. One platform I have always had strong affection for and that I use regularly is Twitch, the streaming website and app that has grown to be a tastemaker in gaming and a fully-fledged career for some of its users.
As the calendar flipped over to 2022, we reported that one of the co-founders of Twitch, Justin Kan, was launching a blockchain gaming platform called Fractal. After Kan had made a number of investments in projects, he decided to again attempt to create a pioneering platform for gamers as web3 began to set down its roots.
Now, one of the other co-founders of Twitch, Kevin Lin, has received considerable backing on his web3 venture, Metatheory. This is the parent company of DuskBreakers which appears to be Metatheory’s primary focus.
What Is DuskBreakers?
What DuskBreakers is right now isn’t a great deal, but it’s early days. What DuskBreakers will become is hard to say and a little vague in places, but there are a number of highly promising markers.
DuskBreakers is a vast Sci-Fi web3 game franchise. In the year 2080, with humanity at the brink of devastation, a mysterious spacecraft known as the Dusk appears. Technologically enhanced humans known as “DuskBreakers” embark on dangerous missions aboard the massive ship to mine life-changing technological materials to better the future of humanity.
DuskBreakers
The aim of DuskBreakers — and Metatheory as a whole — appears to be to create a blockchain gaming ecosystem, a little like the BattleNet launcher for Blizzard, but on-chain and web3. There is currently a mini-game you can play and some small samples, with another minigame in the near future, but the meat on the bones won’t be reachable until around Q3 this year. This should see the opening of their first “play-and-earn” title.
There are a lot of mildly interesting moving parts to this project, but a way I have always tried to separate the wood from the trees in our explosively growing space is by the people behind the project. In this case, it’s more or less as good as it gets. Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch, is just the start. With him came JT Gleason, founding engineer at Twitch, as well as some more of Twitch’s old guard.
Then, there is a 3-times Emmy-winning producer, Forbes 30-under-30 list occupants, and developers with CVs that list games such as Pokemon, Hearthstone, and Call of Duty, among others. The team behind DuskBreakers really is a veritable feast of elite-level talent, and for that reason, it’s one I will be keeping a close eye on.
