Summary
- Anomica Brands, just a month after having to shut F1 Delta Time, acquire Eden Games to develop more blockchain racing games
- New racing games will be a part of Animoca Brands’ REVV Motorsport ecosystem
- Eden Games has an incredible track-record of making top-tier racing games
The REVV Motorsport Backstory
Last month, March 2022, we saw the untimely demise of Animoca Brands’ F1 Delta Time. This was as sad as it was unexpected, both for its players and blockchain gaming as a whole. Just a substantial IP having flesh in the game was a useful example, even if the game itself wasn’t reaching the heights of DappRadar’s charts.
The shuttering of F1 Delta Time was a consequence of the F1 license which was not able to be renewed. This led to a problem I had discussed in an article, Can Developers Shutdown or Cease Support for a Blockchain Game?, and in Mint One podcast episode 17, The Problem for Blockchain Games No One Is Talking About. Namely, what happens when a blockchain game — particularly a Play-to-Earn (P2E) one — shuts down or the developers cease support for it?
I didn’t have to wait long and Animoca Brands regrettably closed down the aforementioned major game. This wasn’t a rug pull or a rug slip, but some of the effects were the same. Primarily, assets for the game will inevitably tank and that’s painful for its players. Now, an isolated game is in a far worse position than one housed in a library of games by that developer or publisher. An isolated game’s assets would be, for all intents and purposes, valueless without said game. However, Animoca Brands has far reach, and their REVV Motorsport ecosystem, including licensed games such as MotoGP™, provided something of a safety net if used. This is exactly what they did.
All F1® Delta Time car owners will receive Replacement Cars, which are equivalent cars for REVV Racing on Polygon based on the rarity and power of your original F1® Delta Time cars
Your F1® Delta Time cars can be swapped for a Race Pass, which is used in staking and gives access to future NFT mints and airdrops
All other F1® Delta Time assets can be swapped for Proxy Assets, which will be used in the future to obtain NFTs for products across the REVV Motorsport ecosystem
Many players were vocal about this not being sufficient, but as I said in my article discussing the bizarre situation, I’m not sure what else Animoca Brands could be expected to do. Well, they may have answered both their critics and my rhetorical question.
Animoca Brands Acquires Eden Games to Develop Blockchain Racing Games
Who Is Eden Games?
Founded in France in 1998 by David Nadal and Jean-Yves Geffroy, Eden Games has a spectacular history of making racing games for various platforms that have been beloved by gamers and motorsport enthusiasts.
Their first release, V-Rally for the Playstation 1, was nothing short of seminal and was my first experience with them. Though V-Rally had both a 2 and a 3 — V-Rally 2 regarded as the best of the trilogy — my fondest memory of Eden Games is Need for Speed: Porsche. Not only was this a game that child-me dumped hundreds of hours into, but it secured the license for Porsche which was infamously difficult; even Gran Turismo couldn’t get Porsche and “settled” for RUF (fellow petrolheads might understand why that’s in inverted commas!) Eden Games also has partnerships with BMW, Bugatti, and Pagani, to name a few.
The next series Eden Games released that I once again dumped too many hours into was Test Drive Unlimited. Test Drive Unlimited and Test Drive Unlimited 2 were very well received and popular, but I always felt they didn’t quite get the credit they deserved; they were clearly a game for car fanatics, by car fanatics.
In recent years (starting around 2016), Eden Games moved their attention to Gear.Club, another brilliant racing sim that has had multiple versions and is the platform for World’s Fastest Gamer. Possibly coincidentally, but possibly not, another recent project for Eden Games is F1 Mobile, with which I have some experience. F1 Mobile is honestly excellent, with graphics far north of what you’d expect from a mobile game. Below is a quick hot lap from it.
Why Is This Acquisition Important?
There are three reasons why this is noteworthy:
- Animoca Brands want to, but arguably need to, bolster their REVV Motorsport ecosystem, not only to win back the favor of F1 Delta Time players, but to flesh out an already strong library into something substantial. Racing games utilizing blockchain technology are still few and far between, so this is an opportunity for REVV Motorsport to take full command of the racing genre in blockchain gaming.
- This is a chance for Eden Games, a proven developer of great racing games, to get significant funding and increase their playerbase. Animoca Brands is a powerhouse of blockchain gaming and has the potential to lead the studio to new heights and help them step into Web3.
- As a racing game fan and a champion of blockchain gaming, this is exciting. If Eden Games, with Animoca Brands’ help, can develop a racing game of the calibre they have been for decades, and properly implement blockchain technology, it will be a huge victory for everyone involved, racing game fans like myself, and blockchain gaming as a whole.
