Ember Sword is a blockchain MMORPG that we have followed for a couple of years now, ever since we heard of the project. Now, Bright Star Studios has moved the game from Polygon over to the Ethereum Layer 2 solution, Immutable X.
Immutable X came onto our radar thanks to Gods Unchained, a game we tipped for success back in 2018. Since then, Immutable X has strode confidently from strength to strength, with a $60m Series B funding round in September 2021. The blockchain gaming platform has zero gas fees, instant trades, and even its own ERC-20 utility token, $IMX.
Why Ember Sword has chosen to partner with Immutable X — a sizeable and work-heavy decision — is listed in their Medium post announcement. I will summarize what these are below.
Why Ember Sword Left Polygon for Immutable X, TL;DR
- Network Speed: Immutable X has “massive transaction capacity” with transaction times taking under a second.
- Better On-Ramp: Immutable X will make it easier to attract players without crypto wallets.
- Credit Card Payments: Immutable X will allow Ember Sword to make drop sales for fiat currencies.
- Gas Free: Because nobody likes gas fees.
- Security of Ethereum: With the help of StarkWare, Ember Sword believes Immutable X (and Ethereum) provides a more secure network.
An important note to those who have already backed Ember Sword is this:
If you have purchased any land or badges, this change does not affect the ownership or value of your NFTs. The only difference is that, at a later point, you will have to migrate your NFTs from Polygon to Immutable X to actually be able to use them in-game. Don’t fret, the process of doing so is straightforward and easy as can be. Expect more news & instruction and how to do so in a blogpost down the line, which will explain the process in detail.
Ember Sword Medium announcement.
Closing Thoughts
I like the idea behind Ember Sword and it’s hard to begrudge anyone for choosing to move their game to what is arguably a more game-focused blockchain. If Ember Sword can create what it has proposed, this is a noteworthy boon for Immutable X. My reservation and the reason I haven’t included Ember Sword in my Blockchain Gaming Watch series in the last two years is the lack of gameplay footage.
It has been a year since we last saw gameplay, and I believe, that was also the first and only time we have. Ember Sword has had an inordinate amount of money generated from various avenues and many past supporters have become vocal with their concerns of the project being a future “rug pull”. I would suggest that the partnership with Immutable X ought to be comforting. I can’t imagine Immutable X partnering with a scam or doing such a lack of due diligence that they didn’t notice. Similarly, it seems unlikely Bright Star Studios would go to the lengths of switching blockchain if this was a cash grab.
Nevertheless, we have to see some more in-game footage. I would love to cover Ember Sword in depth, but there needs to be more to go on. Perhaps the issues they had with Polygon were restrictive in some way. Whatever the case, let’s hope for a more content-laden future with Immutable X.
