‘Space Nation Online’ hopes to change what you think of this tech in gaming

Director Roland Emmerich and "World of Warcraft" veteran Jerome Wu are among the founders of a new MMORPG that uses blockchain technology

Mention blockchain and NFTs and it can scare people off. They don’t have the best reputation among gamers, but “Space Nation Online” is trying to change that. The upcoming MMORPG has a fascinating pedigree. It’s co-founded by a group highlighted by Blizzard Jerome Wu, Hollywood producer Marco Weber and director Roland Emmerich.

Together, they’re creating an ambitious transmedia sci-fi project that follows humanity in the distant future. Earth has been destroyed. Humans fled to the Telikos Cluster and many have gone under hibernation, until they’re woken up by the Parousians, a descendant of their race, according to the “Space Nation Online.”

A SPACE OPERA AND HIGH-QUALITY GAME
Players and the survivors will wade into a war with high stakes as all sentient life is in peril. Co-founder Jerome Wu said that though the project is built on promising technology, it doesn’t mean much without good gameplay, so he said his team’s goal is to “make a high-quality game” and one of the bigger pieces to that experience is the onboarding process.

He called it one of the keys with a complex game like this. From what he showed off, players start off with a ship and they fly around engaging in dog fights. To make it easier for players, they restricted some of the movement to keep players more focused on the action rather than doing fancy maneuvers that could make them lose their sense of orientation. From the sound of it, it sounds more like “Star Fox”-type experience rather than a “Ace Combat.” He said that was done to make “Space Nation Online” more playable to a wide range of people. It even incorporates aim assist for those who aren’t as skilled at targeting foes.

THREE TYPES OF SHIPS
Initially, the game features three types of ships: battleships, mining ships and exploration vessels. They’re built for different types of gameplay. The first is meant for attacking enemies while the second is designed to gather materials to sell on the market to other people. The third is built for exploring the unknown. They all cater to different play styles.

“It’s a litle bit of ‘Eve’ but more of ‘World of Warcraft’ with ships,” Wu said. “What we are trying to do is ‘World of Warcraft’ meets ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.'”

When it comes to the social aspect of “Space Nation Online,” Wu said there will be guilds, and the most powerful ones will be able to build some of the larger motherships in the game. He showed off the different tiers of spacecrafts from Tier 0, which looks like a standard fighter-jet-type vehicle to larger ones that get enormous in scale. A guild can construct a Tier 5 or Tier 6 vessel, which basically looks like an invasion ship from “Independence Day.” They span 10 kilometers.

Again what separates “Space Nation Online” from other titles is the way the developers plan on monetizing two things: ships and crews. Wu says his team has 85 ships designed so far and players can purchase them. Once they buy it, they own it because of the blockchain technology. He said it’s an NFT and can be traded. The same can be said for the player’s crew. From the way Wu describes it, a player’s crew has traits and they can even be sent on quests to bring back resources and prizes that players need.

Additionally, because “Space Nation Online” is touted as a transmedia project, the ships and crew can be used in other games that they have planned. “Once you have a ship, it’s not confined to one game,” Wu said. Players can even rent it out to others.

Throw on other planned efforts such as TV show that will be a prequel to the game, according to Wu, and “Space Nation Online” has a lot projects that aim to change how people think about blockchain integration into gaming. The big question is if players are going to buy into it.

Right now, “Space Nation Online” has a closed beta starting, and it will release in early access this summer with plans for a full release for both PC and mobile platforms.