For anyone that has ever used Ethereum, especially during times of high gas fees, you can relate to how slow and expensive it can be. Indeed, scalability has been the Achilles heel of Ethereum for years now. Although there are some Layer 2 scaling solutions that are helping Ethereum scale (i.e. Immutable X and Polygon), many NFT game developers have chosen faster and cheaper chains such as Binance Chain or Avalanche. For this reason, we are now seeing more scaling solutions coming to Ethereum. One such solution is Myria, a gaming ecosystem built on the Myria Chain.

Myria Ecosystem Key Components

Firstly, the Myria Ecosystem consists of the following three components:

Myria Platform

An all-in-one Ethereum L2 platform powered by StarkWare that includes Myria Wallet, Myria NFT marketplace, and more.

Myria Studios

A player-focused gaming studio centered around true ownership and rewards.

Myria Developer Solutions

A decentralized NFT and blockchain solutions platform, which includes APIs, SDKs, and other business success solutions, simplifies blockchain processes while providing speed, security, and scalability.

Myria vs Ethereum

While Ethereum continues to be the dominant blockchain and blockchain development platform of choice due to the enormous network effects it can bring, it has its own set of limitations:

• Low throughput – around 15 transactions per second (TPS)
• Tough user experience due to slow transaction confirmation rates and high transaction costs
• Slow developer experience – developers must learn new coding languages to build their blockchain project, which creates a significant barrier to entry

A handful of benefits enhance the Myria ecosystem, such as:

• ultra-low-fee transactions
• true in-game asset ownership
• a range of play-and-earn mechanics

Myria is still under development. Moonville Farms is the only game available to play (alpha phase).

On the Myria blockchain, you can create your wallet and trade NFTs in the marketplace and decentralized exchange (DEX). Myria will also allow traditional gaming developers who do not have blockchain infrastructure to join the Myria chain.

Myria’s core value is to return control to the players and provide open access to players all over the world. You will be able to keep actual verifiable ownership and control of your in-game NFT assets and trade them on the market. Additionally, Myria’s games aren’t restricted to exclusive NFT communities, nor do you need to invest in costly NFTs to get started. All of the games will be available for free.

Myria’s Layer 2

A Layer 2 (L2) blockchain is a second layer of technology built on top of a Layer 1 (L1) blockchain to improve computational throughput and efficiency.

Ethereum is the best example of an L1 and is the first blockchain with smart contract functionality. The chain encountered congestion due to a large number of decentralized applications (dApps) built on it when blockchain was in its infancy. This caused gas fees to increase beyond the reach of most users.

Myria’s L2, which is built on top of the Ethereum network, intends to handle intensive computational tasks off-chain, decreasing some of the load of Ethereum’s Mainnet. Without Myria’s L2, transaction speed would be constantly low, while gas fees would be usually high. This would cause everyday Free-to-Play users unable to play.

It is for this reason that Myria’s team has been working to develop a fully decentralized L2 protocol that provides speed, scalability, security, and an overall friendly user experience. 

As the team revealed, all of Myria’s games will be available to play for free, with zero transaction fees, fast finality, and 100% carbon neutrality.

Technical Aspect of Myria’s L2: ZK-Rollup Scaling Solution

Myria claims that its zk-rollup scaling solution with NFT-specific proof logic is one of the most advanced NFT trading protocols to date.

It boosts the integrity and privacy of computations on blockchains by batching hundreds of transactions into a single zero-knowledge proof known as zk-STARK (zero-knowledge scalable transparent arguments of knowledge), using novel cryptographic proofs and modern algebra.

ZK-STARKs enable blockchains to move computations to a single off-chain STARK prover and then use an on-chain STARK Verifier to verify the integrity of those computations.

Simply put, zero-knowledge rollups (zk-rollups) are a Layer 2 scalability solution that allows blockchains to validate transactions more quickly while keeping gas fees to a minimum, without compromising security. Zk-rollups outperform traditional Layer 1 blockchains such as Ethereum because they combine on and off-chain processes.

Myria vs Immutable X

Immutable X

Immutable X is an Ethereum-based Layer 2 scaling protocol with similar functionalities to those of Myria. Both gaming studios are currently developing their own games, with Immutable X publishing Gods Unchained, while Guild of Guardians is under development. However, a great part of the NFT collection in the Immutable X marketplace is non-gaming NFTs (books, art, music, etc.).

Myria

The Myria Ecosystem consists of Myria Studios, which is a gaming studio developing games that will be available on the Myria Platform, a gaming platform that will host games from other developers as well. However, games in the Myriaverse will utilize NFTs that will be interoperable across all Myriaverse games. We can say that Myria focuses exclusively on games, while Immutable X hosts NFTs with different utilities as well.

Myria and Immutable X have both developed L2 and Zero Knowledge protocols for scaling NFT and blockchain games. As mentioned above, they can leverage Ethereum’s security and popularity while also allowing you to engage in NFT and crypto gaming at very low costs and fast speeds by taking transactions off the Ethereum blockchain and running them through their networks.

Competitive Landscape – Transactions Per Second (TPS)

Myria’s Team

More than 150 individuals are presently working on Myria’s team. Veterans from crypto and gaming behemoths like EA, Riot Games, Ubisoft, Chainlink, Blizzard Activision, BitMex, Tencent, and others are part.

CEO: Jonathan Teoh

He has founded over 15 businesses, including four multinational VC companies focused in technology. He is a Web3 advocate who recently launched aliens.com and a blockchain SAAS platform.

Co-Founder & CTO: Andrew Silber

Before co-founding Myria, Andrew spent 27 years in professional video game technology development at some of the industry’s most well-known companies, including Activision, Electronic Arts, 2K, Ubisoft, Sony, and Midway.

Head of Blockchain: Brendan Duhamel

Brendan founded an accelerator-backed Bitcoin start-up in high school, worked as the Blockchain Lead at a blockchain trade finance network, and co-founded a decentralized crypto ETF project.

VP of Games: Ivan Fortunov

Ivan has a background in architecture and a 12-year career in game design. He worked for firms such as Gameloft, CrazyLabs, and GPG (Ubisoft). He led the development of a variety of games, including casual runners like ‘Jumanji: Epic Run’, and ‘Mortal Kombat: A Fighting Game.’

Chief Marketing Officer: Dave Malcolm

Dave has over 25 years of marketing and management experience and has worked in the gaming business notably as Rockstar Games’ Head of Marketing and PR. Dave delivered multiple AAA blockbuster game launches throughout his time at Rockstar, including GTA IV.

Creative Director: Charles Kim Jr.

He led Creative processes at Riot Games, League of Legends developer studio, and Mythical Games (Blankos Block Party).

CPO: Damian Ordish

Mainly involved in management consulting and tax at PwC, he continued as an HR and People functions at leading investment banks and hedge funds, including Goldman Sachs and Och-Ziff Capital Management.

VP of Tech: Art Zaratsyan

Worked on projects like Fifa Street, Need for Speed, Blue Castle games, Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs 2 and Far Cry 5, and Warner Brothers.

Investors

Based on Parsers and PitchBook, the main investors behind Myria are SolrDAO, Metavest Capital, Master Ventures, and MH Ventures.

Assets of the Myriaverse

Myria Nodes

A network of 40,000 player-run nodes will support the Myria chain. You can become a node operator using your home computer and gain incentives and benefits for your contribution to the ecosystem (daily $MYRIA token rewards, voting rights, and exclusive NFTs). The cost of a node will be 3 $ETH.

$MYRIA token

$MYRIA is a utility token based on the ERC-20 protocol. The token will be used to facilitate transactions on the Myria Layer 2 scaling protocol, and additional in-game utilities in selected game titles. Ecosystem players, node operators, and other participants will receive a portion of $MYRIA. This will result in a circular economy between users that aims to accelerate ecosystem growth.

$MYRIA utility

• Protocol Fee: A portion of the protocol fees associated with each Myria transaction will be paid in $MYRIA.
• Myria Node Purchase: $MYRIA is required to purchase Myria Nodes.
• Staking: As protocol fees are implemented, staking rewards will be introduced. A dedicated staking reward pool will allow those who meet the MYRIA token staking requirements to receive rewards from this pool.
• Governance: Holders of $MYRIA have the power to vote for decisions regarding the Myria ecosystem. They will be able to vote on the ecosystem’s future development and strategic direction.
• Purchase of an exclusive NFT: $MYRIA will be used to buy exclusive NFT collections from Myria Studios.

Myriaverse NFTs

Myria NFTs will be interoperable. This means that you may use them anywhere in the Myriaverse regardless of the game you’re playing. This offers great functionality and value for the players. Node operators will receive NFT drops and tokens depending on their reputational score as node owners and general community members.

Myria’s Software Development Kit (SDK)

Software Development Kits (SDKs) are customized sets of tools and instructions to easily create apps or dApps.

They accomplish this in the blockchain gaming world by providing developers with functionality that allows them to do everything from create and interact with non-custodial wallets to mint non-fungible tokens (NFTS), build games, and more.

This enables developers to quickly access and use APIs and other tools required to quickly build, launch, and test projects and prototypes.

Myria’s SDKs were designed with developers in mind, providing a suite of easily accessible and frictionless tools that can be relied on to complete complex or time-consuming tasks on the blockchain quickly.

Software Development Kit (SDK) Concepts

• Projects: These can be any creative or entertainment product, as well as a game. A project is required to complete any or all of the steps below.
• Collections: Groups of items that share certain characteristics, such as land parcels, weapons, clothing, characters, or characteristics.
• Minting: The process of creating ERC721 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) like those listed above.
• Assets: Individually minted items (NFTs) of immutable status and value that can be used within games or other dApps or openly traded in the Myria marketplace. These digital assets can range from in-game status items to artwork or music.

Myria’s SDK Highlights

All of the tools that are needed to launch a blockchain project in a simple and flowing manner are provided. The tools will relieve creators of a big part of the tedious tasks required to create games and NFT collections. Some perks that Myria offers for developers are:

• Unlimited scalability, providing up to 9,000+ TPS
• Ethereum-level security
• Advice from technical support to best practice advice to unlock new revenue streams and opportunities
• NFT store and marketplace are built specifically for blockchain games
• Blockchain consultancy services on NFT sales, blockchain integrations, and platform support
• Tokenomics support
• Compliance support

Key Takeaways

• The Myria platform will feature close to zero transaction fees on in-game-owned assets.
• Myriaverse’s games will all be free-to-play games, with play-and-earn mechanics. 
• Something we are looking forward to is NFT interoperability. This will allow users to utilize NFTs across different games on the platform. 
• A strong community awaits Myria’s full release. As of this writing 122,000 users follow Myria’s Twitter account.

Key Risks

• Expectations are high for the Myria team to deliver. However, Myria’s roadmap is still not public. 
• Myria’s node sale is yet to come, with 40,000 nodes available at the high cost of 3 $ETH each.

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