Blockus Update: SBT for Sui

What is Soulbound Token?

Definition

Soulbound Token(SBT) is a variant form of NFT proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Similar to any other NFT(Non-fungible Token), it is a verification method of digital entity where a crypto token is attached to a Web3 wallet on a permanent basis.

‍

History

As a big fan of a legendary MMORPG “World of Warcraft,” he first suggested the idea of Soulbound on his blog, in January 2022.

“One feature of World of Warcraft that is second nature to its players, but goes mostly undiscussed outside of gaming circles, is the concept of soulbound items. A soulbound item, once picked up, cannot be transferred or sold to another player.” (Buterin, 2022)

‍

What are the key concepts?

The idea of “Soulbound” is distinguished from other types of crypto assets by two key concepts:

• Non-Transferability
• Revocablility

Non-Transferability

• Upon minting, SBTs are sticked to the crypto wallets that mint them.
• SBTs can also be sticked to wallets of specific addresses if the smart contract supports this feature.
• “Transfer function” must not be present in the smart contract which created these assets, thus permanently remaining in the wallet. Therefore, users are not able to transfer nor trade SBTs.

Revocability

• Although SBTs are non-transferable by nature, it is possible to revoke the asset by the issuer.
• SBT can also be burned by the decision of the owner/issuer.

‍

How can it be applied to Gaming?

The concept of SBT can be applied to various areas of game development and service, from design to business model.

‍

Game Design

“Soulbound”, often refererred to as “Untradable” directly, is an attribute that has often been applied to many MMORPGs, to prevent trading of certain in-game assets between players.

Only acquirable By “Effort”

• Gamers have always engaged in trading of items in both 1) In-game Marketplace or 2) Real-Money Trading(RMT).
• “Soulbound” attribute has prevented the items being traded between players unless the character or the account itself is traded, which is often strictly banned by the publishers while constantly practiced by players ironically.
• “Soulbound” is often applied to certain in-game currencies such as coupons or tokens. These are often rewarded to players as rewards of inputting “effort,” by clearing certain dungeons or defeating bosses or other players. Players then can access certain items or shops that only accept these assets as a form of currency.

Example#1: Faction rewards in Albion Online

• Faction Warfare is one of the core combat feature in the game of Albion Online, an MMORPG.
• Upon enlisting to a certain faction and executing certain activities for the faction such as collecting fame via PvP/PvE combat and resource gathering, the player is rewarded with assets and access rights such as faction points, faction standing, faction crest, etc.
• These assets are sometimes serve as a key resource to craft powerful items, such as faction cape or mount, that provides players stats and attributes for better performance within the game.

Business Model

“Engagement-based” business model

• ‍Many video games have input many ideas and designs to achieve user retention upon service.
• One method is to encourage players to continue on the journey by providing step-by-step rewards upon their achievements and interactions with the game, often referred to as a “Battle Pass.”

Example#2: Battle Pass in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

• CoD explains BattlePass in a simple way: “Play the game. Level Up. Earn Rewards.”
• All players can freely approach upto a certain amount of content within the battle pass.
• Players are also able to gain access to different tiers of additional content by purchasing and consuming Call of Duty Points.
• Players can also burn CoD Points to Tier Skip and gain instant access to certain features.
• Battle Pass are account bound, and players cannot trade Battle Pass, as it represents the one-on-one relationship between the game and the play.

‍

Player Experience

Player achievements

• To provide memorable feedback of their effort input in the game, some games or platforms provide a feature called “Achievement.”
• It tracks player’s interaction throughout the game, such as player kill count, or amount of potions consumed, finding secret locations, etc.
• Once a remarkable engagement with the game is achieved, players are presented with rewards, such as in-game items, perks, stat bonus, or sometimes a simple token.
• Through this feature, players are encouraged to more fully enjoy the game, and are often times engage further to achieve certain challenging achievements.
• Many platforms also adopted this feature to retain players in the game and to encourage them continue on trying out other games within the platform.

Example#3: Steam Achievements

• Steam is one of the leading gaming platforms in the world, hosting thousands of games.
• The platform has introduced achievement feature, for both game and the platform, a method to challenge players with both in-game enagagement and in-platform activities, such as mod publishing.
• Players are able to challenge themselves into completing the achievements, and are able to “brag” their level of gameplay by posting the badges on their profile page.

Blockus introduces SBT to Sui

Blockus is ready to support studios launch SBT on Sui

In Ethereum, often ERC-721 and ERC-1155 NFT token standards can be modified to create soulbound tokens. Other chains such as Solana have also been deploying standards with similar mechanics to enable the concept of SBT. Blockus is proud to present Soulbound Token to the world of Sui, while also supporting crypto asset management of all types to empower gaming studios and gamers alike.

Empower gaming with Blockus

Blockus, a startup incubated by a16z, is a game publisher focusing on incubation of prospect game studios, from fundraising to all-in-one on-chain adoption, from production to game release. Blockus aims to empower gamers to freely trade gaming assets while enabling studios to launch detailed business model that suits the game design.

‍