Isotopic Game Store - Decentralizing Game Distribution with ICP

Showcase
1

Hello ICP community!

I am pleased to announce that we are reaching the end of our developer grant for the Isotopic project, and I am more than happy to share our project with the community.

Introducing Isotopic Game Store
Isotopic is the first Decentralized and Cross-Platform Game Store, where games become own-able assets that can be traded, resold, or otherwise repurposed. This works by tokenizing the game’s license as an NFT that can be minted, unlocking a new economy not possible with traditional alternatives.

The platform, already live at store.isotopic.io, features almost 200 live games across web, desktop, mobile, and VR devices.

Game Developers benefit from tokenized games by gaining full control of their game’s distribution, with the capability of editing the smart contract to add more functionality, set fees, limit supplies, etc.

wallpaper-isotopic-bg
wallpaper-isotopic-bg1920×687 93.2 KB

ICP Integration
While tokenized licenses decentralize ownership of digital copies of games, the solution is still fairly centralized, as the user had to depend on the Isotopic cloud server to deliver the build’s files for games that are published to the platform.

With this new development, we have created a solution that allows game builds to be uploaded to the Internet Computer instead of our centralized servers, which brings game distribution a step closer to full decentralization.

image

How it Works
We have created an ICP Canister that lets us upload and store the build files for our game developers. When a developer uploads a game to our website, we act as a “delegator”, first downloading the build to our server, and then uploading the chunks to the ICP network.

The canister maps upload IDs for each game to a platform and allows clients to retrieve information about them.

Then, when a user goes to download a game, we retrieve the list of uploads for it, and send the upload of the platform requested.

The canister’s code is open-source under an MIT License, and can be found at the project’s github: GitHub - IsotopicIO/icp-store

Future Plans - Roadmap
Taking storage of the game builds on-chain is just a small step of this project and its integration with the ICP network. The main future ideas and plans include:

  • Taking the store frontend and rest of backend functionality on-chain.
  • DAO for managing the store by the game creators.

Effectively, we want to create a fork of the current Isotopic Game Store that runs fully on-chain, become the world’s first Fully Decentralized, Open-Source, and Cross-Platform Game Store

9 Likes
2

Thank you, Alex for showcasing Isotopic! I like the idea of a decentralized game launcher for all games. You mentioned a few games have already uploaded their builds.

You should talk to @atomikm to make sure all games on the BoomDAO game launcher also get listed on the platform.

2 Likes
3

Also, how do gamers purchase the NFT game license?

Can the NFT game license be fractionalized or are represented as individual copies? I am thinking about how games can license to fandoms for other creative endeavors (books, movies, shows, merch, etc.) and how NFTs could streamline this process.

1 Like
4

Hi Jennifer glad you like our platform and idea! And for sure, I will reach out to him, thanks for the suggestion.

1 Like
5

Currently, buying a game happens by calling the mint function on the smart contract of the license to get the NFT to your custodial wallet (On-ramps are also implemented).

As for fractionalization, it could definitely be implemented. The end goal is to have different smart contract templates as well as an editor that allow developers to do amazing stuff like that.

The purpose of tokenizing the licenses is not only to give users control of their owned copies, but also to give the developer control of how their game is distributed.

  • Fractionalized Licenses: Developers could give copies that can be used by any member of a community, or they could allow users to buy copies that they can share with their friends so they can play the game together.
  • License Rental: Allow users to rent digital copies, just like it is possible to rent a physical CD.

These are just two possibilities out of many. Theoretically, anything that can be done with a smart contract can be applied to the game’s license.

2 Likes
6

Great, also make sure you check out and reach out to all of the games currently in the ICP ecosystem: ICP Ecosystem | Internet Computer

Some have an existing relationship with BoomDAO but I assume some do not.

1 Like
7

Thank you, do you have an example of a paid game? I’ve only found free games thus far and would like to try out purchasing a game.

1 Like
8

Of course, here are some of the featured premium games:

2 Likes