Sony's Ethereum scaling network Soneium officially launched Monday, and the network’s creators are billing it as a way to potentially introduce crypto to the masses. But will that include gaming—and specifically, Sony’s juggernaut PlayStation brand and its many popular franchises?
Sony Block Solutions Labs Director Sota Watanabe previously told Decrypt that Soneium could onboard “ordinary people” into the cryptosphere, operating in the background as a technical backbone while augmenting experiences in areas like film, music, and gaming.
On Soneium’s website, visitors can filter through applications that are currently being built on Soneium, with “gaming” listed under a “consumer” category.
Sony Debuts Soneium Mainnet, Advancing Ethereum Layer-2 for Entertainment
Sony has officially launched its Ethereum Layer 2 platform, Soneium, following a testing period that lasted four months and drew in over 14 million users, the company announced Monday. Developed by subsidiary Sony Block Solutions Labs (Sony BSL), the platform is designed to simplify blockchain interactions for creators and their audiences through tools like NFT-based fan engagement systems and an incubator program called Soneium Spark. Its testnet phase began in August last year and processed so...
The inclusion begs the question of whether PlayStation’s massive franchises like God of War, Uncharted, Gran Turismo, and many others could one day join Soneium’s ecosystem.
While PlayStation could theoretically leverage Soneium as a way to integrate digital assets into its games, the network’s team didn’t have any input for now, a spokesperson told Decrypt.
“As for potential integrations with PlayStation, we’re excited about the possibilities blockchain technology brings to gaming, but we don’t have any specific updates to share on that front at this time,” the Sony BLS spokesperson said.
PlayStation Goes Crypto? Sony Seeks Patent for 'Super-Fungible' Gaming Tokens
A recently published patent application from tech behemoth Sony, the maker of PlayStation, detailed the concept of “super-fungible tokens” for games, which would be stored on a distributed ledger and transferable from player to player. Many gamers have had experiences where they get really into a video game, spend a bunch of money on in-game skins or battle passes, and eventually get tired of the game. When this happens in traditional “Web2” games, players are forced to accept the money spent o...
Decrypt’s GG reached out to PlayStation representatives for comment, but did not immediately receive a response regarding potential use of Soneium for blockchain games.
Soneium is being developed by Sony BLS, a Singapore-based subsidiary of the Japanese multinational corporation. The firm was established in 2023 as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Startale Labs.
But it isn’t the first time that Sony was considering the potential for blockchain tech, even when it comes to gaming.
Sony filed patent applications that bridge blockchain and gaming before Soneium’s team was formed: One centered on tracking in-game assets using NFTs, the other established “super-fungible tokens,” which are effectively a bundle of NFT in-game items.
Vitalik Buterin Says Sony's Controversial L2 Shows Why Ethereum Is Great for Business
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin weighed in Wednesday on the controversy surrounding Soneium, a Sony-launched Ethereum layer-2 scaling network that left some meme coin traders in the lurch this week while trying to suppress certain transactions. “Businesses can make very fine-grained choices around how much control they keep vs. give to users,” Buterin wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “But whatever rules they choose, that's what the rules are.” Not long after Soneium official...
Currently, users can access around a dozen Soneium-based games, most of which appear to be in early development. Those include Derby Race, a “pick-to-earn” horse racing game that takes the form of a mini app on the Telegram messaging platform, and OverTrip, a battle royale shooter “where the thrill of competition meets the world of staking” with meme coins and NFTs.
None of those games are made by Sony or partner Startale Labs, however. Soneium is a permissionless network that anyone can build on, and as with other chains like Solana and The Open Network, developers have launched games built around assets minted on Soneium.
A PlayStation title that leverages Soneium would represent a significant shift in the blockchain-based gaming space. As of this writing, no PlayStation console games have front-facing crypto elements for players to engage with.
GG’s 2024 Game of the Year: Off the Grid
Off the Grid has only been available for a couple months, but it's by far the best crypto game of the year—and it’s not even really close. If we're talking pure numbers, then Hamster Kombat blew most games out of the water by racking up 300 million players this summer. But the monotonous tap-to-earn mini app ultimately felt like a financialized gimmick thinly veiled as a game, and the resulting airdrop hardly justified the hype. As for Off the Grid, the game impressed both Web2 and Web3-native g...
Off the Grid, a popular battle royale shooter that's available in early access on PlayStation 5, tracks user-owned items and other elements on an Avalanche L1 blockchain testnet called GUNZ, with a full mainnet launch and token drop planned for sometime this quarter.
But a Gunzilla Games Director of Web3 Theodore Agranat admitted to Decrypt that the crypto elements in the PS5 version of the game will have to be “handled differently” than on PC. More details on that front are expected closer to the GUNZ mainnet launch. Other crypto games headed to PS5 are similarly cutting or overhauling their blockchain elements.
GTA 6 Preview: Everything You Need to Know About the New Grand Theft Auto
It’s been over a decade since Grand Theft Auto 5 was released—but what will the sequel bring? The massively popular open-world action franchise has sold over 430 million copies as of August 2024, putting it in the pantheon of the all-time best-selling game series. And that success has ignited widespread excitement over the next entry. Now Grand Theft Auto 6 has been officially revealed, and there’s plenty we already know from the first trailer and announcement, along with subsequent reveals. Her...
It has also been rumored, for well over a year, that Rockstar Games may support digital assets in Grand Theft Auto 6, which is set to be released this fall. However, there’s been no official word from the video game maker, and it’s banned the use of crypto and NFTs from player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers.
Rockstar Games said that prohibiting “commercial exploitation” through the use of cryptocurrencies was in line with protecting trademarks and intellectual property. Earlier this week, Sony BLS did much the same on Soneium, “blacklisiting” at least one meme coin that riffed on the name of a PlayStation character.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
