MMO Game Farsite Takes Non-Fungible Tokens To Outer Space With 'cNFTs'

Hot on the heels of their NFT-powered metaverse platform Mega World, blockchain game developer SUPERNOVAE is gearing up for the launch of its latest project, Farsite. But where Mega World focused on a virtual city, Farsite is reaching for the stars, making use of a novel new type of NFT that integrates elements of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Farsite is a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy (MMORTS) title set in a post-apocalyptic future, in which players explore constellations, planetary systems, and planets as cargo haulers, traders, miners, pirates, and more. Every player uses a spaceship to travel the galaxy—and those spaceships are represented by a novel new type of NFT: Collateral Non-Fungible Tokens, or cNFTs.

Until now, SUPERNOVAE COO Alex Li told Decrypt, the implied value of NFTs has been based on "nothing but scarcity and speculation." The problem with existing NFTs like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, he explained, is "there’s no actual use case, apart from setting as an avatar on Twitter and getting bragging rights. Most community members nowadays agree that the GameFi, or NFT-powered games with play-to-earn opportunities, are the next big thing."

What are cNFTs?

Like other NFTs, cNFTs are a cryptographically unique token representing a digital asset—in Farsite's case, the Spaceships flown by players, and the Modules used to upgrade them. But cNFTs have an additional feature that promises to bring new DeFi-powered gameplay mechanics to the game's deep-space setting.

As their name suggests, Collateral Non-Fungible Tokens are a proposed standard that enables ERC-20 tokens to be staked on NFTs for borrowing against in-game assets. To create a new Ship cNFT, players must first stake in-game Credits (ERC-20 tokens) as collateral. Once a Ship cNFT has been created, it could in future be used as collateral itself—theoretically enabling lending against in-game assets.

Credits are also used for almost every in-game action, including fuelling ship flights, discovering new planets, acquiring Sectors with scarce resources on planets and building planetary bases.

To earn Credits, players need Ships to transport resources, complete missions, explore distant planets, and mine resources. But outer space is a dangerous place; players can be attacked by other players, and their Ships destroyed. If that happens, all is not lost; your collateral Credits are automatically transferred back to your wallet, where they can be used to build new vessels or purchase Ships, resources, and components from other players on the open market.

After the initial distribution of Credits, players can only acquire them when they purchase Crates, which are containers holding valuable game items—and the only source for the original Blueprints required to build spaceships. Farsite's limited Crates pre-order launches on December 2.

Farsite's 40,000-strong Discord community are among the early adopters who've been exploring the game's Starmap, released in mid-August. As well as exploring a number of galaxies, they've been busy securing Sectors on planets to build out bases with mining and production facilities, ready for the game's upcoming early Alpha release on December 14. 

Farsite's limited Crates pre-order launches December 2, followed by the game's pre-Alpha release on December 14. Join the community Discord for more information.