Talking about how to break the circle of Web3 games through account abstraction?
Original author:Jack，Shima Capital
Original compilation: angelilu, Foresight News
Original author:
Original compilation: angelilu, Foresight News
The process of getting players into a traditional game is usually straightforward. In Web2, players can easily use their existing social accounts, such as Apple ID or Google, to log in to the game. These social accounts enable single sign-on (SSO) for easy integration and enable sharing of progress across multiple devices. For example, when a player logs into the Epic Games Store, Epic aggregates accounts from Google, Apple, and Nintendo to create a seamless engagement process and unified player profile. Previously in Web3, players needed to install a wallet and store their private keys securely. If players are able to navigate the process, they will also face the additional step of approving and signing the transaction before they can start playing the game. The cumbersome process of installing a wallet and managing its private keys can break the immersion of a game and hurt the overall experience as it adds unnecessary friction to the onboarding process.
In order for Web3 games to gain widespread adoption, it's critical to provide a Web2-like user experience. The wallet experience shouldn't affect the game itself, and in most cases, the player shouldn't even know they have a wallet! Throughout 2021 and 2022, companies like Venly, Sequence, and Stardust have raised $20 million to $40 million in venture funding looking to provide a solution to this problem, and the recent implementation of Ethereum's ERC-4337 enables Web3 to offer something like The user experience with Web2 provides developers with a more flexible and modular account management solution.
Before diving into what makes the account abstraction special, it's important to understand the different account types Ethereum offers and how they differ. Ethereum has two account types:
External Accounts (EOAs), controlled by anyone with the private key;
and a Smart Contract Account (SCA), a smart contract deployed to the network and controlled by code.
Account abstraction is the idea of replacing a pre-defined, applicable to all account types (EOA) with a single dynamic solution (Smart Contract Account SCA). Traditional EOAs such as MetaMask and Rainbow can only perform predefined actions, such as initiating transactions, thus limiting functionality. This is part of the reason why when you look at most real-time "crypto" games, they are mostly casual/strategy games (e.g. DFK, Wolf Game, early Treasure games). A typical Web3 game loop looks like this:https: //twitter.com/gelatonetwork
The player wants to spend x resources to craft y tool, the player selects the tool, the player approves the transaction to allow x resources to be spent, then the player signs another transaction to start crafting, 3 popups later, the player finally receives their tool.
And this cycle will bring a very bad experience to the user. Smart contract accounts can improve user experience and upgrade functionality. Prior to ERC-4337, few projects used smart contract accounts (Argent, Safe), and most alternative solutions required major changes to the protocol. ERC-4337 transfers Ethereum's verification logic into the EVM and allows smart contracts to initiate transactions without the traditional EOA.
source:https://twitter.com/Delphi_Digital
So how can smart contract accounts improve Web3 games?
source:The CitadelThe account abstraction makes the game onboarding process comparable to that of Web2. This approach gives developers the flexibility and control they need to create unique and personalized gaming experiences. While many of today's solutions offer very similar functionality, here are some must-have features:Proof of PlaySession Keys and Sponsored Transactions: Session keys are used to send transactions from games on behalf of players without wallet confirmation, and sponsored transactions allow game developers and the ecosystem to subsidize player transaction costs. Additionally, sponsored transactions allow developers to specify a token (e.g. AXS, USDC) to use for transaction fees. Many account abstraction SDKs offer this as a bundled service, but as ERC-4337 becomes commoditized over time, more teams will choose to build this functionality in-house for a more "fit" solution. For example, on-chain games "
” recently canceled its experimental session keys, and Pirate Nation’s creator
An initial vertical offering with this functionality was released. So what does this look like in practice? Proof of Play creates a secondary wallet for each user when they initially log in, this wallet is hosted and stored in the user's browser storage. The secondary wallet grants Proof of Play the right to pay for its users' transactions. This means assets are never transferred from your Secure Wallet, and items earned in-game are automatically sent to your Secure Wallet.RealmsCustomizability: Game developers need a customizable wallet interface and in-game marketplace. Wallet and in-game marketplace should blend seamlessly. Ideally, the wallet should be "invisible" to the player, and the marketplace should match the theme and style of the game. If I'm building a pixel art game, the wallet and marketplace should be made of pixel art!
Bundled transactions: Bundle transactions (multiple calls) with each other to optimize Gas and UX. Buying NFTs can be done in 1 click instead of 3 or 4 clicks!
Using pack trades allows players to harvest multiple farms or build multiple buildings at the same time.Delegate.cashSocial Recovery and Social Login: The social recovery method allows players to recover funds without sacrificing self-control. Argent pioneered social recovery in 2018, allowing users to recover their accounts through a trusted friend or family member. Social logins allow players to log in through their various existing social media accounts. Social Login eliminates the need for players to remember multiple usernames and passwords or protect their private keys, making the login process efficient and user-friendly.
Delegation authority: "Delegation wallet" is a smart contract account bound to the user's cold wallet. Players sign once and authorize account generation without the risk of losing the NFT.
Solutions such as NFT are gaining a lot of use by NFT collectors who want a more secure way to interact with various smart contracts. It's only a matter of time before gaming companies looking to protect player assets adopt it. Liquid delegation is a fairly new concept that wraps delegation rights into NFTs. Today, Liquid delegates are used in games. For example, BAYC holders are using Liquid delegates to rent or grant access to their "Sewer Passes," which are used to play the endless running game Dookie Dash.
It's worth noting that many existing solutions don't just provide these capabilities individually, but as a bundle. Service providers are striving to provide the best and most comprehensive one-stop solutions. While the features above are considered "must haves," here are some additional features to consider when looking for the most comprehensive solution.
Developer Portal and Player Analytics Dashboard: Service providers are striving to provide the best possible developer experience. Solutions like Stardust allow developers to manage their games from a single dashboard, providing insights into game data and player metrics such as items created and tokens traded. Nefta goes a step further by aiming to bundle its AD SDK with its account management service, giving developers deeper insights to engage and monetize their audiences.
