Animoca-Backed DARKTIMES to Launch on Sui

Palo Alto, California, USA, August 27th, 2024, GamingWire

Developed in partnership with Blowfish Studios, DARKTIMES is due for alpha launch in late 2024

DARKTIMES, a free-to-play Nordic-inspired medieval Brawler Royale with a physics-based combat system has selected Sui as its blockchain platform of choice, via a partnership with Mysten Labs, the original contributor to the innovative Layer 1 and smart contract platform. Developed in stealth by Blowfish Studios, Animoca Brands’ flagship game studio, DARKTIMES is set to be a social-driven gaming ecosystem created with a “gamers-first” mentality.

DARKTIMES is a moody, casual, fast-paced multiplayer PvP, that features skill trees and progression to keep gameplay interesting, while also shifting the dial further toward an RPG than typical hyper-casual Battle Royale games. DARKTIMES is set in a medieval world of brutality and blood-magic.

The game draws on the ominous tones of dark fantasy, tempered with a dash of British pub humor and Tarantino-style over-the-top barbarity. By launching on Sui, the game abstracts away blockchain elements to provide seamless user onboarding and a frictionless playing environment. In partnership with Sui, DARKTIMES is set to launch its highly-anticipated first playtest at Korea Blockchain Week, followed by an alpha launch of the game to select users later in the year.

“Development for DARKTIMES began in stealth in late 2021, and we are excited to finally introduce it to the world, beginning at Korea Blockchain Week,” said Lucien Dorman, founder and CEO of DARKTIMES. “DARKTIMES has always sought to provide players with a gaming experience indistinguishable from traditional gaming ecosystems. We’ve opted to build on Sui in order to reduce friction and complexity for non-crypto native players, making it easier than ever for web3 gaming to become an enjoyable experience for everyone.”

Adeniyi Abiodun, Chief Product Officer and Co-founder of Mysten Labs, commented: “We’re thrilled to welcome DARKTIMES to the Sui community and support the team through this initial phase and the launch of the game. The Sui tech stack is the go-to solution for game developers looking to explore the web3 gaming ecosystem without adding any additional barriers to entry such as wallet creation, gas fees, and more.”

Rune Run, DARKTIMES’ interactive “play-to-play” campaign, begins on August 30 in partnership with several of the largest web3 gaming and crypto communities including Mocaverse, GAM3S.GG, MON Protocol, and W3GG, among others. Gamers can participate to win Genesis DARKTIMES NFTs, which will serve to provide early access to DARKTIMES when it officially launches in late 2024. The NFTs will also provide players with entry to advanced levels that contain larger prize pools and other game-focused rewards.

For more information about DARKTIMES, please visit: https://playdarktimes.com/

About Sui

Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the bottom up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. Its object-centric model, based on the Move programming language, enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications with unrivaled speed at low cost. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain and a platform on which creators and developers can build amazing, user-friendly experiences. USers can learn more: https://sui.io

About Mysten Labs

Mysten Labs is a team of leading distributed systems, programming languages, and cryptography experts whose founders were senior executives and lead architects of pioneering blockchain projects. The mission of Mysten Labs is to create foundational infrastructure for web3. Users can learn more: https://mystenlabs.com

About DARKTIMES

DARKTIMES is built in partnership with Animoca Brands’ flagship game studio, Blowfish Studios. The innovative, free-to-play web3 multiplayer Brawler Royale features a physics-based combat system at its core. Set in a Nordic-inspired, ominous medieval world, the immersive game combines dark-fantasy with dark-humor and a strong social element. DARKTIMES aims to provide a seamless onboarding experience for traditional gamers, abstracting away the tech and allowing players to focus on what really matters: having fun. Users can learn more and pre-register: https://playdarktimes.com.