By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 25th, 2024
Ethereum scaling solutions Polygon and Immutable recently announced a Web3 collaboration that would benefit gamers and developers
Polygon and Web3 gaming firm Immutable are partnering on a new Web3-driven initiative called Immutable zkEVM. This endeavor seeks to integrate more gamers and developers into the Web3 space and will be powered by Polygon’s upcoming zkEVM technology. By pairing Polygon’s tech with Immutable’s gaming platform, Immutable zkEVM would create an Ethereum-based backbone for Web3 game developers.
This project also sees Polygon help Immutable avoid Ethereum costs and congestion without its need to build its own alternative.
Immutable zkEVM appears set to roll out at the end of this year’s third quarter. However, developers can currently begin building on software development kits to explore the tech.
Execs Weigh in On the Web3 Gaming Plan
Commenting on the immediately perceived benefits of the Polygon-Immutable Web3 initiative, Immutable co-founder and president Robbie Ferguson said:
“For us, this is a pretty obvious play, we realized very quickly the scaling limitations of Ethereum, but we never wanted to compete with it.”
On the projected combination of Web3 video game adoption services by core builders behind Polygon and Immutable, Ferguson added:
“For us, this is the endgame; this is how the next billion users will be onboarded into Web3.”
Polygon Labs President Ryan Wyatt described the joint initiative as another milestone in the evolution of blockchain gaming service.
“For me, this is like the next evolution of mainstream adoption; you’re already starting to see blockchain games with higher fidelity,” said Wyatt.
Wyatt, who sees Immutable zkEVM as a “very naturally aligned” initiative, also added that “gamers just want to play great games; it’s that simple”. “You really just got to get to a point where you’re abstracting the crypto and jargon away and then have just a really exciting game. And that’s what’s coming on the horizon,” added he.
Polygon & Immutable as Ethereum Scaling Networks
Polygon and Immutable are Ethereum scaling networks, with the former’s primary network being a sidechain. Meanwhile, Immutable X is a layer-2 network that also opens the popular blockchain to more use cases. These include large-scale non-fungible token (NFT) projects, video games, as well as other decentralized apps (dApps). Furthermore, both Polygon and Immutable facilitate cheaper and faster transactions on the Ethereum mainnet.
News of the “strategic alliance” between both blockchain-centric players first broke at the commencement of the annual Game Developers Conference. Polygon and Immutable have pointed out that this alliance is not a merger. Instead, both platforms would continue their respective projects and initiatives outside Immutable zkEVM.
A focal point of Immutable zkEVM’s value proposition is that the service would make developer involvement faster, easier, and less risky. These developers range from independent entities to large gaming studios and could also benefit from each other in the provided ecosystem.
The much-anticipated Polygon zkEVM mainnet network launches in beta on March 27th. Meanwhile, the existing Immutable X scaling network will continue alongside the new Polygon-partnered Web3 gaming scheme. Immutable’s X scaling network is currently based on the StarkEx zk-Rollup tech.