PlayStation veterans form new studio, Liithos, will focus on web3 games

gamedeveloper.com:

PlayStation Studios veterans Michael Mumbauer and John Garvin have announced the formation of a new game studio called Liithos, which is working on a blockchain-tied game called Ashfall that's intended to launch on PC, Console, and a decentralized network called the Hedera network (we almost wrote that the Hedera network is a "blockchain network," but that's technically not true. It's a "hashgraph network.")

If the timing works out (and platform owners like Microsoft and Sony give the thumbs-up), this would make Ashfall the first web3 game on consoles.

Mumbauer is the former head of PlayStation Visual Arts in San Diego, and John Garvin is the former creative director at Bend Studio, where he worked on games like Days Gone and Syphon Filter.

The pitch for Ashfall is an ambitious one. Mumbauer and Garvin are promising to create a game that will start as a "connected single-player adventure that will evolve into a multiplayer PvP & PvE transmedia world." Players will be able to "choose" to use the Hedera network, where "scavenging, discovery and exclusivity" will be part of a "build, sell and grade" experience.

The words "play to earn" or "play and earn" aren't listed here, but the intent seems to be that players will be able to acquire in-game items and then sell them for cryptocurrency.

Liithos also promises that Ashfall will be the first triple-A narrative-driven game in "open development."

Ashfall's in-game setting is "a world scarred by global warming," which is somewhat ironic given blockchain technology's impact on climate change. Mumbauer does note that Liithos' partner HBAR Foundation, which runs the Hedera network, "understands the potential and need for innovation without any harmful impact to the environment."

Hebera