New Gaming-Focused Layer-3 Blockchain, Xai, Receives Support from Offchain Labs and Ex Populus

Xai, a permissionless Layer 3 (L3) blockchain leveraging the Arbitrum Orbit technology stack, is set to launch later this year. With a strong focus on gaming, Xai aims to introduce an innovative L3 solution tailored specifically for the gaming industry.

Xai Foundation will oversee the development of the L3 blockchain. Offchain Labs, the developer behind Arbitrum, will collaborate with Xai on infrastructure, marketing and product support. To make the L3 blockchain more attractive to web3 game developers, Xai will gradually include features such as increased contract sizes support, and account abstraction.

What is L3?

Sitting on top of both Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions, L3 solutions are designed to scale beyond the limitations of both L1 and L2. They often introduce new protocols, infrastructure, or approaches that significantly enhance scalability and performance by processing a significant number of transactions off-chain or through various optimization techniques. 

L3 solutions can vary in their implementation and may include technologies like sidechains, state channels, or other off-chain protocols. While still it its early stages, L3 is expected to expand the capabilities and usability of blockchain networks, making them more suitable for a wide range of applications, including gaming, finance, and decentralized applications (dApps).

They can also incorporate advanced consensus mechanisms, sharding techniques, or other innovations with an aim of improving transaction throughput, reduce latency, and boost the overall efficiency of blockchain networks.

Xai’s first contributor: Ex Populous

Upon Xai’s launch, web3 game developer Ex Populous will be the L3’s first contributor. As part of its strategy, Ex Populous intends to transfer its existing gaming franchises to Xai once it’s fully launched and available. Previously focused on developing games within the Solana ecosystem, Ex Populous is now preparing to transition to the Arbitrum ecosystem before eventually deploying its games to Xai.

The leadership team at Ex Populous comprises gaming industry execs formerly from renowned companies such as Pixar, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Activision, Wargaming, IGN, and others. 

In an exclusive email response to Metaverse Post, Tobias Batton, the CEO of Ex Populous, shared his insights on why Xai stands out as a superior option compared to other gaming-focused scaling solutions.

“New platforms like Xbox Game Pass and SteamOS were born out of the need to reduce friction for users to enjoy the games they love most. XAI was built in the same spirit, to reduce friction for players by abstracting away all the unfriendly scary blockchain stuff. We believe by making user experience the first priority, a future where massive collections of games exist with a shared backend that brings interoperability to each game in the collection is much more realistic.”

Batton further expressed Ex Populous’ goal of offering gamers a seamless experience that eliminates the complexities of blockchain interactions, such as wallet connections or staking. He is the creator of Clan Wars, the widely played social game which grew to over 10 million monthly active users. Most recently, Batton is known for his Signal Zero publishing platform which drove nearly 1 billion installs for mobile games from companies like MZ, Supercell, and many others.

Ex Populus is currently developing two titles, namely Final Form and LAMOverse, which are set to be released on Xai later this year. Final Form offers a high-frequency trading card and battle-oriented experience, while LAMOverse is an online multiplayer PvP game featuring various game modes such as Battle Royale, Capture the Flag, and Nexus. The company plans to bridge existing collections to the Arbitrum ecosystem later this year.

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