Little Orbit’s ‘Web 2.5’ platform that lets players sell digital creations is just another blockchain pitch

May 12, 2023 12:30 PM

Last August, Little Orbit, the studio that’s known to MMO players as the stewards for APB: Reloaded and Fallen Earth, talked up its blockchain gaming scheme associated with its developing online shooter Ships That Fight Underground and its so-called “Web 2.5 hybrid solution” that promised to combine “core game design and development by a dedicated and talented team, revenue distribution that rewards the community, and players having the choice over owning tradable assets and blockchain interactions” – an operation that we later deconstructed as being no different the the multitude of other blockchain gaming pitches.

Regardless, Little Orbit is still steaming forward with STFU and its blockchain bent as it announced an expansion of its GamersFirst publishing platform to support this “Web 2.5” scheme. STFU will let players buy and sell customized ships and let level creators earn a percentage of money spent by players in their levels; both players and creators can then cash out, although that’s the part that requires blockchain interaction.

“We’ve made it easy for players to buy in-game items just like they’re used to doing in all free-to-play games now,” claims Little Orbit CEO Matthew Scott. “They can trade or buy items in-game without ever touching blockchain assets. The only time they ever have to engage in a blockchain transaction is when creators want to convert the coins they’ve earned from affiliate revenue, or when players want to cash out items in their collections.”

None of these claims has any sort of timeline, nor do they affirm what blockchain it will all be linked to, nor do they have any information about what STFU will be like as a game. All the announcement otherwise notes is that it is “progressing towards striking multiple investments and partnership deals.”