Written by: HAMSTER
L3 is the blockchain architecture level after L1 and L2. It is designed for specific application scenarios such as games and social networks, and aims to further optimize performance, reduce costs and improve scalability. Compared with L2, L3 is unique in that it can focus on specific areas to optimize the blockchain experience while maintaining compatibility with the underlying L1 and L2. Especially in the field of games, L3 provides a more flexible development environment and optimized performance for blockchain games, enabling game developers to create a more interactive gaming experience while reducing user transaction fees and increasing game running speed.
Image credit: Starkware
In the Layer 3 field of blockchain games, B3 and XAI are two highly-watched platforms. Although they are both committed to improving the performance and user experience of on-chain games, they have different focuses in their implementation methods.
B3's architecture focuses on scalability and multi-chain compatibility, which is suitable for cross-chain game development, but it depends on the Base ecosystem and may be limited in non-EVM compatible scenarios. XAI is based on Arbitrum's Layer 3 architecture, focusing on improving transaction throughput and reducing latency, and is suitable for on-chain games that require fast transaction confirmation. XAI is not as flexible as B3 in multi-chain compatibility, but its transaction processing efficiency is higher and suitable for high-performance games. In terms of market expansion, B3 has a strong performance in the Asian market. XAI has quickly gained global attention through its cooperation with Binance Launchpool, but it may not be as good as B3 in penetrating some local markets.
How does L3 promote the innovation and development of blockchain games?
The application of L3 network in blockchain games mainly improves transaction processing capabilities by optimizing consensus mechanisms and introducing data sharding technology, ensuring the rapid transfer and transaction of in-game assets. This improvement effectively reduces transaction delays, enables players to get more timely feedback in the game, and improves the overall gaming experience.
In terms of cost, L3 reduces transaction fees and reduces the burden on players and developers by optimizing the consensus mechanism and economic model design. Through more efficient smart contracts and virtual machine technology, L3 improves the utilization of computing and storage resources, further reduces operating costs, and improves system performance. L3 also provides highly customized functions, allowing developers to adjust smart contracts and application logic according to game requirements and support complex game mechanisms and interactions. This flexibility is also reflected in L3's support for a variety of digital assets (such as NFTs and tokens), providing more options for asset management and trading for in-game economic systems.
In addition, L3 has strong compatibility and can connect with other blockchain networks, helping existing game projects to migrate smoothly to the L3 platform and achieve interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems. This feature allows the game ecosystem to expand. In practical applications, L3 can be used to build a decentralized in-game economic system, support the circulation and trading of assets, and increase the transparency and security of the game economy.
However, the application of L3 in blockchain games still faces some challenges. Although L3 improves scalability, there may still be performance bottlenecks in high-frequency trading game scenarios, resulting in longer transaction confirmation times and affecting player experience. In terms of development, although L3's modular and highly customized architecture provides flexibility, it also increases the complexity of development. Developers need to master multi-layer blockchain architecture, smart contracts, and encryption technology, which is a threshold for traditional game developers. In addition, L3's user experience also has obstacles. Due to its reliance on decentralized wallets and gas fees, ordinary players may encounter technical difficulties during operation. This complexity limits the widespread popularity of blockchain games.
In general, L3 provides a new technical path for the development of blockchain games, but before large-scale application, problems such as on-chain performance, development complexity and user experience need to be solved.
B3 and XAI: The Dual Battle for Gaming L3
B3 and XAI are two L3 projects that have attracted much attention in the current blockchain gaming field. They both aim to promote the development of blockchain games by providing high-performance, low-cost, and customizable blockchain infrastructure.
B3: Layer3 game chain based on Base
B3 is an L3 blockchain ecosystem designed for crypto games, built on Base and developed by NPC Labs, whose team members come from Coinbase and Ethereum communities. The ecosystem aims to improve performance and reduce transaction fees through horizontal expansion, providing a smoother experience for game developers and players. B3 has received support from Pantera Capital and successfully raised $18 million for its development and ecosystem expansion.
B3’s technical architecture provides the following solutions to performance challenges in blockchain games:
Horizontal scalability: B3 adopts a horizontally scalable architecture that supports multiple game instances running on different chains, improving transaction processing capabilities and throughput to meet the needs of large-scale users.
Efficient transactions and low costs: As a Layer 2 network based on Base, B3 reduces transaction fees for in-game asset transfers and interactions, reducing operating costs.
Multi-chain compatibility: B3 supports the interoperability of multiple EVM chains, allowing game developers to flexibly integrate different blockchain functions. It can run as an independent game chain, and can also be connected with the existing blockchain ecosystem to achieve functional and asset interoperability.
Optimized smart contract execution: B3 optimizes the smart contract architecture, reduces the latency of game logic execution, supports complex game mechanics and interactions, and ensures the security and transparency of the blockchain.
In addition, B3 launched the BSMNT.fun platform, which integrates a game discovery engine and social interaction functions, allowing players to participate in game decisions and interactions through blockchain. Currently, more than 20 game studios have joined the platform, including Mighty Bear Games and Infinigods. B3 provides development tools and documentation to help game developers easily build and deploy on-chain games, simplifying the use of blockchain infrastructure.
B3 is currently actively expanding its business in the Asian market, especially in South Korea and Japan, focusing on the development of casual and hyper-casual games, attracting many developers and players. Some on-chain game projects such as DEAR and Dino Runner 3D have taken advantage of B3's high-performance architecture and low transaction costs to provide a rich gaming experience. After the launch of the B3 mainnet, the number of users and developers has continued to increase, showing its expansion potential in the field of on-chain games.
XAI: Arbitrum’s Officially Supported L3 Game Chain
XAI is an Arbitrum-based Layer 3 blockchain platform designed for game development, aiming to provide high-performance, low-cost on-chain infrastructure for Web3 games. Driven by its XAI token, XAI aims to simplify the user experience, especially to reduce the complexity of traditional gamers interacting with cryptocurrency wallets. XAI has completed three rounds of financing, raising a total of $10 million, which will be used for infrastructure construction, ecosystem expansion, and the promotion of developer incentive programs. In addition, XAI has become the 43rd project on Binance Launchpool, and with this cooperation, XAI has gained more attention worldwide.
XAI's technical architecture:
Arbitrum Technology Stack: XAI is built on Arbitrum Nitro technology and uses Arbitrum’s AnyTrust architecture to ensure the platform has high security and low latency transaction capabilities.
Low-cost and fast transactions: XAI supports 10,000 transactions per second, with almost instant final confirmation, and is optimized for high-frequency transaction requirements of on-chain games, keeping transaction costs extremely low. This enables XAI to handle large-scale asset transfers between players, and is particularly suitable for games that require frequent transactions, such as role-playing or PvP battle games.
Smart contract support: XAI provides SDKs that support Unity and Unreal game engines, allowing developers to easily integrate Web3 functions into games and deploy them directly on the XAI network. The toolkit also provides a simplified API interface.
The XAI platform supports users to trade assets within the game and simplifies the transaction process without the need for a cryptocurrency wallet, thus simplifying the item trading and collection process. To lower the threshold for Web3 games, XAI introduced account abstraction and social login functions, allowing players to log in to the game through social accounts without directly using a crypto wallet. This design makes it easier for traditional game players to participate in blockchain games. XAI has also set up a $100 million game incentive fund to support the development of innovative game projects. In addition, XAI supports multi-chain interoperability, allowing cross-chain transfer and trading of digital assets, building an open trading market, and promoting the development of the on-chain game economy.
XAI's market vision is to build an open game asset trading ecosystem and attract more users by lowering the threshold. Currently, there are many games under development or online on the platform, such as "Crypto Unicorns", "Planet X", "Final Form" and "Valeria", covering PvP battles and role-playing games. The XAI platform has successfully attracted a group of developers and entered the mainnet operation stage. In the future, it plans to further expand its ecosystem, support more Web3 game projects and attract mainstream game players to join.
Summarize
As two major Layer 3 projects in the field of blockchain games, B3 and XAI each rely on their unique technical architecture and market strategies to provide important support for promoting the development of on-chain games. B3 has performed particularly well in the Asian market through its multi-chain compatibility and high scalability, and has demonstrated significant advantages in community interaction and social gameplay. In contrast, XAI relies on the Arbitrum technology stack to provide a low-latency, high-throughput gaming experience and achieve global market expansion through cooperation with Binance Launchpool.
