A New Chapter in Web3 Gaming: The Evolution from Mirror World to Sonic

Opportunities to Enter Web3

In the second half of 2021, Chris left ByteDance and began exploring the Web3 space. During his time at ByteDance, he was involved in research in the consumer entertainment industry and the SaaS market. He then joined a team focused on the intersection of AI and Web3, delving into the integration of AI with NFTs and AI with cryptocurrencies. These emerging decentralized business models deeply fascinated Chris, prompting him to fully commit to the Web3 field.

The Birth Journey of Sonic

During the creation of Sonic, Chris's team experienced the transition from Mirror World to Sonic and identified three core issues:

1. Insufficient diversity of game assets and users: Initially focused on asset issuance through NFT collections, but found that market demand fluctuates greatly.

2. Computing resources and congestion issues: It has been observed that a single project may consume a large amount of on-chain resources, leading to congestion on the mainnet.

3. Insufficient game publishing capability: Recognizing the need for professional publishing institutions to support the development and distribution of game content.

Based on these issues, the Chris team collaborated with relevant foundations to propose the development of a proprietary blockchain for the game, Sonic, fully utilizing their research and development capabilities and resources accumulated in Mirror World.

The Impact of Multi-field Experience on Entrepreneurship

Chris's professional experience spans multiple fields, with each step providing him valuable insights. During his time at a large internet company, he learned about corporate management concepts and efficiency management methods. At the AI startup, he joined a young and international team, which further honed his skills in managing businesses and recruiting talent.

These experiences became particularly important after Chris entered the cryptocurrency field. He realized that this area is characterized by strong cyclicality and volatility, and that the influx of funds has a clear time window. Therefore, when managing the Sonic team, Chris adopted a more flexible and adaptive strategy, emphasizing the need to keep the core team streamlined and to rapidly expand during times of high market demand.

The Development Journey and Transformation of Mirror World

Mirror World initially served game projects by issuing NFT assets. Over time, the team found that simply issuing assets could not meet the long-term needs of the market. In early 2022, they began developing in-game wallets, marketplaces, deposit, and exchange tools to provide broader infrastructure support for the projects.

In 2023, with the changes in the market environment, the Chris team recognized the need for new solutions to address the challenges. After in-depth discussions, they decided to develop the expansion chain Sonic, specifically designed for gaming services. This not only leveraged the research and development experience of Mirror World but also helped gaming projects operate better on the chain by addressing scalability issues.

Sonic's expansion plan Hypergrid

Sonic's extension plan Hypergrid aims to create an environment framework specifically for game services. Its design concept is to provide proprietary chains for different fields through horizontal scaling, thereby addressing the scalability issues of specific domains. Chris anticipates that in the future, not only the gaming sector but also other areas such as DeFi and AI will have their own proprietary chains, allowing each sector to enjoy customized scaling services.

The core of Hypergrid lies in its flexibility and adaptability. Through horizontal scaling, each domain can develop independently while remaining connected to the main network. This approach not only enhances the specialization and efficiency of each domain but also improves the overall performance and scalability of the entire ecosystem.

Challenges Facing Layer2 Expansion

In terms of Layer 2 scaling, there are multiple challenges faced:

1. Assess which areas truly require independent scaling chains.
2. The codebase faces technical challenges during the ongoing process of splitting and maintenance.
3. The rapid development of the ecosystem requires continuous resolution of new issues.

Chris pointed out that the team needs to maintain flexibility during the development of Sonic to respond to new challenges and changes at any time.

Future Outlook of Web3 Games

Chris is confident about the future of Web3 games. He believes that the quality of current game content and the toolkit for payment points have significantly improved compared to the last cycle. Although the current cryptocurrency prices for Web3 games are not ideal, he feels that the quality of the games and the willingness of users to pay have reached quite a high level.

Future game design will increasingly place logic on the chain. Once the cost and speed of technology reach a certain level, full-chain games will become possible. Sonic is also working towards this direction in technology development; although the current focus is still on asset-on-chain games, there will be more attention on the development of full-chain games in the future. Chris believes that with technological advancements and market maturation, Web3 games will achieve breakthroughs in gameplay and asset innovation, possibly leading to the emergence of the first blockbuster full-chain game.