AI in Gaming Track Gains Momentum: Which Projects Are Worth Watching?

From AI Meme, to AI Agent, to AI Technology Framework, AI's narrative in the Crypto world has seen rapid development. Now, attention is turning to the next evolution of the AI narrative, focusing more on specific application narratives, such as DeFAI or AI + Gaming. So, what are some AI gaming projects worth paying attention to?

Parallel Colony

Parallel is a Base Layer TCG (Trading Card Game) belonging to the Echelon Prime Foundation. In 2021, Parallel completed a $50 million funding round led by Paradigm, with other investors including YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Focus Labs, OSS Capital, and Yunt Capital, among others.

Parallel is already available for players to enjoy. Apart from Parallel, the Echelon Prime Foundation is also developing a survival game called Parallel Colony that incorporates ERC-6551 technology and allows players to collaborate with AI. Players can assign tasks to AI Agents, which then autonomously complete them and interact with other AI Agents and players to share their gaming ideas. AI Agents will also engage in transactions within Parallel Colony.

This game is set to open for testing in the first quarter of this year. In addition to Parallel Colony, Parallel has also created an AI-driven full-chain automated trading tool @AIWayfinder, showcasing a strong AI-driven approach.

Smol Worlds

Developed under the core PFP project Smol Brains within the Smol Worlds Treasure DAO ecosystem, an AI game is currently in development. The lead for this game is Shaw, a prominent figure in the AI Crypto race today, who was originally a developer in the Treasure DAO ecosystem.

In Smol World, each Smol Brains will be able to act as an AI Agent in an on-chain game, allowing them to PvP by stealing each other's assets. The game will be integrated with the Eliza framework.

Eternum

This is an on-chain sandbox strategy game in the Loot (Realms) ecosystem, running on the StarkNet network.

Its founder @lordOfAFew introduced a system called Daydream, which allows an AI Agent to play games on-chain. What sets Daydream apart is that instead of pre-coding the AI to work like a bot, it gives the AI autonomous consciousness.

In simple terms, first, AI is not told by humans in code what the game is like and how they should behave. Instead, AI autonomously understands the game mechanics and takes corresponding actions, even writing code as needed. Second, if the game mechanics are updated, the AI Agent does not need to restart but can suggest a PR merge to humans to enhance its own capabilities.

In the upcoming Season 1 of the game, Eternum will inject hundreds of AI Agents into the game through Daydream as PVE or NPC characters, coexisting with players in a competitive gaming environment.

AI Arena

This is an AI game project we introduced back in 2022 (related reading: AI Arena, NFT AI Arena led by Paradigm)

In the AI Arena, NFT game characters will engage in platform-style combat similar to "Super Smash Bros.," where the first to knock the other out of the map wins. The biggest difference from "Super Smash Bros." is that during battles, players cannot control their NFT game characters, and all actions are AI-driven.

This game project has now evolved into a larger brand, ARC Agents, aimed at enhancing AI's reasoning and adaptability to the real world through the study of game AI Agents. ARC Agents announced a strategic partnership with Eliza Labs on January 7th.

Super Champs

Above are all projects that directly incorporate AI technology into games. There are also some blockchain games that have not directly integrated AI into the game, but I would rather say they are proactively approaching a hot market trend rather than just riding along, because the quality of the game itself is still very good.

Super Champs is one such blockchain game. Behind it is Joyride Games, which announced over two years ago that it had raised $14 million from investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, and Dapper Labs.

They developed an AI that can livestream game commentary and interact with viewers via barrages, but currently, it only knows how to commentate on their own game. In the future, they will train the AI to commentate on other games. If you want to hire their AI to commentate on intellectual property, you will need to use their token, which is a logically consistent narrative...