What Is’ Off the Grid’? The Buzzy Battle Royale Shooter Built on Avalanche

If you’ve been on the net shooter video activity portion of the internet lately, then you’ve likely heard of Off the Grid, a battle royale game that is picking up major steam with players. Off the Grid topped the Epic Games Store’s list of the most popular free-to-play game shortly after launch, plus it commanded large masses on Twitch. In brief: It’s a strike.

But what you might not realize is that Off the Grid is a cryptocurrency sport built on Avalanche, with ideas for a crypto coin and the ability to trade unique items as NFTs. While these characteristics aren’t already fully implemented, it’s fair to say that Off the Grid has now made a bigger splash with major enthusiasts than any previous bitcoin game—and the future looks bright.

How’s what you need to know about Off the Grid, the latest first entry discharge, and the blockchain and NFT plans back.

What is Off the Grid? &nbsp,

Off the Grid is a third-person battle royal shooter that has launched into premature admittance on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Computer via the Epic Games Store.

Set in a mythical future where cybernetics may augment humans to make them even more dangerous, you and two teammates may jump onto the huge city map and fight it out against another trios to be the last ones standing, just like any great battle royale game.

However, Off The Grid touts itself as an Extraction Royale, adding in some extraction shooter style mechanics as well. In matches, you can find what are essentially loot boxes, and if you either hold them as you win, or manage to extract them at certain locations on the map, then you can use them to unlock cosmetic items or new weapons and skills for your loadouts.

Off the Grid is developed by Gunzilla Games, a studio co-founded by” District 9″ and” Chappie” film director Neill Blomkamp—and as the studio’s chief creative officer, his style is strongly felt throughout the game.

The game is built around a future competition that essentially turns the battle royale premise into a televised competition between cybernetically-augmented humans. And unlike battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, Off the Grid promises 60 hours of narrative-driven gameplay, with cinematics that bookend matches and provide added flavor and motivation to the experience.

How do I play Off the Grid?

To play Off The Grid in early access, you simply need to download the free-to-play game on your chosen platform and boot it up, but it’s not quite as simple as it sounds.

Once you have the game downloaded, you simply need to boot it up and play your first game. It’s pretty easy to pick up if you’ve ever played a battle royale before, and there’s already a ton of guides available on the web.

The early access version contains just one mode ( Extraction Royale ) and the single, but very large map, though the future full release is expected to pack more modes and content. Recently, Gunzilla Games added non-playable characters in specific zones of the map for players to fight with in exchange for loot or even a hex.

Where does crypto come in?

In the initial early access build, there’s no obvious crypto integration. But it’s apparently humming along in the background, and there’s more coming on the horizon.

Off the Grid is being built on GUNZ, a dedicated L1 ( or subnet ) on the Avalanche blockchain network. Currently, GUNZ is on testnet and the network’s GUN token has yet to go live on mainnet, but those moves are on the horizon. Items in the game are denominated in GUN, which you can also earn by completing missions, however it’s effectively an in-game currency for now since the token isn’t live on mainnet.

However, the game is racking up some serious numbers on the GUNZ testnet, with millions of wallets created during the first week of early access alone, along with millions of daily transactions.

GUNZ is expected to hit mainnet by the end of Q1 2025, as confirmed by Gunzilla’s Director of Web3, Theodore Agranat. Once live, players will be able to trade and sell in-game items as NFTs on marketplaces and within the game itself.

Already there is a thriving black market for Off the Grid skins, with many collectors believing the scene will explode once mainnet hits.

Gunzilla created the GUNZ network to let other developers utilize the tech, as well, so the ambition is for the GUN token to be usable across multiple games in the future.

What’s next for Off the Grid?

As mentioned, the GUNZ mainnet is expected to be released by the end of Q1 2025—meaning the end of March. But that’s not all that’s in the pipeline for Off the Grid.

Agranat told in December that the game is looking to add ranked and solo queue modes, as well as open up the remaining 80 % of the map to kick off its storyline. As of March 11, only a solo queue has been temporarily added, and a small section of the map was opened up —nowhere near the 80 % figure. Interestingly, he also said that he wanted these features to not just be live, but extremely polished before the game hit mainnet. The clock is ticking.

Once the GUNZ network is live, Gunzilla Games will be looking to onboard third-party developers to the ecosystem. Following the hyped launch of Off the Grid, the studio plans to pass on its wisdom to other developers in the industry. Agranat even left the door open for a possible Telegram mini app to be launched as a tool to onboard users to the soon-to-launch Avalanche L1.

We’ll see whether Off the Grid can hold onto its momentum as the game evolves and expands in the near future, and whether mainstream gamers take kindly to the ability to mint and trade NFTs and utilize the future GUN token.