Despite the surging popularity of blockchain technology, Chris Zhu, CEO of Mirror World, points out significant infrastructure challenges for game developers on Solana. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Zhu highlighted the absence of essential decentralized finance features like cross-chain swaps and robust crypto on- and off-ramps, crucial for supporting gaming applications.
Addressing Infrastructure Gaps with Series A Funding
Mirror World Labs recently secured $12 million in Series A funding to enhance its gaming rollup platform, Sonic, designed specifically for Solana. Led by Bitkraft, Galaxy Interactive, and Big Brain Holdings, among others, this funding aims to bolster the development of gaming solutions within the Solana ecosystem.
| Funding Round | Series A |
|---|---|
| Amount Raised | $12 million |
| Lead Investors | Bitkraft, Galaxy Interactive, Big Brain Holdings |
| Purpose | Development of Sonic gaming rollup platform |
| Launch Date | March 2023 |
Zhu emphasized the positive reception of Sonic among developers while acknowledging feedback on liquidity concerns. By integrating atomic interoperability through the HyperGrid Framework, Sonic allows games to maintain liquidity on Solana’s mainnet while executing game logic on the Sonic platform.
Technical Features of Sonic:
- Atomic Interoperability: Ensures liquidity remains on Solana’s mainnet while processing game logic on Sonic.
- Transaction Processing Capacity: Targeting 12,000,000 transactions per second to support real-time gaming transactions like inventory purchases and quest drops.
Collaboration with Solana Validators for Transaction Prioritization
Achieving high transaction throughput on Sonic and HyperGrid necessitated collaboration with Solana validators. Zhu highlighted Galaxy Interactive’s role as the largest validator on Solana, facilitating transaction prioritization and submission crucial for Sonic’s performance.
Strategic Partnerships and Validator Engagement:
- Galaxy Interactive: Facilitates transaction prioritization through Solana validators.
- Direct Engagement with Solana Ecosystem: Ensures optimized performance and scalability for Sonic.
Competitive Landscape and Future Outlook
Sonic stands out as the sole SDK dedicated to Solana, contrasting with competitors like Eclipse, which focuses on building a Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) layer 2 on Ethereum. Zhu noted the emergence of other gaming chains like Ronin and Redstone on Ethereum but affirmed Mirror World’s commitment to fostering game development on Solana’s native platform.
Comparison with Competitors:
- Eclipse: SVM layer 2 development on Ethereum, not Solana-native.
- Ronin and Redstone: Leading gaming chains on Ethereum, focusing on gaming assets integration.
Mirror World believes that while Solana has seen substantial growth in memecoins and decentralized applications, its gaming sector lags. Sonic’s innovative protocol aims to catalyze the deployment of SVM chains, supporting diverse GameFi projects within the Solana ecosystem.
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