Galaverse Malta: The Web3 future of Entertainment
Invited to witness the next generation of Blockchain-based gaming, a delegation from the AIBC Summit was on the ground at the Into The Galaverse Malta Conference with the event being, by all metrics, absolutely spectacular. From the exhibits to the groundbreaking announcements, Into The Galaverse surpassed all expectations and then some. This article will speed you through the most exciting partnerships as well as the immersive odyssey that the themed exhibits brought with them.
Announcements
Wild Wild Web3: GalaGames partner with Epic Games for GRIT
One of the latest and greatest updates on the Galaverse pertains to GRIT, the GameFi Wild West Battle Royale shooter. One of the first Web3 titles to come from Gala, GRIT is a masterclass of game design, competitive play and a dearly loved addition of the GalaGames ecosystem with NFT integration and pulse-pounding action.
Beyond riding into the sunset with your posse tailing close behind or diving under a saloon bar to dodge incoming revolver fire, the team behind Gala broke Web3 ground by announcing their partnership with Epic Games.with the eponymous game debuting on the Epic Games store soon. This marks the first full NFT game integration with a legacy platform and could be the bellwether for the bridging of Web2 and Web 3.
Building on solid ground, its similarly Wild West themed predecessor Townstar won AIBC Americas’ own Blockchain Game of the Year Award both for the quality of its gameplay as well as its pioneering (pun intended) breakthroughs in Blockchain gaming as a whole.
To the moon, so say we all: GalaGames, Universal Studios and Revolving Games partner for BattleStar Galactica 4X MMO
The second big reveal, announced through a spectacular costumed dance display, was the unveiling of Project Saturn. After much anticipation, Project Saturn was revealed to be a 4X MMO set in the Battlestar Galactica Universe. In a partnership with RevolvingGames and Universal Studios, Galagame’s Battlestar Galactica will be set during a new phase of the Humanity’s war for survival against the Cylons. With the Twelve Colonies under dire threat, the players will take the reins of their colonial outposts, build up their industrial base, reconstruct the battlestars and take the fight back to their AI oppressors.
At the core of the Space Opera of a 4X game is a strong multiplayer component. As the territories expand, new threats will arise that a single player will not be able to overcome alone. Diplomacy and coordination will be a lifeline to success in the mid-to-late game with player-led coalitions blazing the stars to reclaim their homeland and wipe out their synthetic adversaries once and for all. With each of the Twelve Colonies being a playable faction with their own strengths, technologies and cultures, the players will be able to take back Earth with tactics and technologies of their choosing.
With a coalition of Blockchain advocates, Sci-fi die-hards and 4X strategists set to explore and make their mark on this new galaxy, BattleStar Galactica is set to take GalaGames’ ecosystem above and beyond.
OGs in Web3: Mount Westmore partner with GalaMusic
With Ice Cube, E40, Too $hort and Snoop Dog himself combining to form the West Coast supergroup Mount Westmore, their partnership with GalaMusic through their debut album, BAD MFs, set the stage for a bright future of Blockchain-based music.
Grab your popcorn: Movies are coming to Web3
The last, but certainly not the least, announcement was the launch of GalaFilm. Laying the foundation for a new generation of film, enabling the decentralisation of viewership and filmmaking through the Blockchain, GalaFilm not only presents a paradigm shift in content creation but is also hinted at being part of a broader plan to bridge the gap between game, music and cinema. This would create a multimedia ecosystem that we have never seen before.
Present, Past, Future and Fantasy: Galaverse Malta’s exhibits
Beyond the (sometimes quite literally) stellar announcements and the groundbreaking partnerships, the Galaverse itself was the experience of a lifetime. Knowing their community well, the conference itself was split into 12 different self-contained “worlds”, introducing visitors to the many universes of the GalaGames ecosystem.
From an actual (and climbable) pirate ship moored in a fog-filled nightscape to a near-authentic early 1900’s cinema theatre to even the interior of a far-future starship, the Galaverse was a fully immersive masterpiece from start to finish.
The editor’s personal favourite was the Fantasy tavern/wizard’s tower-themed room with free-flowing beer as well as six dining room tables with a fully equipped Dungeons and Dragons set-up for each table. The tables also came equipped with professional (and excellently costumed) Dungeon Masters ready, able and willing to take visitors on a mini-adventure.
A close second was GRIT’s Wild West frontier of an exhibit with multimedia screens, an actual functioning saloon, and cowboys and desperados aplenty. This even had a (hopefully) simulated saloon showdown with broken chairs, sugar glass knockouts and fisticuffs galore. The Good, the Bad and the Blockchain indeed.
Ending on a high note: The stars of the Galaverse
With no expense spared, the Galaverse treated its lucky community to a star-studded send-off. From Oasis’ Noel Gallegher to George Erza and many many more; with Tom Misch, Disclosure, Phoenix, Bassjackers, Remi Wolf and Editors all debuting on stage, the two-day conference was one for the history books.
Never one to be limited by merely the physical, Mount Westmore themselves debuted via a recorded message introducing both their team of West Coast rap royalty as well as the first ever top-tier music album debut in the Metaverse, “Bad MFs.”
In summary, it’s only just begun
Having seen the conference first hand, I can quite proudly say that while Gala really brought their A-Game, the main underlying feeling that carried the event was that of potential. Into the Galaverse didn’t just show us what the brilliant team behind it all had already accomplished, it showed us how bright the future of Web3-based entertainment was. With what we’ve seen in Malta, you may want to be wearing glasses for this.
