Geist - a quality that animates the mind. - Oxford Dictionary.
Today, Pixelcraft Studios is excited to announce the upcoming launch of Geist, a new L3 powered by Base, Arbitrum, Alchemy, and of course, Aavegotchi.
Previously codenamed “Gotchichain”, Geist is the first members-only blockchain, built for gaming.
Why “Geist”?
The Web3/crypto gaming industry has experienced explosive growth in this cycle, finally delivering playable games and innovative new economic models for user acquisition.
With growth comes growing pains, however, and recent events expose major problems with the state of crypto gaming today:
- Rampant botting/sybil attacks. Games/chains claiming huge DAU/MAU numbers, but many are bots / multi-accounting.
- Extremely inefficient reward campaigns. Games airdropping valuable rewards to bots / multi-accounters instead of real users.
- High player churn. Promise of rewards attracts botters and airdrop farmers, who leave after the reward period is over.
The heart of the problem is how we define a “user” in blockchain. Our open networks allow bad actors to spin up thousands of “users” to farm rewards and evade bans when they get caught.
This becomes an endless game of whack-a-mole that wastes developer resources and often ends up penalizing real users.
Thus, the challenge becomes: how can we distribute rewards to real users, without stifling growth?
The Members-Only Blockchain
Geist is our answer to this challenge — a new onchain space for crypto gaming — exclusive, curated, and rewarding.
Exclusive. While anyone can transact on the chain, reward programs are reserved for invited members only. Invites are limited by design, and will encourage Inviters to choose their Invitees wisely.
Curated. Only games and dapps approved by Pixelcraft Studios or AavegotchiDAO can deploy on Geist. Quality over quantity.
Rewarding. Members have exclusive access to reward programs such as airdrops, giveaways, and exclusive content.
We see a gap in the market for a gaming chain focused on quality over quantity, both in games and users. Geist is a network driven not by vanity metrics and flashy numbers, but by the loyalty of its fans.
Key features of Geist
Geist is built using the cutting-edge Arbitrum stack, the leading rollup chain stack for crypto gaming. Standard benefits of the Arbitrum stack such as <250ms block time, custom gas token (GHST), and permissionless transacting all apply.
Here’s what sets Geist apart:
- A chain-wide membership program. Geist Members will enjoy exclusive access to reward campaigns across all games on the chain. Non-members can still transact and play games on the chain, but will miss out on many of the benefits.
- World-class Uptime and the Complete Developer Platform. Powered by Alchemy, the leader in blockchain infrastructure, Geist offers high uptime and familiar developer tools such as Token API, Transaction API, and Webhooks.
- Native NFT Marketplace. Geist supports the Aavegotchi Baazaar, a fully onchain NFT marketplace with royalties enabled.
- CEX Onramps. Geist is collaborating closely with Coinbase and other CEXes to allow for ETH and GHST onramps.
- Native VRF. Geist supports a native onchain random number generator (VRF) developed by Pixelcraft Studios, allowing game developers to deliver provable randomness to their players.
- Account Abstraction and Gasless Relayers. Geist supports the latest in account abstraction, smart wallets, and gasless transactions, powered by Thirdweb.
- Native Staking with revenue sharing. Pending a future AavegotchiDAO proposal, Geist will support staking GHST to earn a portion of both marketplace and sequencer fees.
- Permissioned contract deployment. To prevent network congestion and ensure quality control, ****deployment of contracts is only available to permissioned partners. If you’re interested in building on Geist, please fill in this interest form.
Built with Love for Gotchigang, and beyond
Geist is built to be the onchain home of Aavegotchi, the Aavegotchi Gaming Console, and all of our official and community-built games. Games or dapps that include Aavegotchi elements (tokens, NFTs, tooling, lore) will be prioritized for deployment.
Aavegotchi NFT holders will also play a key role in driving initial network effects of the chain, with an airdrop of Invites to Aavegotchi NFT holders (Snapshot TBA).
Have an idea for a game or dapp you’d like to deploy on Geist? Submit your idea via this form, or apply through AavegotchiDAO.
Testnet Imminent
The Polter Testnet, the official testnet of Geist, is the testing ground for all Aavegotchi asset migrations and features.
Learn more about Polter Testnet and Geist Mainnet in the Official docs.
Follow Geist on 𝕏 for updates on the Testnet and Mainnet launch!
Summon the Geist
Ready to join us in summoning Geist? A limited number of Invites will be given to collectors of this announcement.
To apply for an Invite, submit your email on the official Geist website, then mint this new Geist open edition on Base or Arbitrum Nova. We’ll let you know if you make the cut.
The mints will close when Geist Mainnet launches.
Just the Beginning
Today’s announcement is just the beginning of Geist’s journey. Upcoming announcements will give more details about the Member system, Invites, and reward campaigns.
Make sure you’re privy to all the alpha by subscribing to The Curve, the official blog of Aavegotchi and Geist.
Stay based frens.
Aavegotchi Team
