Blockchain based card trading game Gods Unchained allows its players to explore take true ownership of their digital collection, granting players the ability to collect, trade and sell their cards as they please.

One of Ethereum's highest grossing trading card games is now taking the dive into mobile with a recent pre-alpha launch on Android and a future soft-launch for both Android and iOS devices coming in the future.

We spoke with God’s Unchained's executive producer, Daniel Paez about bringing blockchain games to mobile and how the popularity of the platform could help to see the wider adoption of the genre.

Pocketgamer.biz: Tell us more about the workings of Gods Unchained?

Daniel Paez: Gods Unchained is a strategic digital trading card game with fast-paced gameplay. Players are asked to align themselves with one of six Gods, build out their decks, and use strategic gameplay to defeat their enemies. Gameplay consists of card-based combat with tactical decision-making and resource management, and to win, players must reduce the health of their opponent’s God to zero.

As for lore, Gods Unchained takes players on a journey through the rich fantasy realm of Eucos, where mortals wield powerful magic, engage in epic battles, and balance the conflicting whims of the six domain gods. The game offers various collectable cards featuring champions, spells, artefacts, and creatures. 

What has been the outcome of bringing God’s Unchained to mobile devices

Earlier this year, we introduced a pre-alpha version of Gods Unchained on mobile for Android users, and the community feedback blew us away. We saw over 60,000 app sessions in under 30 days. We’re actively gathering feedback to prioritise our next steps and have contracted our mobile vendor iLogos, to help us deliver an exceptional gaming experience. The mobile dev team has already begun working behind the scenes to bring Gods Unchained to all Android and iOS mobile devices, with a soft launch later in the year.

What was the process of bringing God’s Unchained to mobile like for the team? What were your main challenges?

While there isn’t a set rulebook for bringing Web3 to mobile, since we have a working game already, it's actually been relatively easy to transition to mobile. We’ve also been working closely with the teams behind Android and iOS to solve how to get our titles onto their devices. Android has had fewer hurdles, so we did our pre-alpha on those devices first, but we see no problem in launching on all devices by the end of the year.

The emphasis now is to hone the user experience, particularly regarding onboarding. To that end, our non-custodial wallet and authentication solution, Immutable Passport, will be integrated into God's Unchained, which will play a key role in streamlining user onboarding via simple, passwordless sign-on and automated wallet creation.

How important is the mobile aspect for the wider adoption of Web3 titles?

While the mobile gaming market is highly competitive, the potential for success is enormous. The sector offers a large, diverse audience to tap into, allowing Web3 developers to target various segments and capture a significant market share.

Web3 gaming can also iterate the existing mobile model by allowing players to control, trade or migrate assets at their discretion. They can always sell what they have bought, even if the platform shuts down. Once mobile gamers see the benefits of this, paired with real AAA gameplay, we know they won’t want to go back.

Soft-Launch for both Android and iOS is intended for this year what are you hoping to achieve with this launch?

Being multi-platform is a no-brainer in today's gaming market. Though not all games benefit equally from being multi-platform, Gods Unchained and the TCG genre is perfectly suited to exponentially grow when they're playable on a gamer's platform of choice. Expanding into the mobile market will expose a new generation of players to God’s Unchained and Web3 gaming in general. This could be a powerful catalyst to get a broader swathe of players to wrap their heads around what the web3 paradigm shift offers.

Are the team working on any new features for the game?

Absolutely. For starters, we’re working on launching several new game modes, including the secret “sealed” game mode, which we’ll be unveiling soon. We’re also overhauling the pack opening experience to make every pack opening a more memorable event. The new approach enhances the overall user experience - particularly for those with slower internet connections.

We also plan to roll out a new content creator program to empower the community through rewards, collaborative opportunities, exclusive privileges, and recognition for their contributions. The program will be launched as a pilot first to gather feedback and iterate on suggestions from content creators. In addition, we plan on introducing a $GODS staking dashboard, enabling users to manage their $GODS tokens, track rewards, and access other features, all from a dedicated and convenient dashboard.

As for what’s happening behind the scenes, we’re embarking on a complete overhaul of our server logic, along with an array of other technical enhancements, to bolster the game's infrastructure and strengthen performance.

What advice would you give to Web3 developers on how to balance satisfying gameplay while also including core Web3 elements such as player rewards and ownership?

Web3 games introduce new audiences with different motivations into your ecosystem. Understanding the different player types that are engaging with your game and catering to each rather than trying to force any one of them into engaging with systems they don't find interesting is the biggest issue most other Web3 games haven't overcome. Moreover, the experience of managing assets should be seamless.

Blockchain elements should stay under the hood, and players should never need to manage a separate wallet or off-platform transaction while playing - which is one of our user experience goals with the rollout of Immutable Passport.

Can you tell us anything about the game or what to expect for the rest of 2023?

This is by no means an exhaustive list of everything we are working on, and we’ll be dropping more information about our quality of life improvements, details on our rotating game modes, set rotations, and more in our channels throughout the year. We’ll also be revealing more information about upcoming partnerships and promotions. This year is really about gamer-focused expansions and developments that prepare God Unchained for a much more global, mainstream audience.