Gunzilla Games’ Theo Agranat: Web3 Gaming Skepticism ‘Will Always Exist, and for Good Reason’

• Theo Agranat, Gunzilla Games’ Director of Web3, believes that skepticism around blockchain gaming will always exist, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
• Gunzilla’s debut project, Off The Grid, saw major success in 2024 and has taken Web3 gaming elements into the mainstream.
• As we enter 2025 and beyond, Agranat believes that eventually there will be no labels of Web2 and Web3; instead, it will just be “gaming.”

As 2024 comes to a close, the gaming world has slowly become a rising hotbed for Web3 technology.

Once a niche corner of the gaming industry, Web3 gaming has leaped into the mainstream in the past twelve months, captivating developers with possibilities for the future.

One company in particular, Gunzilla Games, took hold of those possibilities in its debut video game, Off The Grid, and saw significant success this year.

In an interview with CCN, Theo Agranat, Gunzilla Games’ Director of Web3, spoke about the hurdles of widespread adoption of blockchain in video games, regulations that will shape its future, and why skepticism will never leave gamers.

Skepticism Will Always Exist

On Oct. 8, 2024, Gunzilla Games released Off The Grid, a free-to-play battle royale game set in a dystopian cyberpunk future.

The game stood out primarily for its 150-player multiplayer experience and a strong narrative component led by Oscar-nominated District 9 director Neill Blomkamp.

But beyond its gameplay, the game utilizes blockchain technology to integrate an NFT marketplace for in-game asset ownership and trading.

Unlike other straight-up Web3 video games, Gunzilla aims to bridge the gap between traditional gamers and blockchain enthusiasts by keeping blockchain elements as an optional extra.

This decision was likely born from Gunzilla’s self-awareness that skepticism was rife in the gaming community; in fact, they believe it’s a crucial part of the industry.

“Skepticism will always exist and for a good reason. It holds game developers accountable and encourages them to be as transparent as possible in order to be able to prove themselves,” said Agranat.

“Once, even skeptical, gamers actually try out our game—they usually end up being blown away that this plays and feels completely like a traditional game—just with the incredible upside of asset ownership, peer-to-peer trading of in-game items, complete and verifiable transparency and other unique benefits that blockchain technology enables us to offer,” he added.

For Gunzilla, it is essential that traditional gamers get to experience Web3 elements without actually having to partake in them.

“In fact, they can avoid it altogether should they wish to. At no point will it be intrusive to players. Instead, it’s very much a choice they can make to take part or not,” Agranat said.

The game’s recent port to Playstation 5 has seen a higher influx of traditional players, potentially opening more people up to the power of blockchain.

Mistrust Between Traditional Media and Gamers

Gunzilla Games is not disillusioned with the mountain it’s currently climbing in order to get blockchain gaming working alongside the biggest in the industry.

“For a long time, there has been mistrust between traditional media and gamers and those who exist purely in Web3,” Agranat shared.

However, the developer believes these walls are slowly being broken down, as more traditionalists begin to understand blockchain’s hype.

“We are making efforts to be accepted by both ends of the spectrum—including passionate gamers and the stakeholders at the top,” he added.

These efforts will coincide with adhering to any future regulations that pop up in the space, which seems likely given recent crackdowns from global regulators.

Immutable, an Australian Web3 gaming platform, recently became the first blockchain gaming company to receive a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company claimed the Wells notice related to the listing and private sales of its token, IMX, in 2021. The SEC implied there was no exchange of value between the parties.

However, Agranat believes that future regulation will be a net positive if it remains sensible and claims developers should work alongside it rather than against it.

“Web3 developers and publishers will need to focus on putting product and regulatory compliance first and Web3 tech second,” Agranat opined. “This will be in my opinion a healthy development and allow the industry as a whole to mature.”

Web3 Transparency Is Key, Says Gunzilla

Agranat said that Gunzilla Games is putting transparency at the forefront of its product, and this will be how blockchain gaming ultimately grows.

The German game developer recently announced  crypto venture capitalist Delphi Ventures would become the largest validator of its blockchain platform GUNZ.

Agranat said that the venture capitalist firm will advise the developer on its Web3 roadmap, go-to-market strategies, and in-game implementations ahead of the official launch of its utility token.

The VC firm will also help build a dashboard that promotes transparency for players in the entire GUNZ ecosystem.

“We want our players, stakeholders and partners to know that we are taking this seriously,” Agranat told CCN.

Agranat said Gunzilla serves just one audience—the gamer. The director said that the company finds Web2 and Web3 labels as an outdated way of looking at things in the space.

“In the future, it will all simply be ‘gaming’ irrespective of the technologies used to facilitate a great user and gamer experience,” Agranat said.