Shrapnel: US Gaming Restrictions, Global Impact

To avoid the potential wrath of the United States securities regulator, the developers of the impending AAA first-person extraction shooter Shrapnel will remove some of the game for players based in the United States.

 In a 13 September interview at Token 2049, Shrapnel’s Head of Economy, Francis Brankin, stated that players from Europe and Asia will be able to cash out without restriction, while players from the United States will not be able to cash out at all.

He expects the problem to be temporary and that Neon, the team behind Shrapnel, will shortly enable U.S. users to transfer Shrapnel funds to their bank accounts.

Shrapnel is a first-person extraction shooter set on Earth in 2038, in which players scavenge for loot and attempt to extract it while being pursued by adversaries and other players. 

Brankin explained that the game also allows players to construct open economies and own intellectual property rights over in-game assets, as opposed to simply producing value from the game itself. 

This was one of the primary reasons why the company’s CEO, Mark Long, chose to implement blockchain technology.

Users can develop a brand, create, and sell in-game assets from the ground up. 

“User-generated content is a huge deal,” Brankin stated, citing Roblox and Minecraft as textbook examples.

According to Brankin, Neon chose Avalanche due to its scalability. 

Shrapnel can process 2 million transactions per hour (555 TPS), which is sufficient for now, but scaling up on Avalanche will be more accessible over time, according to Brankin. 

Before transforming into a free-to-play game, Neon will introduce a paid early-access version in December. 

Shrapnel’s upcoming launch is hindered by the restrictions imposed on U.S. users.

Still, the co-founder of Sandbox stated that the metaverse (and gaming in general) is prospering in Asia, particularly Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan.