Off The Grid: A Cyberpunk Battle Royale Experience
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Off The Grid: A Cyberpunk Battle Royale Experience
Once became the most popular Free-to-Play game on the Epic Games Store.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Karen, Foresight News
Beneath the hype of AI+Meme trends, Avalanche's ecosystem has recently made significant strides that have yet to receive adequate market attention. Thanks to explorations by cyberpunk-style battle royale game Off The Grid and its subnet Gunz, Web3 gaming is accelerating rapidly.
Off The Grid launched early access on October 8, becoming the first Web3 game released across all major platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Initially, Off The Grid leveraged collaborations with popular streamers such as Ninja, Dr. Disrespect, XQC, and TimTheTatman to quickly gain traction. On October 10, fueled by influencer streams, it attracted over 150,000 concurrent Twitch viewers, briefly ranking among the top three most-watched shooter games on Twitch.
Currently, the Gunz testnet hosts nearly 8.3 million wallet addresses, while Off The Grid briefly became the most popular Free-to-Play game on the Epic Games Store (its current ranking has slightly declined).
On-chain data shows a sharp increase in transaction activity on the Avalanche testnet since October 8. The daily transaction volume on Gunz subnet’s testnet reached between 3 million and 4 million, accounting for over 99% of total Avalanche network activity in recent days.
Source: Snowtrace
The Power Behind Off the Grid: Over $100 Million in Funding and an Elite Team
Gunzilla Games, the developer behind Off The Grid, was founded in 2020 and secured $25 million in funding that same year through GameGroove, a venture fund established by two of Gunzilla's co-founders.
In September 2022, Gunzilla raised another $46 million in a round led by Republic Capital, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners, Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, and other VCs and individual investors. Angel investors and advisors include Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch.
In March this year, Gunzilla completed a $30 million fundraising round, including a strategic token sale of $10 million co-led by CoinFund and Blizzard Fund, the official fund of the Avalanche Foundation.
In September, Delphi Ventures announced its largest gaming investment to date in Gunzilla Games and stated it would become the largest validator of GUNZ.
Beyond its massive funding totaling over $100 million, Gunzilla boasts a powerhouse team led by CEO Vlad Korolov and CSO Alexander Zoll, with members hailing from renowned studios like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts (EA), and THQ—veterans of iconic titles such as Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed. The team also includes Oscar-nominated director Neill Blomkamp and Grammy Award-winning composer Lorne Balfe, bringing elite creative and audio expertise.
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Co-founder Alexander Zoll: Former CEO of Crytek Kiev, known for the game Crysis and its CryENGINE.
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CTO Timur Davidenko: Spent nearly 19 years at Crytek, previously serving as Technical Director for the internal CryEngine.
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Chief Visionary Officer Neill Blomkamp oversees motion capture and overall game aesthetics. Blomkamp directed legendary films such as District 9, Chappie, Elysium, and Gran Turismo.
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Grammy winner Lorne Balfe composes the soundtrack for Off The Grid. With 172 credits across film, TV, and games, his work includes Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Black Widow, and The Lego Batman Movie. In gaming, he composed for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed III, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and Beyond: Two Souls—all nominated for BAFTA Games Awards for Best Original Music.
Off the Grid’s On-Chain Economy
Gunzilla Games also developed GUNZ, a digital economy platform built as an Avalanche subnet. GUNZ enables Gunzilla and potentially other AAA developers to grant players full ownership of in-game items via tradable NFTs on a blockchain marketplace and mobile app.
GUNZ launched its testnet in April 2023, utilizing its native token to optimize high-speed gameplay and simplify gas payments, offering verifiable transparency for both gamers and developers.
Off The Grid powers its in-game economy through digital assets (as NFTs) and the GUN token. In-game items such as weapons, cybernetic limbs, and skins can be earned during gameplay or purchased off-chain. The GUN token serves multiple utilities: minting fees, in-game transactions, marketplace trades, voting on game development direction, and as the gas token for the GUNZ chain.
Gameplay and Experience of Off the Grid
Game Setting
Off The Grid is a cyberpunk-themed third-person battle royale shooter built on Unreal Engine 5, set in a dystopian future—or more specifically, on an island called Teardrop.
In this world, players fight for survival. Those who enter combat become "cyborgs," having their limbs amputated and replaced with advanced cybernetic prosthetics for battle.
System Requirements and Setup
Off The Grid is free-to-play and available on PC, Xbox, and PS5. Minimum system requirements are modest—i5-9400 + RTX3060 + 16GB RAM—but for optimal performance, a configuration of i7-12700 + RTX4070 + 32GB RAM is recommended.
The game is available on the Epic Games Store, but users with Chinese-region accounts cannot download it without a VPN. The game currently supports English and French only.
Game Mechanics
Off The Grid supports up to 150 players per match. In addition to PvP, the game features PvE missions with narrative content requiring environmental interaction and completion of specific story-driven objectives. Every player decision directly impacts gameplay. A 60-hour campaign mode allows players to deeply engage with the game’s storyline and missions.
Before entering the game, players can use GUN tokens to purchase permanent equipment on the marketplace, or open loot crates (Hexes) in the lobby after extracting them during gameplay to obtain random permanent gear. Crates come in four rarities: Legendary, Rare, Uncommon, and Common. Acquired weapons and items exist as NFTs (ERC-721). Players can configure their owned gear as starting loadouts in the lobby.
Currently, Off The Grid offers only a 60-player, 3-person squad mode similar to PUBG. Players scavenge for supplies (which are relatively abundant) across the map, which gradually shrinks over time until one team remains. If a player is killed but their team still has surviving members, they can respawn.
Kills and victories earn players GUN tokens and experience points. Tokens can also be obtained by completing daily, weekly, and monthly tasks in the lobby. Cybernetic limbs and other gear can be acquired from loot boxes or dropped by defeated opponents, or traded peer-to-peer.
Equipment
Off The Grid offers rich equipment options including weapons, ammo, medical kits, backpacks, cash, and cybernetic arms and legs. The depth of available gear highlights the game’s complexity and engagement.
There are seven weapon categories: six assault rifles, four SMGs, two shotguns, two light machine guns, two precision rifles, two sniper rifles, and three pistols. Each weapon has four rarity tiers: Legendary, Rare, Uncommon, and Common. Weapons also feature six customization slots: stock, optic, barrel, muzzle, underbarrel, tactical attachment, magazine, and grip.
Cybernetic limbs include arms and legs. There are 13 arm types: cloaking, EMP, attack drone, recon drone, shock punch, grappling hook, blade arm, power shield, missile launcher, incendiary grenade, mine, sticky bomb, and gas grenade. Legs come in four variants: jump, mortar, hammer, and sprint. Backpacks include four types: mesh immunity, limb skill recovery boost, auto-reload, and standard.
Player Experience
Off The Grid provides diverse equipment choices and skill combinations. The integration of cybernetics introduces innovative mechanics and enhanced enjoyment. Equipping different cyber limbs makes gear-skill synergy and tactical planning crucial. This transforms traditional gunplay into a strategy-heavy experience, injecting fresh energy into the shooter genre and elevating the importance of tactics. Players can adapt their combat styles based on equipped cybernetics, making each session uniquely challenging and engaging.
Additionally, Off The Grid delivers visually impressive graphics with realistic environments and objects. This is largely due to collaboration with Wētā Workshop, using 3D scanning, 3D modeling, and photogrammetry to convert real-world combat gear, footwear, and headwear into virtual assets, capturing intricate textures and details to create an immersive experience.
However, for some players—especially newcomers to shooters—the lack of Chinese language support, complex gear functions, and deep customization may present initial hurdles. Fortunately, Off The Grid includes a training mode where players can practice stress-free, getting familiar with various weapons and equipment.
It should be noted that the game is still in early access, featuring only one map, no vehicles, and limited environmental destruction and interactivity. Moreover, due to the primary player base being concentrated in Europe, Asian players may face longer matchmaking times during daytime hours and higher chances of losing. These issues may improve as the game evolves and the player base grows.
In summary, for Web2 gamers, the appeal of true item ownership is undeniable. Once players experience this concept, it could fundamentally reshape the gaming industry over time. Whether Off The Grid’s rapid rise can help Avalanche emerge as a leading hub for Web3 gaming and consumer applications remains to be seen. However, the real challenge lies in converting initial interest into sustained engagement and long-term retention.
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