We launched the Unioverse last week and the feedback has been phenomenal. Because the Unioverse is an entirely new concept in franchise entertainment, we’ve also been getting a ton of questions on our Discord (which you should join!) and on Twitter.
So we thought it would be a good idea to collect some of these frequently asked questions (<- see what we did there?) and provide some answers!
Who is behind the Unioverse?
The Unioverse is the first franchise from Random Games, a venture-backed games studio Co-Founded by Tony Harman (GTA, Donkey Kong Country, Crackdown) and Wyeth Ridgway (South Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, MLB). We’re going to re-invent franchise entertainment through a combination of insanely great storytelling, innovative blockchain technology and a more open intellectual property system. Our first franchise will be the Unioverse.
What is the Unioverse?
The Unioverse is many things:
- It is an epic sci-fi story being created by a world-class team of artists, writers and developers who have expanded the narrative worlds of Star Wars, Marvel, The Walking Dead and more.
- It’s a series of videogames being developed by gaming industry vets who have worked on enormous titles like Grand Theft Auto, Crackdown, League of Legends and Star Citizen.
- It’s a reinvention of the way videogames get made. As we like to say, it’s like Roblox, but for AAA game developers.
But most importantly, the Unioverse is a “community-owned” franchise. That means all the AAA-quality art, character models, music and more that we create are made available to other game developers and our community royalty-free. Anyone can download our assets to make their own creations (comics, board games, T-shirts, etc.). Even better, those creations can be sold and we won’t take a dime.
Royalty-free? What’s the catch?
No catch! After working in the games industry for decades we recognize:
- The whole games industry is broken. Developers lose too much money paying out royalties to app stores and spending money on user acquisition. By handing over these assets, developers can get straight to creating games and not worry about gaming their players with loot boxes.
- Users create mind-blowing content when given the chance. Let’s see what happens when we equip our community to take off with their imagination, rather than limiting them with takedown notices.
How does Random Games Make Money?
We generate revenue by selling NFT hero characters. All revenue generated goes directly back into the franchise through expanded story, more assets and a Game Developer fund that will pay developers to make more games.
I think NFTs suck!
That’s not really a question, but we get it. The gaming community thus far has been burned by predatory NFT projects posing as games and giant corporations tacking on NFTs to existing franchises as a blatant cash grab. Random Games is using NFTs in the Unioverse in a thoughtful, limited way, and incorporating them from the ground up.
How will Random Games use NFTs?
Our NFT pitch is simple: In order to play a Unioverse game, you need to own a Unioverse character avatar NFT. That’s it. Owning a Unioverse NFT will give you access to all Unioverse games. Now, other developers making Unioverse games may add other crypto elements to their games — but that’s up to them.
What blockchain are you using?
We will start out using Ethereum and Polygon, however we are blockchain agnostic. You will see us embrace Solana, Avalanche or any other prominent technologies that emerge.
I’m a developer, how do I make a Unioverse game? What assets do I get?
Awesome! We’d love to hear from you. Check out the developers channel on our Discord, or head over to the Developers tab on this website and sign up for developer information. We’ll keep you updated as we have more news and announcements.
Developers working on Unioverse games will get access to our Unreal and Unity SDKs as well as our full library of assets (character models, environments, etc.). Plus you’ll get direct access to our talented team to get tips and tricks on game design and implementation.
If your game is great, we will pay you to make it.
Are you only going to work with big, established game devs?
Nope. No matter who you are, where you are, or how big your team, everyone will have access to our assets and SDK. And if you’re game is good, we’ll help fund it!
I’m not a developer, will I still be able to access and use Unioverse assets?
Heck yeah! You’ll be able to download our art and use our story however you want! Download the official image of one of our characters and print a T-shirt. Write your own short story. Animate a short film. Just make something and share it with the world!
Do developers have to make certain types of games?
Nope. Make whatever game you want (FPS, strategy, MOBA, etc.) and use whatever business model you want (freemium, premium, free-to-play, play-to-earn, subscription). It doesn’t matter to us.
What royalties will Random Game charge?
Again. All these assets are royalty-free and if you sell your game, you keep all the money. The only requirement is that your game uses our Unioverse character avatars.
When will assets be available?
We will have more news on that in the future. The best way to learn all about the Unioverse is to be active on our Discord, follow us on Twitter and go sign up for our newsletter using the form below.
When will your NFTs go on sale? How much will they cost?
Our first series of NFTs will actually be Unioverse collectibles and we’ll have more to say about them in the coming weeks. Not only will these look amazing, they will also help you unlock higher status and various rewards in our community. NFT collectibles will launch soon, so be sure to stay active on our Discord.
We will have more information about the availability of our hero characters in the coming months. Not to sound like a broken record, but the best way to learn about those is to be active on our Discord, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter using the form below.
Is there a roadmap or a whitepaper I can check out?
We will be publishing both of those things soon. Stay tuned.
Anything else I should know?
I think that’s it. We’re excited to build the Unioverse franchise with our community. Be active on our Discord, connect with other folks from around the world and be ready for a revolution in entertainment.