We blogged recently about the release of the Stratis SDK for cross-platform game engine Unity, demonstrating basic transaction and data exchange functionality.

Today we’re excited to announce an update to the Unity SDK that enables native interaction with Stratis Smart Contracts, opening a world of possibilities for game developers including the integration of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
Axie Infinity has taken the world by storm with more than 250,000 active daily players and monthly revenues exceeding $50 million in July. The game uses smart contract functionality and NFTs to enable a ‘play-to-earn’ model, where users are rewarded with tokens as they progress.
NFT’s bring ownership and digital scarcity to in-game items like swords or shields, enabling these items to be swapped or exchanged by users in secondary markets. Collecting has always been a key feature of successful games (e.g. baseball cards, football stickers, Warcraft) and NFT’s can provide strong network effects and drive revenue for game developers.
Today, the cheapest Axie NFTs cost in the region of $200 each with three required to play. The most expensive NFTs representing ‘mystic class’ Axies are worth in the region of $50,000. The game’s play-to-earn incentive is so strong that NFT owners now rent their Axies to other players seeking to earn from playing.
With the Stratis Unity SDK, game developers can harness Stratis Smart Contracts to automate a wide range of transactions for a fraction of a Cent, including the issuance of in-game NFTs, opening a wide range of innovative use cases. Examples include:

• Play-to-earn: reward players with tokens to incentivize engagement
• Prizes: token prizes for highest ranked players
• NFTs: create, issue and transfer ownership of NFT’s

The Stratis Unity SDK is expected to be available via the Unity Asset Store over coming weeks (application in progress). In the meantime, developers can get started with the Unity SDK here.