Call of Duty-style crypto shooter 'Shrapnel' enables token purchases via credit and debit card
Quick Take
- First-person shooter Shrapnel — a title on the Avalanche blockchain that is listed on the Epic Games Store — is aiming to boost transaction volumes by enabling token purchases via credit and debit cards.
- Previously, users had to use an exchange to purchase the game’s utility token, SHRAP.
Blockchain-based video game projects have been exploring ways to make it easier for users to play the games without getting bogged down by the crypto-related elements. In that vein, one of the more highly-anticipated games edging towards its wide release, Shrapnel, has implemented an integration allowing players to buy SHRAP, the game's utility token, using a credit or debit card.
Previously, players could only acquire the SHRAP token through an exchange, according to a statement. "Now, using the integration with Halliday’s onramp, players can quickly and easily convert fiat currency into SHRAP using Moonpay or Stripe as payment gateways," it said.
"Halliday removes a major web3 point of friction, allowing players to use their credit card like any other free-to-play game," said Shrapnel CEO Mark Long.
Gaming has long been considered pivotal in propelling blockchain and trading digital assets into the mainstream. So far, however, there has not been a genuinely mainstream, crypto-enabled video game capable of challenging the status quo: the closed ecosystems visible on gaming platforms like "Roblox" and "Fortnite."
Making it easier to purchase SHRAP tokens could spur more activity for the game, built using Layer 1 blockchain Avalanche. Players use SHRAP tokens to buy in-game assets.
According to Messari, Shrapnel is already having an impact. "Daily average transactions [on Avalanche] continued trending higher in Q1, finishing up 43% quarter on quarter," it said in a report. "Part of this increase was attributable to a strong quarter from Shrapnel, a first-person shooter game with a subnet for in-game transactions."
In February, an early-access version of Shrapnel became available on the Epic Games Store.
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