Skale Labs unveils 'huge technical upgrade' for blockchain popular with web3 video games

Skale Labs announced that it is unveiling a third version of its blockchain to boost scalability and efficiency.

“This will make Skale, certifiably, the highest capacity blockchain, without a doubt," Skale Labs CEO and co-founder Jack O’Holleran told The Block. "It gives us huge efficiencies in terms of throughput and block finality, so it’s a huge technical upgrade."

To put into context how many years this newest version of Skale has been in the making, O’Holleran pointed out that Skale 1.0 launched in October 2020, and then version 2.0 launched nearly two years later in June 2022.

Skale 3.0, called Pacifica by the company, will accelerate "block mining speed by 108%" while increasing "transaction throughput by 122%," the company said. The Skale blockchain is an Ethereum-compatible sidechain network.

“It’s a big upgrade in terms of just the sequencing, but then it’s also big in terms of what it does and how many people are impacted," added O’Holleran. "When we rolled out 2.0, there were tens of thousands of people impacted, in terms of wallets, now there are millions and millions [affected]. On any given day five to 10 of the top 30 [blockchain] games are running on Skale.”

According to a statement from Skale Labs, the blockchain's network "has over 5 million active wallets" and "averages 50 million monthly transactions."

O’Holleran said Skale has become increasingly popular with gaming projects in recent years. Web3 games utilizing the Skale network include "World of Dypians," "CopyCat Killer" and "MotoDEX."

Skale Labs, which developed the blockchain, raised $17 million in a 2019 funding round from notable VC firms such as Winklevoss Capital, Arrington XRP Capital, ConsenSys Labs, and Multicoin Capital.