Zilliqa announced the launch of its own Web3 gaming console, the company seems ready to jump into a sector led by PlayStation, Microsoft, and Nintendo. The upcoming console will have multiple capabilities allowing players to enjoy gaming while mining the network native token, ZIL.

In early September, Zilliqa announced the upcoming launch of their first blockchain game, called Web3 War. The First Person Shooter (FPS) and the console are part of a larger strategy to capitalize on the growing adoption of blockchain games and an important milestone in expanding ZIL’s ecosystem.

Image of the first Zilliqa game that will compete with PlayStation and other big studios. Source: Web3 War via Zekromo
Zilliqa Attempts To Break Into PlayStation And Steam’s Domains With New Console

According to a report from Venture Beat, the gaming consoles will be available for pre-order in early 2023. At that time, the console’s core feature will enter a testing phase: the gaming hub.

In addition to this feature, the gaming console will provide users with access to a native Web3 wallet. The combination of these capabilities, along with its own marketplace to trade in-game items and the option to earn rewards, has been designed to compete with Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo.

The largest gaming marketplace in the sector Steam allows players to purchase games, engage in debates, trade items, earn unique accessories, participate in community activities, and more. Zilliqa will attempt to take these features to the next level with its upcoming gaming console.

One of the main objectives will be to onboard non-crypto users to the ecosystem while increasing network decentralization by allowing these players to mine ZIL tokens. In that way, users will be able to own the native token to stake it and earn extra rewards, without having to purchase additional hardware.

Valentin Cobelea, head of gaming technology at Zilliqa, said the following on their upcoming console and how it will attract non-crypto players to its ecosystem while competing with some of the biggest companies in the gaming sector:

Zilliqa’s hardware console and gaming hub will allow non-crypto natives to earn money while playing fun games without the complexity of managing the crypto they earn. We will launch the console and gaming hub early next year with two Zilliqa games, followed by more games from a variety of creators. With the backing of Zilliqa’s large crypto community and the easy-to-use infrastructure, we have no doubt that we can become the Steam equivalent for Web3 games.

ZIL’s Price Reacts To The News

Below, there is an image from the upcoming Zilliqa console that resembles some of the consoles offered by PlayStation and Microsoft over the past years. Similar to the hardware, the Web3 console will provide users with a variety of ports and internet access, amongst other features. Cobelea added:

Upon announcing our first game at Gamescom, we had a great response from the gaming community, and we’re excited to say that it was just the beginning.

Image of the Zilliqa gaming console. Source: Bob MJ via Twitter

At the time of writing, the price of ZIL seems to be positively reacting to the announcement. The token is trading in the green with a 4.5% profit over the last 24 hours.

ZIL’s price moving sideways on the 4-hour chart with small gains over the past day. Source: ZILUSDT Tradingview