What is ‘Off the Grid’? The Buzzy Battle Royale Shooter built on Avalanche

If you have recently been in the online shooter -video game -part of the internet, then you have probably heard of Off the Grid, a Battle Royale game that takes serious steam with players. Off the grid was at the top of the list of the Epic Games store with the most popular free games to play shortly after the release, plus the ordered huge crowds on Twitch. In short: it’s a hit.

But what you may not know is that off the grid a blockchain game is built on avalanche, with plans for a crypto -token and the possibility to exchange rare items like NFTs. Although these functions are not yet fully implemented, it is fair to say that off the grid has already made a larger splash with regular gamers than an earlier blockchain game – and the future looks bright.

This is what you need to know about the schedule, the current Early Access release and the crypto and NFT plans ahead.

What’s outside the grid?

Off the grid is a Battle Royale Shooter in the third person who has launched as Early Access on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC via the Epic Games Store.

In a fictional future where cybernetics can increase people to make them even more fatal, you and two teammates jump on the big city map and fight other trios to be the last, just like any good battle Royale game.

From the grid touts itself, however, as an extraction royale, which also adds some extraction -shooting style mechanics. In competitions you can find what is essentially lover boxes, and if you hold them while you win, or manage to extract them at certain locations on the map, you can use them to unlock cosmetic items or new weapons and skills for your loadouts.

Off the grid was developed by Gunzilla Games, a studio co-founded by “District 9” and “Chappie” film director Neill Blomkamp-en as Chief Creative Officer of the studio, his style is felt strong during the game.

The game is built around a future competition that is essentially changing in a television competition between cybernetic advanced people. And unlike Battle Royale games such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, Off The Grid promises 60 hours of narrative gameplay, with cinematics who book competitions and offer extra taste and motivation to the experience.

How do I play the schedule?

To play the grid in early access, you just have to download and start the free game to play on your chosen platform, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.

After you have downloaded the game, you just have to start it up and play your first game. It is quite easy to pick up if you have ever played a Battle Royale, and there are already a lot of guides available on the internet.

The early access version contains only one mode (Extraction Royale) and the single, but very large map, although the future full release is expected to pack more modes and content. Gunzilla Games recently added non-playable characters in specific zones of the card with which players can fight in exchange for loot or even a hex.

Where does Crypto come in?

In the first build of early access there is no clear cryptgration integration. But it is apparently humming in the background and there is more to the horizon.

From the grid is built on Gunz, a special L1 (or subnet) on the Avalanche blockchain network. Currently, Gunz is on TestNet and the swearing of the network still has to go live on MAINNET, but those movements are on the horizon. Items in the game are expressed in Gun, which you can also earn by completing missions, but it is in fact an in-game currency for now because token is not live on mainnet is not live.

However, the game gets some serious figures on the Gunz test network, made with millions of portfolios during the first week of early access alone, together with millions of daily transactions.

Gunz is expected to be in MAINNET at the end of Q1 2025, as confirmed by Gunzillas director of Web3, Theodore Agranat. Once live, players can exchange and sell in-game articles as NFTs on market places and within the game itself.

There is already a flourishing black market for Off the Grid Skins, where many collectors believe that the scene will explode as soon as Maves strikes.

Gunzilla has created the Gunz network to let other developers also use the technology, so the ambition is that the weapon smoking can be used in the future for usable.

What is the next step for off the grid?

As mentioned, the Gunz Minet is expected to be released by the end of the first quarter of 2025 – which means at the end of March. But that is not all that stands in the pipeline for Off the Grid.

Agranat told Decrypt In December, the game wants to add ranked and solo -in -terms of the tub and open the remaining 80% of the card to start his storyline. From 11 March, only a solo -queue was temporarily added and a small part of the card was opened -nowhere near the 80% figure. Interesting is that he also said that he wanted these functions not only to be live, but extremely polished before the game Hitte Mainstje. The clock ticks.

As soon as the Gunz network is live, Gunzilla Games will be looking for external developers of the ecosystem. After the Hyped launch of Off The Grid, the studio is planning to pass on his wisdom to other developers in the industry. Agranat even opened the door for a possible telegram-mini app to be launched as a tool for users on board the Avalanche L1 to be launched soon.

We will see if the grid can hold on to its momentum as the game evolves and extends in the near future, and whether regular gamers are kindly to the ability to mint and exchange NFTs and use the future piste smoking.

Published by Andrew Hayward

Note of the editors: This story was originally published on October 12, 2024 and last updated with new details on March 11, 2025.