Xai: A Layer 3 Gaming Blockchain Built on Arbitrum

What Is Xai?

Xai was created to facilitate real-world economies and open trading in the next generation of video games. With Xai, billions of traditional gamers can, for the first time, own and exchange valuable in-game assets in their favorite games—without needing to use crypto wallets. As the first Layer 3 blockchain in the Arbitrum ecosystem, Xai is engineered to bring mainstream gamers into the Web3 world. Anyone can support the Xai network by running a node, earning network rewards and participating in governance.

Xai’s mission is to onboard hundreds of millions of traditional gamers to blockchain gaming by abstracting away wallets and providing a fast, seamless gameplay experience, all while delivering blockchain benefits like open trading, interoperability, composability, and true digital ownership.

Earlier generations of blockchain gaming proved their potential within the broader gaming industry, but scalability remains a challenge. Xai’s core value is to make it easier than ever for mainstream gamers to enjoy the benefits of blockchain gaming by making an outstanding, frictionless user experience the project’s foundational principle.

Highlights

Xai’s testnets have surpassed 4 million daily transactions, 150 million total transactions, and nearly 500,000 connected wallets. The project raised over $20 million in node sales in just three weeks, showcasing strong adoption and community confidence.

Existing Products

Xai Blockchain

Xai enables open trading in the next generation of video games. Billions of traditional players can own and trade valuable in-game assets in their favorite titles for the first time—without ever interacting with crypto wallets. The mainnet launched in early 2024.

Network performance highlights:

• Over 150 million testnet transactions
• 500,000 testnet wallets created
• Average of over 4 million transactions daily

Sentry Nodes

Sentry Nodes monitor the Xai rollup protocol and trigger alerts (via any channel the operator selects) if an invalid block is proposed, enabling others to intervene. Sentry Nodes are designed to resolve the verifier’s dilemma.

Operational metrics:

• Over $20 million in revenue generated in three weeks
• More than $2.5 million in referral partner rewards
• Over 30,000 keys sold
• More than 5,000 wallets purchased at least one key
• Over 5,000 active nodes

Final Form

Final Form, the first game from Ex Populus, was deployed on the Xai blockchain and published by the Xai Foundation. Players engage in high-frequency deck building and automated battles with Rogue-Lite mechanics. The game was released in 2024.

LAMOverse

LAMOverse, the second game from Ex Populus, also launched on the Xai blockchain and was published by the Xai Foundation. In this game, chaos reigns—everything, including the world itself, is destructible. Survive your opponents by unleashing destruction from your custom hover vehicle. The game launched in Q4 2024.

Tarochi

Tarochi is a blockchain RPG where every quest, challenge, and captured monster is recorded on-chain. Explore a vast immersive world, interact with NPCs, unlock achievements, and solve quests.

Game data:

• 17,000 battles completed
• 2,500 unique players in the first month
• Over 100,000 transactions

Web3 Warriors

Web3 Warriors is an epic blockchain survival game. Escape the dungeon by battling elemental lords, endless waves of undead enemies, and fearsome bosses. Earn $BATTLE tokens and upgrade your characters by purchasing NFTs in the integrated game shop.

Performance metrics:

• About 164 days of total playtime (roughly 4,000 hours)
• Average session length: 30 minutes; 90th percentile: 1.5–2 hours
• Peak WAU and MAU: 22,100
• Day 1 retention averages 40%

Token Sales and Economy

The XAI token allocation is structured as follows:

Within this model, 2.08% of the total token supply will be released from the DAC and Nodes allocation at the Token Generation Event (TGE), with the remainder released dynamically. All gas fees are burned, supporting a deflationary token model.

XAI is the native gas token for Xai. Users can exchange XAI for esXAI, which can then be staked for the following use cases:

• Yield Account: Staking esXAI in the Yield Account increases esXAI rewards for node operators.

• Culture Account: Operators can stake esXAI to unlock special events and game-related NFTs on Xai.

• Governance Account: Staking esXAI grants governance rights, allowing participation in DAO/Foundation treasury proposals.

Problems Solved by Xai

Scalability

Layer 3 technology allows scaling to hundreds of millions of users without sacrificing interoperability, composability, or security. Xai runs as an Arbitrum Orbit chain, leveraging AnyTrust technology for maximum speed and minimal costs.

Gas Fees

Xai addresses blockchain gaming’s gas fee challenge by using an innovative gas subsidy contract, completely eliminating gas fees and enabling seamless in-game actions, which fuels growth in the blockchain gaming ecosystem.

Wallet Interaction Barriers

Xai removes onboarding barriers for mainstream gamers by seamlessly handling crypto wallets on the backend, managing them on behalf of the player to streamline both onboarding and gameplay.

Stability

Xai maintains network stability through robust AnyTrust technology and optimized smart contract execution, ensuring a reliable environment for blockchain games.

Key Components of Xai

Xai operates as an Arbitrum Orbit chain, leveraging AnyTrust technology for optimal speed and low costs. Unlike most self-managed Orbit chains, Xai benefits from direct technical support from Offchain Labs.

Sentry Nodes observe the Xai rollup protocol and raise alerts (via the chosen method) if any invalid block is proposed, allowing action to be taken. Their purpose is to resolve the verifier’s dilemma.

Funding and Key Metrics

Xai raised about $10 million across three funding rounds at prices of $0.01, $0.032, and $0.035 per XAI. The project attracted strong investor demand, reflecting confidence in its potential.

Key token metrics:

Roadmap and Updates

Major Milestones

The project achieved several major milestones, including the launch of the Odyssey event in Q3 2023 and Sentry Nodes in Q4 2023.

Current Roadmap

Q1 2024

• Season 1 Airdrop
• Mainnet Launch
• TGE and Exchange Listings
• Tarochi and Web3 Warriors deployment on Xai
• esXAI Staking
• Deployment of Camelot, LayerZero, and Rarible on Xai

Q2 2024

• Deployment of Final Form, MIX games, and other titles on Xai

Q3 2024

• Deployment of LAMOverse and MIX games on Xai

Business and Commercial Development Progress

Offchain Labs

Offchain Labs, the team behind Arbitrum (a Layer 2 blockchain solution), collaborates with Xai on three fronts: 1) deploying Xai as a Layer 3 on Arbitrum, 2) designing Xai’s Sentry Nodes to tackle the verifier’s dilemma, and 3) building a canonical, bidirectional bridge between Arbitrum One and Xai.

Team Secret

Team Secret is a leading name in esports and gaming. This partnership aims to revolutionize game distribution through blockchain technology.

Media Indie Exchange

Media Indie Exchange is a top indie game platform. This collaboration secures a rich pipeline of indie games and enhances their distribution via blockchain. MIX brings over 100 games ready to launch on Xai.

Rug Radio

Rug Radio is a dynamic force in digital media and blockchain. This partnership leverages Rug Radio’s media reach to promote and distribute games on Xai.

Camelot

Camelot is a DEX deployed on Xai.

Rarible

Rarible is an NFT marketplace deployed on Xai.

Thirdweb

Thirdweb is a Web3 developer toolkit that lets teams onboard users with wallets, build and deploy smart contracts, accept fiat payments, and scale apps across any EVM chain.

LayerZero

LayerZero is an interoperability protocol deployed on Xai.

Community

Xai has built a strong, engaged community across multiple channels:

• Twitter: 87,000 followers
• Discord: 77,000 members
• Telegram: 16,000 members

This active community demonstrates strong user engagement and robust project support in both the blockchain and gaming sectors.

FAQ

What is Xai? What makes it unique as a Layer 3 gaming chain on Arbitrum?

Xai is the first Layer 3 gaming chain on Arbitrum, dedicated to bringing mainstream gamers to Web3. It enables open trading and digital asset ownership for all players.

What advantages does Xai offer over other gaming blockchains (like Immutable X and Polygon)?

Xai stands out with faster transactions, lower fees, and a streamlined user experience. As a Layer 3 on Arbitrum, it delivers exceptional scalability and ultra-low latency for gaming, outperforming Immutable X and Polygon.

How do you build or deploy games on Xai? What tools and resources do developers need?

To develop on Xai, use Solidity and Web3.js. The Xai ecosystem offers comprehensive resources and technical support. Ex Populus was the first developer to successfully launch a game on chain.

How are Xai’s transaction fees and performance? What improvements does it bring over Ethereum and Arbitrum?

Xai offers lower fees and higher performance thanks to its Layer 3 architecture on Arbitrum. It delivers low latency and high throughput, substantially improving the user experience compared to Ethereum and Arbitrum.

What live or upcoming gaming projects are in the Xai ecosystem?

Crypto Unicorns, a collectible creature and management sim by Laguna Games, is live on Xai with a relaunch scheduled for June. Additional games are in development but have not yet launched.

How can users transfer assets and bridge between chains on Xai?

Use the Synapse bridge protocol to transfer assets to Xai. Connect your wallet, select assets to bridge, and confirm the transaction. Rubic Exchange also provides seamless, secure cross-chain bridging to Xai.

What is Xai’s governance token? How can users participate in ecosystem governance?

XAI is the governance token for Xai. To take part in governance, stake XAI tokens. Participants gain voting rights and can influence key decisions shaping the Xai ecosystem.