Ronin launches zkEVM to enhance blockchain gaming

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Ronin has unveiled today the Ronin zkEVM, a new zero-knowledge layer-2 blockchain developed using a customized version of the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK). According to the announcement, the Ronin zkEVM promises to significantly scale the network’s capacity and accommodate an ever-increasing user base, propelling the growth of its associated game studios and enhancing the ecosystem’s permissionless nature for a broader range of gaming experiences.

The Ronin network, originally designed to support Sky Mavis’ flagship game Axie Infinity, now caters to a wider array of gaming applications, boasting 1.4 million daily active addresses. The introduction of Ronin zkEVM is set to further this expansion, providing partner studios with the tools to innovate and reach larger audiences.

Trung Nguyen, CEO and Co-founder of Sky Mavis, stated that the key goal of the company is to build a unified gaming ecosystem aimed at facilitating asset transfers and token swaps between different layers.

“By removing blockspace as a constraint, we believe Ronin zkEVM is a crucial pillar to help us onboard billions of gamers. With the support of Polygon’s best-in-class ZK tech stack, this collaboration between two ecosystems will usher in a new era of Web3 gaming. Our ultimate vision is to become the platform where the next billion people will create their first crypto wallet, and we believe that more games will be the gateway to achieving this milestone.”

Jeff Zirlin, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Sky Mavis, shared with Crypto Briefing that gaming studios already deployed on Ronin mainnet will be able to choose to deploy a specific application blockchain, called appchain. This means that their game would have a dedicated blockchain.

Notably, Zirlin recognized the challenge of fragmented ecosystems that might turn real with the deployment of Ronin zkEVM.

“If every game, decentralized exchange, and protocol on Ronin were to launch their own rollup, we might see liquidity become spread too thin. That would result in high slippage fees during swaps, which works against our vision for a scalable ecosystem,” explained Sky Mavis co-founder.

To address this potential issue, existing decentralized applications on Ronin will get upgrades, such as Katana DEX and Mavis Market. Zirlin points out that these applications can facilitate bridging across various rollups, especially after the introduction of a cross-chain relayer service, which is already in the works.

Therefore, users would be able to seamlessly transfer and swap tokens while interacting with any chain in the Ronin ecosystem, and buy and sell NFTs across any chain in the Ronin ecosystem through Mavis Market.

“For example, imagine a user wants to swap 10 AXS on zkEVM Chain #1 for 20 RON on zkEVM Chain #2. They could initiate a single transaction and the Cross-Chain Relayer Service will facilitate the rest of the process seamlessly.”

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon and Chief Business Officer of Polygon Labs, also commented on the collaboration, highlighting Ronin’s role in combining advanced technology with significant user engagement and distribution capabilities. The Polygon CDK is expected to transform Ronin’s gaming ecosystem into a top destination for game studios worldwide.