Web3 game studios are creating new blockchain-based titles every single day. With Off The Grid, one studio made one of the most impactful Web3 games to date. That studio is Gunzilla Games.

Emerging from relative obscurity into one of the hottest names in the blockchain gaming space, Gunzilla Games continues to lead the way in mainstream Web3 gaming, with Off The Grid continuing to find success on a wide range of platforms.

Gunzilla Games have etched their name into history – but how did Off The Grid come about, what are they working on right now, and what can we expect in future?

Here’s our complete guide to Gunzilla Games.

Key Insights

• Founded in 2020 by an experienced and talented team of games industry veterans
• Secured over $100 million USD in funding from leading venture capital firms and industry figures
• Their debut title Off The Grid entered early access in October 2024, available on all major platforms
• $GUN released in March 2025, becoming the official ecosystem token of Gunzilla Games
• Gunzilla aims to continue to grow Off The Grid, and expanding their reach into mainstream gaming audiences

What is Gunzilla Games?

Gunzilla Games was founded in March 2020, bringing together a wide range of experience in both the gaming and entertainment industries.

Vlad Korolev serves as CEO – a career veteran in both fintech and gaming, being a co-founder of PLINK and developer on Warface. He’s joined by Alexander Zoll as Chief Strategy Officer, who had previously served as studio lead at Crytek Kyiv.

The two are joined by Neill Blomkamp as Chief Creative Officer – a renowned filmmaker who counts District 9, Elysium and Chappie amongst his portfolio. Blomkamp brings Hollywood-level storytelling and visuals to Gunzilla – accompanied by the story of Richard K. Morgan and Olivier Henriot, and the sound of Grammy Award-winning composer Lorne Balfe.

The company operates from a trio of global studios:

• Frankfurt, Germany: The company HQ, and their home of art, design and marketing
• Kyiv, Ukraine: Responsible for operations, core programming, and support roles
• London, UK: Responsible for strategy and core business functions

Since their foundation, Gunzilla Games have raised over $100 million USD to pursue their vision for the future of gaming.

Their journey began with $25 million in funding from GameGroove – a company created by Zoll and Korolev. Their first funding round in August 2022 saw an additional $46 million enter the pot from names such as Republic Capital, Griffin Gaming Partners and Animoca Brands. This was joined by a further $30 million in 2023, co-led by CoinFund and Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund – with the latter becoming key to their future operations.

What is Off The Grid?

Off The Grid is the flagship title of Gunzilla Games. Announced in May 2022, and entering early access in October 2024.

Set in the dystopian cyberpunk backdrop of Teardrop Island, the game mixes futuristic technology and gritty aesthetics with a humorous outlook. Combining the thrill of an extraction royale with battle royale mechanics in a third-person perspective, the game became a big hit on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Alongside the gripping PvP gameplay, Off The Grid incorporates a concurrent 60-hour narrative campaign, allowing playing to dive more into the lore of the game and the reality of your surroundings.

Since its launch, Off The Grid has achieved remarkable success as unquestionably the biggest blockchain game to date, with over 12 million sign-ups, 120,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch during peak periods, and more than 500,000 daily active users in its first month.

What is GUNZ?

GUNZ is a custom sub-net of Avalanche, and is the blockchain which powers all of Off The Grid‘s on-chain features.

Powered by the $GUN token, GUNZ facilitates the system that allows in-game items to be NFTs. Players can own these digital items independent of the Off The Grid game, and can freely buy, sell and trade these items with other players.

Despite its benefits, GUNZ is totally optional for players to engage with. If you wish to play Off The Grid without any of the blockchain-based features, you can do so – helping the game to build an audience within traditional gaming circles.

The integration of GUNZ hasn’t been without controversy. Several high-profile creators believe that Gunzilla Games downplayed the impact that NFT and crypto integration would have on Off The Grid and its long-term sustainability.

What’s next for Gunzilla Games?

Gunzilla’s immediate focus is on growing and expanding the Off The Grid ecosystem.

The team have held multiple high-profile events so far, such as the $600,000 All-Stars Invitational, and the regular Clash For Cash tournaments that offered daily prizes of $3,000.

The GUNZ platform is also expected to expand its functionality, with the release of a SDK for developers, additional funding expectations, and further developments for the $GUN economy.

Although Gunzilla Games is just 5 years old, and its flagship game Off The Grid has been available for less than 12 months, they’ve already had a significant impact on the blockchain gaming industry. Their success so far has been an inspiration to many, and with their continued success and funding, they’ll remain a major player to watch in the years to come.

Gunzilla Games has shared a detailed update on the state of its GUNZ blockchain ecosystem, coinciding with preparations for the upcoming Steam release of its multiplayer shooter—Off The Grid. The studio has initiated a wave-based migration of players to mainnet, marking a significant shift toward on-chain asset ownership within its gaming platform.

This update forms part of a new monthly reporting initiative by Gunzilla, aimed at providing clearer insight into development milestones, ecosystem activity, and regulatory progress. According to the studio, June marked the start of a “new phase of growth” for the GUNZ ecosystem following months of limited public communication.

Alongside the blockchain developments, Off The Grid has received several gameplay updates and is confirmed to be launching on Steam in July. Due to Steam’s current policies on blockchain integration, the PC version will use testnet rather than mainnet features for the time being.

Gunzilla Games is also finalising regulatory licensing and expanding the reach of its token through a new partnership, all of which will feed into the studio’s broader strategy to establish a compliant, scalable blockchain gaming platform.

Key Insights

• 21,000 players have been migrated from testnet to mainnet, with full migration planned
• Asset activity on mainnet includes over 413,000 HEX decodings and $12.9 million in $GUN volume
• Validator NFTs are now live, with the majority of 10,000 nodes operational
• VASP licensing is nearing completion, which will enable broader access to mainnet features
• Off The Grid launches on Steam in July 2025, using testnet to comply with platform policies
• OTG Gameplay updates include new arenas, a new weapon, and changes to weapon handling
• A web3-focused roadmap and further announcements are expected starting July 4

What’s happening in the GUNZ ecosystem?

Gunzilla Games has begun migrating players to the GUNZ mainnet, allowing them to retain and manage their in-game assets on-chain. The first 21,000 users have already been transitioned, with plans to eventually move all 17.3 million wallets. This migration is being carried out gradually to meet compliance standards and monitor any technical issues. With this shift, users gain permanent ownership of their items, including weapons, skins, and earned loot. In terms of mainnet activity, the studio reports 413,000 in-game asset decodings and a total marketplace volume of $12.9 million in $GUN tokens so far.

The company is also close to securing its Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence. Once granted, this will allow Gunzilla to open up mainnet access more broadly to its player base.

Additionally, Validator NFTs—which function as nodes in the ecosystem—have also gone live with most of the 10,000 available nodes already active and producing in-game assets. More information about how validator rewards will scale is expected in future reports.

In terms of infrastructure expansion, Gunzilla has entered a partnership with decentralised exchange Blackhole to introduce $GUN token pools on Avalanche, though the launch date has not yet been announced.

What’s new in Off The Grid?

Off The Grid—Gunzilla’s extraction-based multiplayer shooter—is scheduled to arrive on Steam in July. However, because of Steam’s policy on blockchain content, the PC version will operate using the testnet version of GUNZ. Blockchain features will remain active on console platforms, where they have already been integrated on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

In the June development report, Gunzilla also outlined several gameplay changes including a new 20-player free-for-all deathmatch mode and four additional arenas: Marshlands, Midtown Harbour, Stork City, and Ocio. A new melee weapon, the Cyberlancer, has also been added.

The update also introduced gyro aiming support for PC and PS5 users, along with the option to toggle between first- and third-person scopes for certain optics.

Finally, all weapon classes have undergone changes to recoil and spread behaviour, aiming to rebalance time-to-kill values and ammo dynamics. The Kestrel sniper rifle now features new attachments and improved fire rate, whilst other weapons such as the AZV100 have been adjusted for balance.

What’s next for the Gunzilla Games?

Gunzilla plans to publish a new web3-focused development roadmap in the coming weeks, detailing upcoming features and updates across the GUNZ ecosystem. The studio also indicated that additional announcements and feature reveals will begin from 4 July onwards.

Player assets earned during testnet participation are expected to carry over once full migration to mainnet is complete.

In the meantime, Off The Grid remains available in early access for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC devices.