‘Doom Olympics’ Game Competition Kicks Off on Ethereum

If you consider yourself a master of the classic shooter game Doom, then you might want to participate in the latest on-chain competition known as the “Doom Olympics.” This weeklong event kicked off on Thursday, offering a $15,000 prize pool to skilled players.

RIVES, a crypto gaming project, has taken retro games like Tetris and placed them on the Cartesi blockchain—a scaling network built on Ethereum that utilizes Linux-powered rollups, along with Base, an Ethereum layer-2 network developed by Coinbase. By leveraging blockchain technology, every move, score, and interaction in the game is securely recorded and verifiable.

RIVES, which stands for RISC-V Verifiable Entertainment System, has organized the “Doom Olympics” featuring seven challenges that offer a fresh and exciting twist to the iconic first-person shooter game.

Participants can engage in various game contests such as Knuckle Crusher and Treasure Seeker, each offering a unique gameplay experience. Additionally, players can earn rewards by referring friends to join the competition and compete for a portion of the $15,000 prize pool.

Unlike traditional Doom competitions, RIVES has chosen to use the “Freedoom” version of the game, which incorporates open-source assets on top of the Doom engine. The event runs until September 19, allowing gamers to play Doom directly in their web browser with every gameplay element being permanently recorded on the Cartesi network.

By utilizing a feature called “tapes,” players can replay their runs similar to classic Doom speed demos, ensuring transparency and fairness in the competition. This approach addresses a longstanding issue in the speedrunning community where players have been known to cheat during remote competitions, casting doubt on the legitimacy of records.

By recording all in-game actions on-chain and making the resulting “tapes” accessible for verification, the Doom Olympics aims to prevent cheating and establish a new standard of trust in competitive gaming.

Max Hatesuer, co-founder of RIVES, highlighted the benefits of decentralized verification in gaming. He explained, “This eliminates the need for third-party validation of scores, allowing for decentralized verification of speedruns and the use of persistent leaderboards. It also opens up possibilities for custom rule creation and modding within the gaming community.”

While Doom has been adapted to various unconventional platforms in the past, RIVES has successfully brought the game onto the blockchain with the help of Cartesi’s infrastructure. This move represents a significant advancement in incorporating blockchain technology into gaming experiences.

Edited by Andrew Hayward