Confliction Labs, the developer of the popular Web3 multiplayer shooter Riftstorm, has unveiled a new system called “Proof of Exposure” to tackle the growing issue of bot activity in Web3 gaming. This innovative initiative incorporates non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the game’s lore to differentiate genuine players from automated bots.
With Web3 games facing an increasingly problematic bot problem, marketing platform Cookie3 estimates that up to 70% of airdropped rewards are being claimed by bot accounts. Confliction Labs, formerly known as Mythic Protocol, aims to address this issue with its new authentication system, which combines third-party APIs, language models, and user-generated data to verify users.
According to Arief Widhiyasa, the CEO of Confliction Labs, Proof of Exposure serves as both a security measure and a way to strengthen the gaming community. “This system ensures that passionate and committed community members are the ones who help shape our IPs moving forward,” explained Widhiyasa.
The verification process of Proof of Exposure involves a sophisticated profiling system that selects the most suitable community members to advance the game’s storyline. Applicants with the highest scores will be granted access to the upcoming XPSR-24 NFT collection, which is part of Confliction Labs’ FICT ONE: Occultical universe. XPSR-24 is part of the company’s broader vision of “collaborative entertainment” where players contribute to the game’s evolving narrative through in-game activities.
However, some skeptics question the effectiveness of such verification systems in combating bots, as they argue that bots can quickly adapt to new security measures, rendering them ineffective in the long run. Bot prevention service Jigger reports that 40% of Web3 service users, including those participating in NFT allowlists and Web3 games, have been identified as bots.
While blending NFTs with game lore is an innovative approach, it remains to be seen whether it will truly create a bot-free environment or simply add another layer of complexity to the gaming experience.