Polkadot Unity SDK proposal to become a Verified Solution (Part 1)

Short Description: Verified Solution Polkadot Unity SDK in the Unity Asset Store

Project Category/Type: Infrastructure

Beneficiary Address: 16Fa8QRqAWS5BFxZVTKHN1qsAmMEwDVUCBft43a1BMTtmasJ (Parity)

Funding Amount: 42685 DOT = 175’000 USD

To DOT Holders,

My Name is Nicholas Douzinas from Ajuna Network and I am authoring this proposal in the name of the Polkadot Gaming Group. Currently, this is composed of over 20 members from supporting parachains and teams including Ajuna, Apilon, Astar, Aventus, Gear Technologies, Moonsama, Moonbeam, Opendive, Tanssi, Unique, and Parity Technologies.

We are asking you to consider releasing funding through the treasury, for the cost of Verification of the newly created Polkadot Unity SDK. In the proposal below we explain how an ecosystem-wide solution, branded as Polkadot Unity SDK can produce long-term value for dot holders, significantly increase the visibility of Polkadot as a contender in the web3 gaming space and tangibly help with onboarding new users onto Polkadot and our ecosystem of parachains and dApps.

The TLDR:

Background: At present, the Unity Asset Store does not feature any Polkadot-based solutions for its extensive user base of game and application developers. The platform does, however, offer verified solutions for other blockchain ecosystems such as Ethereum, Solana, Aptos, Flow, and Algorand. This omission represents a significant gap in the market and an untapped opportunity for Polkadot to establish itself within the burgeoning web3 gaming vertical.
(https://assetstore.unity.com/decentralization-hub)
Collaboration: Ajuna, Apilon, Astar, Aventus, Gear Technologies, Moonsama, Moonbeam, Opendive, Tanssi, Unique, and Parity Technologies—have been actively working to address these challenges.
Funding Request: We are seeking total funds of $175,000 from the treasury. Of this amount, up to $150,000 will be allocated to cover the cost of Unity’s verification and publishing process for an ecosystem-specific Polkadot Gaming Software Development Kit (SDK) on the Unity Asset Store. It should be noted that these are straight pass-through costs to Unity Technologies. This transaction will be executed with Parity Technologies as the counterparty. In the case that the cost of Verification is below the requested $150,000, the remaining funds will be returned to the Treasury. The $25,000 will be allocated to cover the maintenance of the SDK for a period of 12 months. You will find a full breakdown in the sections below.
Opportunity: The integration of a Polkadot Gaming SDK into the Unity Asset Store offers a substantial opportunity to bolster Polkadot's brand recognition among game and app developers. This will empower Unity and C# developers to initiate projects in the web3 games and decentralized applications (dApps) sectors, specifically within the Polkadot ecosystem.
Technical Specifications: The proposed SDK is designed as a versatile, model-driven solution. It will facilitate the rapid generation of customized C# SDKs compatible with various chain types—including relay-, para-, and solo chains. This enables effortless integration with Unity, obviating any further requirements and effectively unlocking the entire C# development stack.
Part 2: BD/Marketing: To ensure the success of this project, comprehensive efforts are essential from both Business Development (BD) and Marketing. Hence, we have divided the proposals into Technical (Part 1) and BD/Marketing (Part 2). Once Part 1 is approved, a distinct proposal for Part 2 will be submitted. Discussions pertaining to Part 2 can be followed through this link. This approach enables the Technical Teams to commence implementation promptly, allowing 4-6 weeks for verification, while Parachain and Parity teams can concentrate on Part 2.

We are confident that this initiative will significantly contribute to the growth and diversification of the web3 gaming vertical on Polkadot, providing both immediate and long-term benefits to all stakeholders involved.

We look forward to your support in realizing this transformative project.

Importance and Implications of a Verified Polkadot Unity SDK

Unity is the preferred engine for 60% of games created across all platforms, and over 50% of Web3 games [ref1, ref2]. Additionally, the Unity Asset store is used by over 1.5 mio developers for a wide variety of applications in the creator economy, such as animation and architecture. By becoming a Verified Unity Partner, we can offer a reliable and trusted solution for Unity developers who want to build on Polkadot.

Advantages of Verified Partnership?

Trust and Credibility: A Verified Unity Partner status would establish Polkadot as a reliable, trusted option for Unity's extensive developer community.
Widespread Adoption: Being featured on the Unity Asset Store would dramatically scale the adoption of Polkadot SDK for both Polkadot and its parachains.
Exclusive Features: Verification grants access to specialized features like custom End-User License Agreements (EULA), thereby enabling subscription-based product offerings.
Focused Marketing Strategy: A Verified Unity Partner status allows for more effective and concentrated marketing initiatives.
Ecosystem Synergy: The verification of a parachain-agnostic SDK provides a foundation upon which individual parachain projects can build their unique offerings.

Problem: The Existing Gap

Currently, Unity developers lack an avenue for creating Web3 applications within the Polkadot ecosystem. This absence effectively sidelines a potential 1.5 million developers from considering Polkadot and its associated projects (relay-, para-, and solo chains) as viable platforms for Web3 applications.

Moreover, the financial and resource investment required for individual projects to develop and verify their Unity SDKs would be substantial and would not benefit the ecosystem at large, creating inefficiencies and redundancies.

Collaborative Effort for a Unified Solution

Initiated in April of this year, our collective group—comprising over 20 members from organizations like Ajuna, Apilon, Astar, Aventus, Gear Technologies, Moonsama, Moonbeam, Opendive, Tanssi, Unique, and Parity Technologies—has been actively working to address these challenges through a unified approach to SDK development.

We believe that our proposed initiative will significantly enhance Polkadot’s standing within the Unity community, offering both immediate and long-term benefits to all stakeholders.

Proposed Solution

Objective

Our primary goal is to introduce a verified Polkadot Unity Software Development Kit (SDK) into the Unity Asset Store. This initiative aims to provide game and application developers with a robust set of tools that will enable seamless integration of their current and forthcoming projects with the Polkadot ecosystem.

This toolkit is not merely a software asset; it serves as a comprehensive development framework built on C#. It is designed to streamline the efforts of relay-, para-, and solo chain teams, enabling them to build, verify, and deploy blockchain-based solutions with ease.

The technical development phase is already complete. What remains is to gain verification status in order to join the ranks of other notable SDKs in the Unity Asset Store, such as:

Solana SDK for Unity
Tezos SDK for Unity
Metamask
Flow SDK
Aptos SDK
Truffle
and more

By achieving this, we aim to position our ecosystem Polkadot Unity SDK as a go-to resource within the Unity Asset Store, elevating its stature to that of existing, reputable solutions. The cost, as priced by Unity Technologies and equally applicable to all Verified solutions, is $150,000.

Technical Specifications

Polkadot Unity SDK

We propose to maintain and improve the Polkadot Unity SDK as a common foundational layer for all relay-, para-, and solo chain builders. This SDK will be generic to its full extent, thereby ensuring its reusability by any chain. Source code access: GitHub - Substrate.NET.API

Dynamic SDK Customization

The SDK has the capability to generate a customized version for individual relay-, para-, and solo chains in a matter of seconds. Each customized version will enable seamless interaction with the specific chain's extrinsic functions, storages, errors, constants, and all the RPC-available features. Published projects so far: GitHub - Substrate.Chains.NET

Project-Specific Layers

On top of the base SDK, developers can create project-specific layers to add unique features or functionalities tied to a particular relay-, para- and solochain.

Technological Advantages

The SDK will be akin to Polkadot.js but written in C#, thereby leveraging the Microsoft C# stack and the entire Unity stack for enhanced capabilities.

Verification and Subsidies

While the foundational SDK remains co-owned and reusable, individual parachain teams can apply for subsidies to add layers of verification or to create project-specific features. This approach ensures that the value derived from verification justifies the costs involved, and it keeps the competitive spirit intact among developers.

Open-Source

The development of the SDK is open-source, and feedback and suggestions on GitHub are welcome, making it a co-owned asset in the gaming vertical.

Features and Capabilities

Streamlined Development: The SDK is designed to simplify and expedite the development process for teams working on relay-, para-, and solo chains, allowing for the efficient creation, verification, and deployment of blockchain-based applications.
Interoperability: With its parachain-agnostic architecture, the SDK will offer a foundational layer that can be customized by individual teams to add unique functionalities.
Inclusion of Comprehensive Tools: The SDK will include a wide array of tools and resources to assist developers at every stage of the application development lifecycle.
Ease of Adoption: Due to its compatibility with Unity and the C# language, the SDK will be easily adoptable by a broad range of developers with varying levels of expertise.

By successfully implementing this solution, we anticipate significant advancements in Polkadot's standing within the broader Unity and web3 development communities. The initiative will serve as a crucial step towards consolidating Polkadot's presence in these burgeoning markets, thereby offering immediate and long-term advantages to all stakeholders involved

Maintenance of SDK (12 months)

SDK Maintenance for 12 Months: An estimated $25,000, equivalent to a 20-25% Full-Time Equivalent (FTE), will be allocated for ongoing maintenance and updates to the SDK.

Maintain Unity Asset Store package, including mandatory security updates to remain a verified solution by Unity, additionally maintaining substantial changes on the Substrate.UnityDemo project.
Maintain the underlying SDK framework Substrate.NET.API, including updating dependencies on the core level like StreamJsonRpc, and its underlying dependencies. (quarterly update schedule)
General maintenance of issues & features on GitHub SubstrateGaming and the underlying Repositories

Benefit for Dot holders

The overarching goal of this proposal is to facilitate the onboarding of game developers and studios onto parachains and the Polkadot ecosystem at large. The proposed initiative promises several long-term benefits for DOT holders, including:

User Onboarding at Scale: Introducing gaming decentralized applications (dApps) can attract a large user base, as exemplified by Mythical Games https://twitter.com/Polkadot/status/1701143714184233156?s=20)
Increased On-Chain Transactions and Engagement: Successful implementations like the Awesome Ajuna Avatars (BAJUN) have contributed close to 15% of Talisman TXs in the last 90 days [*talisman_90days]
Visibility and Competitive Standing: Being featured in the Unity Asset Store alongside other Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions like Solana and Polygon provides a strategic advantage Decentralization | Unity Asset Store)
Ecosystem-Wide Value Capture: Rather than benefiting only individual parachains, the proposed SDK can bring value to the Polkadot ecosystem as a whole.
Expanded Business Development and Marketing Opportunities: A partnership between Polkadot and Unity can lead to co-branded marketing initiatives, such as press releases, and the possibility of inviting Unity to Decoded or Sub0 conferences to promote this collaborative venture.

*talisman_90days

Final Thoughts

The individuals and parachains representing this proposal are taking this collective approach in line with Polkadot’s focus on the Gaming Vertical, as a key strategic decision for the future of Polkadot. This is one of many steps this group will support to make Polkadot a top 3 destination for web3 gaming in the next 5 years.

Next Step: Proposal for funding for Polkadot Unity SDK Adoption (Part 2)

A message from the Polkadot Gaming Group

This proposal outlines all requisite steps to achieve the technical milestone of Unity Verification. We firmly believe that for Polkadot's Web3 gaming to truly succeed and achieve mass adoption, securing this milestone must be succeeded by substantial efforts in Business Development and Marketing. Achieving this is more than just delivering technical solutions; it’s crucial to promote and expose it to both the Web3 and the prevalent Web2 gaming communities through various platforms like Gamescom or the GDC.

Hence, a meticulous and impactful BD/Marketing strategy is indispensable, aiming to effectively onboard game studios, game developers, and end users to the Polkadot ecosystem. The realization of these promotional and exposure goals is inherent in Part 2 of our proposal, which is contingent upon the successful approval and implementation of this initial technical proposal. A subsequent proposal, intertwining with the success of the first one, will be presented for the Treasury's consideration, addressing the crucial components of branding, communication, and market penetration. By navigating through these structured phases, we aspire to forge a path that leads to not just technical integrations but also to widespread acknowledgment and acceptance in both Web2 and Web3 gaming spaces. Our conviction is that this approach is pivotal to unraveling the full potential of Polkadot in the gaming sector.