Microsoft, along with the support from game designing firm Eidos and gamebook establishment Fabled Lands, are working towards turning a 1980s best-selling gamebook into a blockchain-based card game. 

Revealed via a press release on December 1st, the new blockchain-powered game will be built upon the foundation of a widely recognized best-seller in the 1980s, dubbed “The Way of the Tiger”, authored by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith.

The new game will have the name “Arena of Death”, in which gamers can engage in fantasy-themed card duels, inspired by the above-mentioned gamebook. 

The gamebook’s author and current head of Fabled Lands, Jamie Thompson, shared that the reason behind his decision to utilize blockchain, is that the tech is more compatible to the goals he is trying to reach, compared to an old-fashioned videogame. 

“We were going to relaunch the series into a computer game format but this new technology (blockchain), just made more sense. Imagine playing Magic the Gathering but knowing if you owned a card, it really does belong to you. Or if we say there are only 100 editions of an item or skill, you know there really are only 100 editions.”

A non-fungible token (NFT), facilitated by the Vechain blockchain – a system often employed by major establishments and supply-chain management – will be available, in an attempt to support the ownership of in-game materials for the players.

The process of designing cards and in-game items will be supported by Vechain.