What Is ‘Off the Grid’? The Buzzy Battle Royale Shooter Built on Avalanche

If you’ve been on the online shooter video game portion of the internet recently, then you’ve likely heard of Off the Grid, a battle royale game that is picking up serious steam with players. Off the Grid topped the Epic Games Store’s list of the most popular free-to-play games soon after release, plus it commanded huge crowds on Twitch. In short: It’s a hit.

But what you might not know is that Off the Grid is a blockchain game built on Avalanche, with plans for a crypto token and the ability to trade rare items as NFTs. While these features aren’t yet fully implemented, it’s fair to say that Off the Grid has already made a bigger splash with mainstream gamers than any previous blockchain game—and the future looks bright.

Here’s what you need to know about Off the Grid, the current early access release, and the crypto and NFT plans ahead.

What is Off the Grid? 

Off the Grid is a third-person battle royale shooter that has launched into early access on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via the Epic Games Store.

Set in a fictional future where cybernetics can augment humans to make them even more deadly, you and two teammates will jump onto the sizable city map and fight it out against other trios to be the last ones standing, just like any good battle royale game.

However, Off The Grid touts itself as an Extraction Royale, adding in some extraction shooter style mechanics as well. In matches, you can find what are essentially loot boxes, and if you either hold them as you win, or manage to extract them at certain locations on the map, then you can use them to unlock cosmetic items or new weapons and skills for your loadouts.

Off the Grid is developed by Gunzilla Games, a studio co-founded by “District 9” and “Chappie” film director Neill Blomkamp—and as the studio’s chief creative officer, his style is strongly felt throughout the game.

The game is built around a future competition that essentially turns the battle royale premise into a televised competition between cybernetically-augmented humans. And unlike battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, Off the Grid promises 60 hours of narrative-driven gameplay, with cinematics that bookend matches and provide added flavor and motivation to the experience.

How do I play Off the Grid?

To play Off The Grid in early access, you simply need to download the free-to-play game on your chosen platform and boot it up, but it’s not quite as simple as it sounds.

Once you have the game downloaded, you simply need to boot it up and play your first game. It’s pretty easy to pick up if you’ve ever played a battle royale before, and there’s already a ton of guides available on the web.

The early access version contains just one mode (Extraction Royale) and the single, but very large map, though the future full release is expected to pack more modes and content. Recently, Gunzilla Games added non-playable characters in specific zones of the map for players to fight with in exchange for loot or even a hex.

Where does crypto come in?

In the initial early access build, there’s no obvious crypto integration. But it’s apparently humming along in the background, and there’s more coming on the horizon.

Off the Grid is being built on GUNZ, a dedicated L1 (or subnet) on the Avalanche blockchain network. Currently, GUNZ is on testnet and the network’s GUN token has yet to go live on mainnet, but those moves are on the horizon. Items in the game are denominated in GUN, which you can also earn by completing missions, however it’s effectively an in-game currency for now since the token isn’t live on mainnet.

However, the game is racking up some serious numbers on the GUNZ testnet, with millions of wallets created during the first week of early access alone, along with millions of daily transactions.

GUNZ is expected to hit mainnet by the end of Q1 2025, as confirmed by Gunzilla’s Director of Web3, Theodore Agranat. Once live, players will be able to trade and sell in-game items as NFTs on marketplaces and within the game itself.

Already there is a thriving black market for Off the Grid skins, with many collectors believing the scene will explode once mainnet hits.

Gunzilla created the GUNZ network to let other developers utilize the tech, as well, so the ambition is for the GUN token to be usable across multiple games in the future.

What’s next for Off the Grid?

As mentioned, the GUNZ mainnet is expected to be released by the end of Q1 2025—meaning the end of March. But that’s not all that’s in the pipeline for Off the Grid.

Agranat told Decrypt in December that the game is looking to add ranked and solo queue modes, as well as open up the remaining 80% of the map to kick off its storyline. As of March 11, only a solo queue has been temporarily added, and a small section of the map was opened up—nowhere near the 80% figure. Interestingly, he also said that he wanted these features to not just be live, but extremely polished before the game hit mainnet. The clock is ticking.

Once the GUNZ network is live, Gunzilla Games will be looking to onboard third-party developers to the ecosystem. Following the hyped launch of Off the Grid, the studio plans to pass on its wisdom to other developers in the industry. Agranat even left the door open for a possible Telegram mini app to be launched as a tool to onboard users to the soon-to-launch Avalanche L1.

We’ll see whether Off the Grid can hold onto its momentum as the game evolves and expands in the near future, and whether mainstream gamers take kindly to the ability to mint and trade NFTs and utilize the future GUN token.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on October 12, 2024 and last updated with new details on March 11, 2025.