Please describe your proposed solution.

Currently there is a high inherent financial incentive for high monitoring of DeFi-related applications and so there is a relatively easy path to decentralize the infrastructure related to dApp operation.

For gaming, autonomous world and metaverse applications however, even if the infrastructure is made to be decentralizable, it’s hard to convince others to run the infrastructure as it is purely a selfless act for the greater good. To tackle this, we want to enable Cardano stake pools to be able to run infrastructure for onchain games and, through a connection to the Cardano L1, be able to know which player is delegating to their pool and support them by, for example, reducing or covering entirely the transaction fees for their in-game actions

An interesting point of this proposal is that this infrastructure would not only allow Cardano stake pool to provide this kind of benefit to users playing games written with Paima in the Cardano ecosystem, but more generally would be able to provide these kinds of services for users across the crypto landscape, giving non-Cardano projects an easy path to leverage Cardano infrastructure to secure their game as well as introducing non-Cardano users to the Cardano ecosystem in case they want to purchase and delegate ADA to take advantage of benefits

Notably, the plan for integration will have the following steps:

1. Create an indexer using Scrolls or Carp to get pool information in the right format needed for Paima
2. Provide better customizability of the Paima infrastructure (notably the batcher system) so that pools can easily modify its configuration to choose which benefits they want to provide without having to know how to code
3. Integrate the indexer built in step (1) into the customization system from step (2) so that pools can lookup who is delegating to them to activate the benefits
4. Add a way for stake pools to register themselves for games so that users know they can leverage their infrastructure either through a registry infrastructure or an on-chain registration

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

This will give stake pools a new marketing and monetization path that not only targets Cardano users, but users and developers in the crypto space globally

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

1. Number of stake pools who opt into running infrastructure for a game
2. Number of users who use infrastructure run by pools

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We will share all the code for the batcher system as well as all indexer infrastructure required for this proposal

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

dcSpark and Paima Studios are well renowned companies in the Cardano ecosystem that have a long history of delivering on Catalyst proposals. You can find progress on grants we have previously received at https://dcspark.io/grants

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goal is to incentivize running infrastructure for onchain games to help boost their decentralization, while also giving Cardano stake pools a unique way to market themselves to both Cardano users and crypto users in general

We know this project is technically feasible as our team consists of the authors of Paima Engine and we’ve already created the proof-of-concept batcher infrastructure and this proposal is to bring this project to completion

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

1. Build the indexer infrastructure
2. Improve the batcher system so it is more flexible and easier to use
3. Integrate the indexer into the new batcher system
4. Get at least 1 pool to run infrastructure for at least 1 game

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

1. Code
2. Code
3. Code
4. Partnership announcement

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

1. 40k
2. 60k
3. 60k
4. 10k

Additionally, we expect a high ongoing cost for this project as we will have to listen to pool feedback for adding new configurations, ensure the stake pool registration system is robust and meets the needs of games and general support

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

• dcSpark (development support)
• Paima Studios (advising on the use-case)

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

This will make Cardano stake pools a natural choice for decentralizing gaming infrastructure across the blockchain space, increasing interest in Cardano, as well as increasing more game and users to come to the Cardano ecosystem