Blockchain gaming is gonna have some fierce competition with the imminent arrival of Age of Rust, an indie RPG from SpacePirate Games which is set to debut on Steam this March 19th along with a virtual bounty hunt that will have a combined Bitcoin (BTC) and non-fungible token (NFT) prizepool worth almost $1M.

The virtual bounty hunt will consist of players going on a treasure hunt in the game's vast 250,000km2 landscape. The largest bounty on offer is 20 BTC which is roughly around $650,000 today---a huge jump since game's conception in 2014 when Bitcoin was worth roughly $800.

Next to the grand prize is a bounty of 4 BTC, followed by smaller bounties and other non-fungible tokens in the form of items and weapons. Once bounties are discovered, these will disappear from the game and will be owned by players who found them.

Wishlist the game to get a notification upon launch and begin the hunt as soon as it launches.

As one of the 22nd’s century’s most prolific weaponized cipher-hackers, you were sequenced and stored away for future use. Forgotten for centuries, you wake up in the year 4424 to the desolate and dilapidated remnants of humanity’s once great creation. In a post-apocalyptic wasteland with a healthy dose of cyberpunk aesthetics, you must fight, hide and hunt for special items to help you survive and progress through perplexing puzzles.

But Age of Rust is more than just a danger-fraught journey with secrets to uncover and treasure troves to progress; it’s an immersive, cryptocurrency-enriched experience with an innovative new class of weapons and items with real-world value and blockchain-verified ownership, which can be used in various games across the metaverse.

Apart from being a blockchain game with huge prizes at stake, Age of Rust's graphics and premise is also worth noting. It's visually appealing on a level that most blockchain games haven't quite reached. Its futuristic, cyberpunk settings feel immersive and will be great company in the long journey ahead.

The first of a total of 3 planned seasons will consist of up to 40 hours of gameplay. Players will explore the massive digital universe, search for treasure, fighting monsters, and solving an array of puzzles. The 40 hours of total gameplay for the season does not include the discovery of all the bounties.

With developers estimating that it will take years to complete, the road to the grand prize bounty may not be as easy as it's advertised. Although, I wouldn't put it past dedicated hunters.

Age of Rust is set to release on Steam on March 19th. For more on blockchain games, check out our interview with Cryptowars creator, Matias Nisenson.