Gamers L.A.B.is a new system being added to Somnia games that lets developers track player actions like match results, kills, and item pickups directly on-chain. That information is saved using a tool called Battle Records, which turns regular gameplay into something more permanent, shareable, and usable for things like leaderboards, bounties, and rewards.
The system is being built by Uprising Labs and led by longtime developer and founder Eric Vander Val, who has worked across both the gaming and crypto industries. It’s already being used by several titles in Somnia’s Dream Catalyst accelerator, including Maelstrom, QRusaders, and Mask of the Void.
Built for games from the start
“Saving data for data’s sake is boring,” Vander Val said in a recent community X Space held by Somnia. “What matters is what we can build on top of it.”
Gamers L.A.B. is designed so that any developer can plug it into their game without needing to know how blockchains work. Everything runs through a simple backend system. A Unity SDK is already live, with Unreal support on the way. Vander Val said experienced teams can set it up in a day or even a few hours.
Each game gets its own Battle Records setup, but all of them follow the same format. That lets other developers or community builders create tools that work across multiple games, like global leaderboards or shared reward modules.
Bennett Kearney, head of marketing at Uprising Labs, said the idea had been floating around for a while but only became possible recently. “There aren’t many chains that can help us actually go out and achieve this,” he said. “It’s not just about putting tons of player data on-chain. It’s about doing more with it.”
What that data actually does
With gameplay automatically tracked and stored, a lot of new use cases start to open up.
Streamers could set up challenges for their viewers, like putting a reward on completing a tough boss fight live. Players can place in-game bounties on rivals based on their battle history. Developers can run time-limited quests or reward drops without needing to update their game client or wait for platform approval.
This also helps with Web2 platform limits. Steam, for example, doesn’t allow on-chain features or rewards inside its games. But with Gamers L.A.B., developers can still run events, issue rewards, or track player progress through a website or connected companion experience without breaking Steam’s rules.
Gamers L.A.B.also avoids collecting any personal data. What’s tracked is tied to wallet addresses, not user accounts or IPs, and developers choose how much or how little data to write. Vander Val pointed out that almost every game already tracks and shares player data behind the scenes, often without users realizing. The difference here is that players and communities can actually use that data themselves.
First games coming soon, with more on the way to Somnia
Gamers L.A.B. is already being built into several upcoming Somnia games. Maelstrom will be one of the first live examples, followed by QRusaders and Mask of the Void, which recently saw over 30,000 NFTs minted on testnet. All Dream Catalyst games will use the system going forward.
Uprising hasn’t announced any token plans tied to Gamers L.A.B., but says the goal has always been to build around real, playable games first. “We started with at least a dozen games,” said Vander Val. “Then we launched the infra.”
Developers outside the studio are also being encouraged to build on top of Battle Records. Everything is open source, and teams are already exploring ideas like betting systems, community rewards, and other side tools powered by game data.
Another major announcement is expected next week, continuing what’s shaping up to be a busy summer for Somnia. With gameplay data now on-chain, battle history could soon become more than just a stat screen.
somnia also cooking LFG!