Reaper Actual: A new era of gaming built on Etherlink

When veteran game designer John Smedley stepped on stage at TezDev 2025 to announce Reaper Actual, the room shifted. Backed by $30.5 million in funding and developed by Distinct Possibility Studios, Reaper Actual promises to be one of the most ambitious first-person shooters in recent memory and it’s launching with Etherlink at its core.

Set on the war-torn island of Marova, Reaper Actual is a persistent open-world PvPvE shooter where players take on the role of elite operators known as Reapers. Missions are dynamic, world events unfold in real-time, and everything you do leaves a mark on the evolving island environment.

Here’s what makes the game stand out:

• Massive scale, persistent world: With a map four times the size of Warzone’s largest, Reaper Actual drops up to 200 players into a living, breathing battleground teeming with five AI-controlled factions and emergent player encounters. It’s a shooter where the action never stops and where every decision has weight.

• Base building and raiding mechanics: Your base is your home and your fortress. Customize and upgrade it, but watch your heat levels, cause too much chaos and it becomes raid-able. Think GTA wanted levels crossed with Tarkov-style consequences.

• Crafting, missions, and tactical gunplay: Missions are curated by the Cerberus AI to force encounters with other players. Reapers can level up, craft weapons, defend their bases with traps and offline guards, and specialize in skills like engineering or resource gathering.

• Web3, on your terms: Web3 features are entirely optional. Players can play via Steam or Epic Games without touching crypto, or explore user-owned bases and assets via Etherlink on ReaperActual.com. Cosmetic NFTs, tradable weapons, and a fully player-driven economy give Web3-inclined players something real to sink their teeth into.

• Mod support and future-proofing: Players will be able to run their own servers, mod missions, create skins, and even build new gameplay modes over time. The long-term vision is a game that evolves as the community does fueled by creativity, ownership, and agency.

What resonated most during the behind-the-scenes developer AMA wasn’t just the scope of the project, it was the clarity of vision. Smedley’s team isn’t selling a Web3 gimmick; they’re building a game people will want to play, with Web3 features that serve gameplay and player freedom, not the other way around.

And the Tezos connection? Reaper Actual will use Etherlink for tradable in-game items, giving players the option to mint and exchange skins, bases, and more on Tezos without compromising the experience for traditional gamers. This opt-in model represents a thoughtful, grounded approach to Web3 in gaming, something the space desperately needs.

As Smedley put it: “We're in this to build a game that millions of people love and Etherlink gives us the flexibility to do that without sacrificing anything for our players.”

Early access is on the horizon. For now, you can join the Discord and sign up for the foundation release coming soon.

This Week in the Tezos Ecosystem

Next Stop: Seoul

This week, the Tezos core development teams unveiled the 19th protocol proposal: Seoul. If approved, this upgrade would bring sweeping improvements to the network, particularly around staking, multisig usability, and performance at the core level.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what Seoul is all about:

• Native multisig support for tz4 accounts, enabling more secure and collaborative setups—ideal for institutional staking and collective management.

• Aggregated attestations, which could reduce baker storage requirements by more than 60x while laying the groundwork for faster block times and improved Layer 1 efficiency.

• Open unstake finalization, a small but meaningful UX tweak that allows anyone to finalize an unstake operation—unlocking future automation possibilities and streamlining the user experience.

Tezos bakers and stakeholders are encouraged to test Seoul on the upcoming seoulnet testnet and track the proposal as it enters the governance process.

This one’s big, not just because of what it includes, but what it sets the stage for. Seoul pushes Tezos another step closer toward becoming a more performant, user-friendly, and modular Layer 1 for staking and beyond.

Compositions in Code closes with a cosmic finale

The final diptych in the acclaimed Compositions in Code series has now opened at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in New York. Co-presented by MoMI and the Tezos Foundation in association with Processing, this series has explored the rich lineage of generative art through the lens of p5.js, with each diptych pairing artists working at the intersection of code and form.

This final installment features works by flight404 (Robert Hodgin) and Matt Wiederrecht, both of whom bring a sense of celestial scale to their pieces.

• Magnetosphere by flight404 revisits the early experiments that led to the iconic iTunes Visualizer, rendering the chaos and harmony of physics through mesmerizing motion and color.

• Calculated Stars by Matt Wiederrecht draws from Islamic geometric design, tying cosmic structure to spiritual and algorithmic roots in a meditation on pattern and order.

Their fragments are now available to collect, continuing the series’ tradition of offering both a museum experience and a digital collectible trail for Tezos-native art lovers.

The works are on view until August 24 in the museum lobby and online.

Collect the fragments:

• Magnetosphere

• Calculated Stars

Jstz Brings Smart Contracts to JavaScript Devs

In this week’s episode of Tezos X-plained, we dive into Jstz, a tool that lets developers write Tezos smart contracts in JavaScript and TypeScript, without the learning curve.

Jstz is designed to feel like home for web developers:

• Use npm libraries out of the box

• Enjoy just-in-time (JIT) compilation

• Make native HTTP calls from your contracts

• No new syntax to learn

It’s all about writing contracts the way you already write apps.

If you're a JavaScript developer curious about smart contracts, this is one of the most accessible ways to get started on Tezos. You can watch the full episode here, and if you’ve already tried Jstz or are planning to, fill out the dev survey to help shape the next wave of features.

TZ APEX Season 6 Has Landed

TZ APEX is back with Season 6 and this time, it’s blending creativity, exploration, and learning into two packed weeks of quests and competitions.

Running now through July 21, this season invites the Tezos community to:

• Generate AI-powered fantasy landscapes and avatars

• Customize and own a Web3 profile

• Dive into prediction markets and puzzle-solving

• Compete for a share of the $4,000 prize pool

Whether you're here for the memes, the mechanics, or the collectibles, there's something for every kind of explorer. Head over to the TZ APEX questboard and start climbing the leaderboard.

Tezos Summer Events

Tree_Line: Zancan Solo Show at bitforms gallery

June 24 – August 2, 2025 | 131 Allen Street, NYC

Zancan’s first solo exhibition with bitforms gallery is set to open this month, marking the launch of a new annual partnership between the Tezos Foundation and bitforms. Tree_Line brings together a deeply considered body of work that reflects Zancan’s signature blend of generative algorithms and natural forms. Through the tree motif, the show explores structure, system, and the branching paths of creative logic.

bitforms gallery has been a longstanding force in new media art, and this partnership will shine a consistent spotlight on Tezos-based artists throughout the year under the curatorial direction of Steven Sacks.

The opening reception takes place Tuesday, June 24 from 5–9 PM. Expect light drinks, art, and great company.

RSVP: lu.ma/7zk9iwu3

🔴Now Streaming: Minting Memories: How One Dad and His 7-Year-Old Are Building on Tezos

This week on TezTalks Live, Stu from Tezos Commons sits down with Kyle Stasse, also known as HelloCarmello—musician, father, and dedicated member of the Tezos art scene. From minting music to helping his 7-year-old daughter launch projects on Etherlink, Kyle shares what makes Tezos a powerful space for both creativity and community.

Our guest this week is HelloCarmello, where music, memecoins, and parenting meet on Tezos.

🔍 In this episode, we’ll explore:

Kyle’s Blockchain Journey: How a missed webcam moment cost him millions and what brought him back to build on Tezos.

Discovering Tezos: Why the ecosystem's culture and community made it the perfect home for a creative father-daughter duo.

Meet Juniper: At just 7 years old, Kyle’s daughter is already minting art, launching Etherlink projects, and creating her own memecoin.

Art, Family, and Play: How Tezos is creating space for intergenerational creativity and inspiring the next wave of artists.

From Music to Memecoins: Kyle and Juniper are proving that blockchain isn’t just for techies, it’s for anyone with imagination.

Watch the full episode on YouTube.