Feijie Wu
Wei Cai
Skip Abstract Section
Abstract
Applying peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture to online video games has already attracted both academic and industrial interests, since it removes the need for expensive server maintenance. However, there are two major issues preventing the use of a P2P architecture, namely how to provide an effective distributed data storage solution, and how to tackle potential cheating behaviors. Inspired by emerging blockchain techniques, we propose a novel consensus model called Proof-of-Play (PoP) to provide a decentralized data storage system that incorporates an anti-cheating mechanism for P2P games, by rewarding players that interact with the game as intended, along with consideration of security measures to address the Nothing-at-stake Problem and the Long-range Attack. To validate our design, we utilize a game-theory model to show that under certain assumptions, the integrity of the PoP system would not be undermined due to the best interests of any user. Then, as a proof-of-concept, we developed a P2P game (Infinity Battle) to demonstrate how a game can be integrated with PoP in practice. Finally, experiments were conducted to study PoP in comparison with Proof-of-Work (PoW) to show its advantages in various aspects.
- [1] . 2009. Matchmaking for online games and other latency-sensitive P2P systems. In ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, Vol. 39. ACM, 315–326.Google Scholar
- [2] . 2002. Hashcash-a denial of service counter-measure. (2002).Google Scholar
- [3] . 2016. Distributing game instances in a hybrid client-server/P2P system to support MMORPG playability. Multimedia Tools and Applications 75, 4 (2016), 2005–2029.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [4] . 2008. Donnybrook: Enabling large-scale, high-speed, peer-to-peer games. SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev. 38, 4 (
Aug. 2008), 389–400. Google ScholarDigital Library - [5] . 2020. P2P matchmaking solution for online games. Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications 13, 1 (2020), 137–150.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [6] . 2019. Formal barriers to longest-chain proof-of-stake protocols. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Economics and Computation. 459–473.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [7] . 2014. Ethereum White Paper: A Next Generation Smart Contract & Decentralized Application Platform. First version (2014).Google Scholar
- [8] . 2017. Casper the friendly finality gadget. arXiv preprint arXiv:1710.09437 (2017).Google Scholar
- [9] . 2018. Decentralized applications: The blockchain-empowered software system. IEEE Access 6 (2018), 53019–53033.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [10] . 2019. Demo abstract: An interoperable avatar framework across multiple games and blockchains. In IEEE INFOCOM 2019-IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops (INFOCOM WKSHPS). IEEE, 967–968.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [11] . 2011. Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
- [12] . 2019. A survey on long-range attacks for proof of stake protocols. IEEE Access 7 (2019), 28712–28725. Google ScholarCross Ref
- [13] . 1987. Epidemic algorithms for replicated database maintenance. In Proceedings of the Sixth Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing. 1–12.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [14] . 2020. Towards supporting millions of users in modifiable virtual environments by redesigning minecraft-like games as serverless systems. In 12th \(\lbrace\)USENIX\(\rbrace\) Workshop on Hot Topics in Cloud Computing (HotCloud 20).Google Scholar
- [15] . 2019. LSB: A lightweight scalable blockchain for IoT security and anonymity. J. Parallel and Distrib. Comput. 134 (2019), 180–197.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [16] . 2002. The Sybil attack. In Peer-to-Peer Systems, , , and (Eds.). Springer Berlin, Berlin, 251–260.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [17] . 2005. Enabling massively multi-player online gaming applications on a P2P architecture. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation. 7–12.Google Scholar
- [18] . 2021. Metaverse for social good: A university campus prototype. In Proceedings of the 29th ACM International Conference on Multimedia. 153–161.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [19] . 2015. Proofs of space. In Annual Cryptology Conference. Springer, 585–605.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [20] . 2012. Networks, crowds, and markets: Reasoning about a highly connected world. Significance 9 (2012), 43–44.Google Scholar
- [21] . 2007. Mediator: A design framework for P2P MMOGs. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Network and System Support for Games. 43–48.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [22] . 2010. Design issues for peer-to-peer massively multiplayer online games. International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication 4, 2 (2010), 108–125.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [23] . 2001. Peer-to-peer networks. Computing in Science & Engineering 3, 3 (2001), 75–77.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [24] . 2011. A survey of state persistency in peer-to-peer massively multiplayer online games. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems 23, 5 (2011), 818–834.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [25] . 2017. Managing IoT devices using blockchain platform. In 2017 19th International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology (ICACT). IEEE, 464–467.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [26] . 2018. EOS. IO Technical White Paper v2. EOS, Tech. Rep., March (2018).Google Scholar
- [27] . 2007. Design of a cheat-resistant P2P online gaming system. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts. ACM, 113–120.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [28] . 2018. Blockchain-based real-time cheat prevention and robustness for multi-player online games. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Emerging Networking Experiments and Technologies. 178–190.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [29] . 2020. Proof-of-burn. In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security. Springer, 523–540.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [30] . 2012. PPCoin: Peer-to-peer crypto-currency with proof-of-stake. self-published paper, August 19 (2012).Google Scholar
- [31] . 2017. Trustless intermediation in blockchain-based decentralized service marketplaces. In International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing. Springer, 731–739.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [32] . 2004. Peer-to-peer support for massively multiplayer games. In IEEE INFOCOM 2004, Vol. 1. 107. Google ScholarCross Ref
- [33] . 2016. Game channels for trustless off-chain interactions in decentralized virtual worlds. Ledger 1, 0 (2016), 84–98. Google ScholarCross Ref
- [34] . 2005. The Universal Generating Function in Reliability Analysis and Optimization. Vol. 6. Springer.Google Scholar
- [35] . 2020. A survey on the security of blockchain systems. Future Generation Computer Systems 107 (2020), 841–853.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [36] . 2017. A survey of blockchain security issues and challenges. IJ Network Security 19, 5 (2017), 653–659.Google Scholar
- [37] . 2008. DaCAP-a distributed Anti-Cheating peer to peer architecture for massive multiplayer on-line role playing game. In 2008 Eighth IEEE International Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid (CCGRID). IEEE, 584–589.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [38] . 2016. Proof of luck: An efficient blockchain consensus protocol. In Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on System Software for Trusted Execution. 1–6.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [39] . 2019. A security case study for blockchain games. In 2019 IEEE Games, Entertainment, Media Conference (GEM). IEEE, 1–8.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [40] . 2019. Blockchain games: A survey. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.05558 (2019).Google Scholar
- [41] . 2008. Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. (2008).Google Scholar
- [42] . 1950. Equilibrium points in n-person games. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 36, 1 (1950), 48–49.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [43] . 2018. Evolutionary game theory: A renaissance. Games 9, 2 (2018), 31.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [44] . 2018. A survey about consensus algorithms used in blockchain. Journal of Information Processing Systems 14, 1 (2018).Google Scholar
- [45] . 2018. Blockchain meets IoT: An architecture for scalable access management in IoT. IEEE Internet of Things Journal 5, 2 (2018), 1184–1195.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [46] . 2019. Performance analytical comparison of blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platforms. In International Conference for Emerging Technologies in Computing. Springer, 3–18.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [47] . 2004. An Introduction to Game Theory. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press New York.Google Scholar
- [48] . 2016. Integrations portal for a peer-to-peer game platform.
US Patent 9,349,246 .Google Scholar - [49] . 2015. SpaceCoin: A Cryptocurrency Based on Proofs of Space (Vol. 528).
Technical Report . IACR Cryptology ePrint Archive. https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/528.pdf.Google Scholar - [50] . 2018. Exploiting Google’s edge network for massively multiplayer online games. In 2018 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Fog and Edge Computing (ICFEC). IEEE, 1–8.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [51] . 2022. Improved gossip protocol for blockchain applications. Cluster Computing (2022), 1–12.Google Scholar
- [52] . 2016. Blockchain as a service for IoT. In 2016 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData). IEEE, 433–436.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [53] . 2001. A definition of peer-to-peer networking for the classification of peer-to-peer architectures and applications. In Proceedings First International Conference on Peer-to-Peer Computing. 101–102. Google ScholarCross Ref
- [54] . 2006. Low latency video streaming over peer-to-peer networks. In 2006 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo. IEEE, 569–572.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [55] . 2020. BlockIoTIntelligence: A blockchain-enabled intelligent IoT architecture with artificial intelligence. Future Generation Computer Systems 110 (2020), 721–743.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [56] . 1908. The probable error of a mean. Biometrika (1908), 1–25.Google Scholar
- [57] . 2006. Understanding churn in peer-to-peer networks. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCOMM Conference on Internet Measurement. 189–202.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [58] . 2018. BUFF: Game for fun, earn for real. (2018).Google Scholar
- [59] . 2018. Verus Coin. (2018).Google Scholar
- [60] . 2005. Evolutionary game theory and multi-agent reinforcement learning. The Knowledge Engineering Review 20, 1 (2005), 63–90.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [61] . 2019. Rhythm Dungeon: A blockchain-based music roguelike game. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. 1–3.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [62] . 2003. Trust and reputation model in peer-to-peer networks. In Proceedings Third International Conference on Peer-to-Peer Computing (P2P2003). IEEE, 150–157.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [63] . 2009. Secure referee selection for fair and responsive peer-to-peer gaming. Simulation 85, 9 (2009), 608–618.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [64] . 2019. Whitepaper:Nxt — Nxt Wiki,. https://nxtwiki.org/index.php?title=Whitepaper:Nxt&oldid=53653.
[Online; accessed 21-September-2019] .Google Scholar - [65] . 2019. Hierarchical macro strategy model for MOBA game AI. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 33. 1206–1213.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [66] . 2020. Infinity Battle: A glance at how blockchain techniques serve in a serverless gaming system. In Proceedings of the 28th ACM International Conference on Multimedia (Seattle, WA, USA) (
MM’20 ). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 4559–4561. Google ScholarDigital Library - [67] . 2013. Peer-to-peer architectures for massively multiplayer online games: A survey. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 46, 1 (2013), 9.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [68] . 2020. Towards playing full MOBA games with deep reinforcement learning. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 33 (2020), 621–632.Google Scholar
- [69] . 2020. Supervised learning achieves human-level performance in MOBA games: A case study of Honor of Kings. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (2020).Google ScholarCross Ref
- [70] . 2019. Proof-of-play: A novel consensus model for blockchain-based peer-to-peer gaming system. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM International Symposium on Blockchain and Secure Critical Infrastructure. 19–28.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [71] . 2015. GameOn: P2P gaming on public transport. In Proceedings of the 13th Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services. 105–119.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [72] . 2019. On consensus in public blockchains. In Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Blockchain Technology. 1–5.Google ScholarDigital Library
- [73] . 2018. Blockchain challenges and opportunities: A survey. International Journal of Web and Grid Services 14, 4 (2018), 352–375.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Facilitating Serverless Match-based Online Games with Novel Blockchain Technologies
Recommendations
Blockchain Technologies and Games: A Proper Match?
FDG '20: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital GamesNot only have virtual currencies in digital games from the pre-Blockchain era helped to understand digital currency systems, but the idea that digital objects can have monetary value is a question of faith that has been expressed primarily through the ...
Blockchain-based real-time cheat prevention and robustness for multi-player online games
CoNEXT '18: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and TechnologiesThe gaming industry is affected by two key issues---cheating and DDoS attacks against game servers. In this paper, we aim to present a novel yet concrete application of the blockchain technology to address the seemingly disparate problems. Our approach ...
Proof-of-Play: A Novel Consensus Model for Blockchain-based Peer-to-Peer Gaming System
BSCI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM International Symposium on Blockchain and Secure Critical InfrastructureData storage in peer-to-peer (P2P) games in a perfect applications scenario for blockchain. However, suffering from high transaction cost and latency, proof-of-work (PoW) becomes the bottleneck of blockchain games. Many attempts have been made to ...
Comments