Why does Solana, with its excellent performance, still need Layer 2 scaling? An interview with Sonic co-founder Chris

Chris, an important driver of the Web3 gaming ecosystem, recently gave an interview where he shared his career transition from traditional internet to the Web3 space, as well as his journey in founding Sonic and his outlook on the future of Web3 gaming.

Chris's career began at ByteDance, where he accumulated rich experience in market research for consumer entertainment and SaaS. He then joined a team focused on the intersection of AI and Web3, delving into the integration of AI with NFTs and cryptocurrencies. These emerging business models sparked his strong interest in Web3.

After founding Mirror World and focusing on game asset issuance, Chris realized the volatility of market demand. He collaborated with the Solana Foundation to develop Sonic, a proprietary chain specifically designed for gaming services, aimed at addressing scalability issues within the Solana ecosystem. Chris stated that during the creation of Sonic, they identified three core issues:

1. Diversity of game assets and user diversity: The demand for game asset issuance fluctuates greatly in bull and bear markets, while the number of assets in consumption applications, games, and social applications on the Solana chain is relatively small.

2. Computing resources and congestion issues on the Solana blockchain: A single project occupying a large amount of computing resources leads to congestion on the mainnet, which requires offloading computing resources through sidechains or dedicated chains.

3. Insufficient game publishing capability: Solana itself lacks the ability to publish games and requires support from professional publishing organizations for content development and distribution.

Based on these issues, the Chris team proposed a plan to develop a game-specific chain called Sonic based on Solana.

Chris emphasized that the scalability of Solana is different from that of Ethereum. Ethereum's scalability mainly addresses issues of mainnet speed and cost, while Solana already has high TPS and low transaction costs. Its scalability is more aimed at meeting specific needs in different fields. Solana's scalability solution, Hypergrid, aims to provide proprietary chains for different fields, not only offloading the mainnet but also offering more specialized and efficient services for each field.

In terms of Layer 2 scaling, Solana faces multiple challenges. First, it is necessary to assess which areas truly require independent SVM scaling chains. Secondly, the continuous splitting and maintenance of the Solana codebase also presents technical challenges. Finally, the rapidly evolving ecosystem requires constant resolution of new issues, and the team must remain flexible to respond to changes.

Chris is confident about the future of Web3 games. He believes that the quality of current game content and the toolkit for payment points have significantly improved compared to the last cycle. In the future, game design will place more logic on the chain, and fully on-chain games may become a reality. Chris believes that with technological advancements and market maturity, Web3 games will achieve breakthroughs in gameplay and asset innovation, and we might even see the first blockbuster fully on-chain game.