Metaplex Expands Its NFT Protocol and Core Products to Sonic SVM, the Gaming-Focused Layer-2 Infrastructure Network

It's the first time Metaplex has made its NFT standard available outside of the Solana mainnet, and, in doing this, it will enable game developers using Sonic to pioneer new use cases involving Metaplex NFTs.

The Metaplex Foundation, the governing body of the most popular non-fungible token standard on Solana, has announced that it is expanding its Metaplex token protocol and core products to Sonic SVM, the gaming-focused Layer-2 infrastructure network.

This marks the first time that Metaplex has made its NFT standard available outside of the Solana mainnet. By doing this, it will enable game developers using Sonic to pioneer new use cases involving Metaplex NFTs.

Sonic said it will collaborate with the Metaplex Foundation on the development and deployment of various developer tools and on-chain programs. This will enable developers to create more compelling game experiences on its Solana Virtual Machine (SVM)-based network.

Sonic, which was developed by Mirror World Labs, is the creator of a modular Layer-2 network that leverages the SVM to support autonomous and self-governing tokenomics within Solana’s ecosystem. Its infrastructure notably supports “game-specific rollups” to ensure that transactions within games are processed in real-time.

Meanwhile, Metaplex has emerged as the most popular NFT protocol on Solana, providing tools for developers to create and mint NFT collections. Its ecosystem includes various smart contracts and tools for designing NFTs and deploying them on-chain. Its standardized NFT format works across all Solana wallets and dApps.

We're thrilled to announce that @metaplex is deploying its core MPL product on Sonic! ??This collaboration will deploy onchain programs and developer tools to build great gaming experiences on the #SVM chain.The joint initiative marks the first time the Metaplex protocol’s… pic.twitter.com/zXMyQ6YoPs

Metaplex has helped to mint more than 512 million NFTs across 257,800 individual collections, generating more than $1.2 billion in creator value.

That explains why Metaplex’s deployment on Sonic SVM is such a significant development, as it will pave the way for game developers to integrate the most trusted and compatible NFT standard in their blockchain-based games. NFTs are vital ingredients of blockchain games, representing characters and in-game items such as weapons and skins.

Metaplex said it’s making its entire product suite, including its Token Metadata, Core, and Candy Machine v3 offerings, available on the Sonic SVM devnet, testnet, and mainnet. In addition, it’s planning to launch new Metaplex programs such as MPL 404 and Bubblegum in the future.

Stephen Hess, director of the Metaplex Foundation, said there is an obvious market need for NFT standardization across the growing ecosystem of SVM chains. “With this collaboration, the Metaplex protocol will be adopted for the first time by a pioneering team in the gaming industry, representing a new use case in this vertical and another step into the SVM L2 ecosystem,” he promised.

Sonic SVM’s chief executive, Chris Zhu, shared his enthusiasm, saying he believes Metaplex is set to become a standard that will eventually be used across every SVM chain. “The Metaplex ecosystem of developers has proven its capability by developing the most widely used NFT standard in Solana and we are looking forward to developing and implementing this standard together, starting with Sonic,” he said.