From Solana to TikTok: Chris Zhu On Sonic SVM's Expansion in Web3 Gaming

Chris Zhu, the co-founder and CEO of Sonic SVM, is on a quest to change the face of blockchain gaming with Sonic SVM, a layer-2 network built on Solana. By using the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), Sonic SVM provides scalable and customizable infrastructure for game developers.

In our interview, Chris Zhu reveals what makes Sonic unique – from its game-focused design to its massive growth on TikTok. Zhu also covers Sonic’s technical milestones, grant programs for top Web3 games and how Sonic plans to bring blockchain gaming to the masses.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about Sonic SVM? How is it helping make Web3 gaming more approachable for people new to blockchain?

Chris Zhu: Sonic SVM is the first gaming SVM to launch using HyperGrid Stack, taking place as the gaming hub on Solana. Sonic is focused on providing customizability, scalability, and various support to game developers, such as distribution through TikTok, RUSH ECS framework, and scalability through SVM computation environments.

HyperGrid is a horizontally scalable network of interoperable “grids”(SVM chains) that finalize on Solana. HyperGrid’s vision is a multi-SVM future, with a shared communication layer and an open-source development stack.

Chris Zhu (on the right) speaking at the Solana Hacker House in Hong Kong

Q: At the recent Solana Hacker House event, you spoke about the potential for the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) to drive mass adoption. What was the main takeaway you wanted to share?

Chris Zhu: SVMs as network extensions don't just focus on scalability but configurability for specific use cases, i.e. gaming - lower rent cost, more banking threads, enshrined primitives. We will see a proliferation of SVMs because they extend Solana to acquire a new pool of users; imagine Ronin / ImmutableX on Solana for gaming. SVMs are ecosystems that have matching liquidity, tooling, and communities but settle on Solana through verification of state changes.

Q: For those who haven't tried it yet, what is the SonicX game on TikTok all about?

Chris Zhu: SonicX is Sonic SVM's app layer. The Applayer ecosystem comprises Sonic SVM for technical infrastructure and Sonic X for game distribution, providing an innovative platform for launching blockchain-based games and engaging users directly on TikTok.

Q: Since launching last month, SonicX has already brought nearly 1 million TikTok users into Web3! What has driven this huge growth, and what does it mean for Web3 gaming on TikTok?

Chris Zhu: This is the beginning of a new user funnel for Web3 games; historically, games have not been able to effectively utilize channels outside of wallets and telegram. Now, we are seeing many attempts by great teams to attract the younger generation of TikTok users through content, ads, and tap-to-earn games.

Q: Were there any specific successes or challenges with similar 'tap-to-earn' Telegram games like 'Notcoin' that guided your approach to SonicX?

Chris Zhu: We've realized that the demographics on TikTok are much younger and more memetic. Actually, many memecoins from this cycle originated from TikTok. However, their attention span is also short, which is why retaining them requires our effort.

Q: Sonic's Testnet Odyssey reached 100K wallets and logged 17 million transactions in its launch week—what helped make this happen, and how does this reflect on Solana gaming as a whole?

Chris Zhu: We've now crossed 2.5 million wallets and 3 billion transactions on testnet; there was a definite need for a gaming ecosystem on Solana, as most Solana participants have seen the launches of Star Atlas and DeFi Land in the early days. Sonic SVM is here to support games so the highest quality games can be discovered by retailers, gamers, and exchanges alike.

Q: Can you share more about Sonic's grants and accelerator programs—what types of projects are you looking to support?

Chris Zhu: Sonic currently has grant + growth programs for high-quality games of all types. We are here to publish the highest quality of games; we look at games that have a good sense of asset launch mechanisms or DeFi strategy combined with cool and simple visuals. Fidelity is not the key to our selection, but we enjoy quality over quantity.

Q: Can you share anything about new features or updates we can anticipate from Sonic that will take Web3 gaming on Solana to the next level?

Chris Zhu: Rush is a declarative and rapid Entity-Component-System (ECS) framework completely built with Rust that obsessively pursues a single goal: use already-proven techniques of developer experience abstractions to reduce the complexity of integrating with blockchain technology into already-known developer tooling: Game Engine SDKs and APIs.

Sonic X is set to cross 1 million total users by next week. We will also be onboarding more games through Sonic X in the following weeks, with a huge improvement to Sonic X's user experience.

The Future of Web3 Gaming

Chris Zhu thinks Web3 gaming will change a lot in the next few years with lower barriers to asset issuance and gameplay through embedded wallets and better infrastructure. Zhu sees a combination of “open economy with easy mechanisms, enhancing social stickiness outside of the game itself”.

Also, as TikTok grows as a distribution channel for all Web3 games, Zhu thinks it will be easier to bring Web3 games to a wider audience through mini-apps and mobile games. Finally, Zhu sees more Tier 1 games like Off The Grid launching successfully.

Overall, Chris Zhu’s vision is clear: with Sonic SVM’s focus on scalable technology and accessibility—and its success in bringing 1 million new users to Web3 gaming on TikTok—Zhu and his team are paving the way for blockchain gaming to reach new heights.