Sony and Line jointly build the Soneium blockchain, ushering in the entertainment revolution of the Web3 era!

Author: Lawrence, Mars Financial

Introduction: From consumer electronics giant to Web3 infrastructure revolutionary

In the wave of the traditional Internet transitioning to the value Internet, Sony, a global giant spanning gaming, music, film, and finance, is using its blockchain platform Soneium as a fulcrum to start a paradigm revolution of "Web3 + entertainment".

Today, Soneium announced a partnership with the Japanese social media giant LINE, planning to integrate four LINE mini-games into Sony's Soneium blockchain network, including Sleepagotchi, Farm Frens, Puffy Match, and Pocket Mob. This cooperation will support in-game rewards and payment functions.

As a player with the most ambitious industry integration in the Ethereum Layer2 track, Soneium not only carries the ambition of Sony Group's 'decentralized digital entertainment empire', but also demonstrates a strategic vision of seamlessly integrating Web3 technology into the lives of the public.

Soneium's technical architecture: OP Stack + integration innovation of enterprise-level ecosystem

As an Ethereum-based Layer2 network, Soneium's technical design fully embodies Sony's ultimate pursuit of 'large-scale commercial use':

Scalability of OP Stack

Using the OP Stack framework developed by the Optimism Foundation, Soneium has increased transaction speed to over 2000 transactions per second while reducing gas fees to 1/50 of the Ethereum mainnet. This technological choice ensures the continuity of the developer ecosystem and meets the needs of high-concurrency scenarios such as games and NFTs.

Enterprise-level service modular design

Sony is transforming traditional business strengths into blockchain functional components:

SNFT Inc. provides NFT issuance, fan data analysis, and secondary trading management tools to solve the pain points of IP-side chain marketing;

S.BLOX connects the exchange channel between fiat currency and cryptocurrency, supporting direct purchase of assets such as USDC with VISA/Mastercard.

Building a creator economy closed-loop on the Fan Marketing Platform, realizing the on-chain transformation of scenarios such as fan rewards and content subscriptions.

Cross-chain interoperability breakthrough

Through deep integration with Chainlink CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol), Soneium has achieved secure cross-chain assets with Ethereum mainnet, Astar zkEVM, and other networks, and provides multi-chain NFT interaction capabilities for the upcoming LINE mini-apps.

Ecological Layout: From Sony's resources to cross-border alliances

Internal Business Integration: The Chain Upgrade of Entertainment Empire

Sony is advancing its ecosystem construction with a "three-step" strategy:

​Phase 1 (2025): Attract Web3 native developers, the test network has incubated 1700+ projects, covering DeFi, games, music, and other fields;

Phase 2 (2026): Integrate core businesses such as Sony Music, PlayStation, Sony Pictures, etc., explore scenarios such as NFT of game props, and music copyright sharing.

Phase 3 (2027): Open enterprise-level APIs, access third-party dApps, and build cross-industry ecosystems.

Strategic Partner Matrix: Building Web3 Infrastructure Alliance**

Payment layer: Introducing Circle's Bridged USDC Standard protocol as the primary payment token within the ecosystem, with potential support for cryptocurrency payments on the PS5 store in the future;

​Data Layer: Chainlink Data Feeds provide real-time price oracles for on-chain games, while Data Streams support high-frequency trading dApps;

Development Layer: Collaborating with Alchemy to launch a developer kit, integrating The Graph's on-chain data indexing service to lower the barrier for dApp development.

Milestone in Breaking the Circle: Cooperating with LINE to Open the Mini-App Era

The partnership with LINE in March 2025 marks a turning point for Soneium from technical infrastructure to mass application:

The strategic significance of four chain modification games

The first batch of Sleepagotchi LITE (sleep incentive game), Farm Frens (social farm), Moonveil: Puffy Match (match-three game), Pocket Mob (pet raising) all have the characteristics of "lightweight + social fission". For example:

Sleepagotchi LITE collects sleep data through wearable devices. Users can mint 'health NFT' after reaching the standard and redeem Sony audio and video membership benefits;

​Pocket Mob introduces exclusive Soneium IP characters, and pet evolution items can be traded on the chain-based market.

Synergistic effect of traffic x technology

LINE has 190 million monthly active users in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. Its Mini-App platform can directly call the Soneium wallet SDK to achieve a closed loop of 'social fission-chain asset precipitation-Sony ecosystem exchange'. For example, when players share game achievements in LINE groups, they can include airdrop links for NFT medals.

Web2.5 transition solution

For non-crypto users, Sony has launched the "custodial wallet" option: users can experience on-chain functions without managing private keys, and the income is displayed in fiat currency, while the underlying settlement is still carried out through S.BLOX. This design significantly reduces the usage threshold.

Industry Impact: Establisher of Web3 entertainment standards

Reconstructing the relationship between digital content production

Soneium's 'Creator Revenue Sharing Agreement' allows musicians and game developers to set copyright revenue sharing ratios through smart contracts. When content is distributed on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, etc., royalties can be automatically allocated according to on-chain rules.

Challenge the traditional platform hegemony

Compared to the 30% commission rate of Web2 platforms such as Steam and Netflix, Soneium ecosystem dApps only charge a 5% on-chain service fee, and support developers to customize the economic model. This cost advantage has attracted discussions with Japanese companies such as Capcom and Bandai Namco.

Activate dormant IP assets

Sony plans to tokenize the derivative rights of top IPs such as Spider-Man and Demon Slayer, allowing fans to crowdfund movie sequels through NFT fragments, or participate in box office revenue sharing with game skin NFTs.

Controversy and Challenges

Despite the bright prospects, Soneium still needs to face three major tests:

Regulatory Compliance: The Japanese Financial Services Agency has initiated a survey on whether 'in-game tokens' should be classified as securities, which may affect the PlayStation payment system renovation plan;

Ecological Game: Astar Network, as a partner, holds a privileged position of ASTR tokens in the ecosystem, which may lead to community governance conflicts;

User experience bottleneck: The current custodial wallet does not yet support cross-dApp asset interoperability, and complex functions still require jumping to independent applications.

Future Outlook: Web3's 'Sony Universe'

By 2026, Soneium's roadmap is clearly visible:

Hardware integration: PS6 may incorporate Soneium wallet chip, enabling "game launch is wallet login";

Spatial computing: combining Sony's XR head display technology to develop a mixed reality social platform that supports NFT exhibitions;

Financial innovation: Sony Bank plans to issue SONYJPY, a compliant stablecoin anchored to the Japanese Yen, bridging the gap between gaming consumption and physical financial services.

As Sony Blockchain Solutions Laboratory CEO Watanabe Jun said: "We want to make blockchain as ubiquitous as Wi-Fi, invisible but everywhere." In this competition for Web3 infrastructure, Soneium is using the dual advantages of "industry resources + user experience" to write a new paradigm for the transformation of traditional giants.