Immutable Chain, the network games run on, is changing how it works under the hood. Immutable plans to rebuild the chain on OP Stack and turn it into an Ethereum rollup. Block time drops from 2 seconds to 1 second, and bridging will work through proofs checked on Ethereum. The company is targeting the middle of 2027 for the switch.
The announcement is signed by Alex Connolly, CTO, and Ermyas Abebe, Head of Blockchain.
What changes for players
Blocks arrive twice as often, so on-chain actions should confirm faster. Immutable also says transactions will cost slightly more after the move, though it describes gas on Immutable Chain as extremely cheap today.
Withdrawing assets through the native bridge will take longer. Native withdrawals will need around 7 days. Immutable expects faster liquidity bridges to keep handling most bridging volume.
- Block time: 2s to 1s
- Transaction costs: slightly higher
- Native withdrawals: around 7 days
- Target date: middle of 2027
The migration needs a brief stop in block production lasting several hours. Immutable says it will give substantial advance notice once the date is confirmed.
How the bridge is changing
Immutable Chain’s native bridge currently runs on Axelar, an external cross-chain messaging network. After the migration, withdrawals will be verified directly against state commitments posted to Ethereum, and the chain’s data availability will also sit on Ethereum.
Immutable will start with permissioned fault proofs and introduce zk-validity proofs later. The company says building on OP Stack will also let it adopt protocol upgrades, EVM upgrades and security patches more quickly.
Apps and infrastructure providers will need to check Immutable’s documentation for the exact modifications and any changes they have to make. Immutable says account managers will support teams during the process.
Testnet closing for games
Immutable will deprecate its current testnet for game usage by the end of 2026. The company says cheap gas and a lack of third-party integrations made the public testnet a poor place to test complex game flows. Most games test on their own local chains or directly on the production chain.
Immutable says the testnet’s main job was letting it test upcoming chain releases. It will now get that from the OP ecosystem.
