Shaga

Shaga is a DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) cloud gaming network built on Solana that mobilizes the world's idle gaming PC capacity to stream AAA titles to any device at ultra-low latency — no expensive hardware required on the player's end.

The Problem Shaga Solves

High-spec gaming PCs sit idle for roughly 80% of the day, representing billions of wasted GPU-hours daily. At the same time, centralized cloud gaming providers struggle with latency and limited geographic reach. Shaga addresses both gaps by reframing gaming PCs not as personal devices but as public compute nodes in a peer-to-peer streaming network — turning consumer hardware into a distributed cloud gaming layer.

How It Works

Shaga's two-sided marketplace connects Hosts and Gamers:

Hosts run the Shaga Node App on Windows gaming PCs and activate Arcade Mode, listing sessions on the network. When a Gamer connects, the host streams the game directly to that player's device using a peer-to-peer architecture that routes traffic through nearby nodes. Proximity is the platform's core latency strategy: fewer network hops between host and gamer means lower latency. Shaga targets sub-100ms connections, the threshold research identifies as the upper limit for acceptable online gameplay.

Gamers download the Shaga client on iOS or Android and browse available lobbies via a dashboard called the Glob. No local GPU is required. The platform supports over 100,000 PC games from Steam and Epic Games. Gaming sessions are free to access; costs are covered through on-chain reward mechanics rather than upfront subscription fees.

Key Features

Control Rotation, developed in partnership with Overwolf, turns passive viewers into active participants. Streamers hosting lobbies can offer controller access to their audience, who can request to take over gameplay or challenge the host directly. This blurs the line between spectating and playing in a way traditional streaming platforms cannot replicate.

Glob is Shaga's community rewards layer. Users earn Glob points by playing verified sessions and completing quests. The system incorporates VPN detection and IP validation to filter synthetic activity. As of the platform's published metrics, 988,803 community members have collectively earned over 22.9 billion Glob points. Glob points are designed to translate into airdrop eligibility for the upcoming SHAG token.

Odyssey is Shaga's forthcoming hardware product: an adaptive gaming controller built with Web3 integration, allowing users to interact directly with on-chain wallets and digital assets from within gameplay sessions.

SHAG Token and Tokenomics

Shaga's planned native token, SHAG, had not launched as of November 2025 — a planned August 2025 TGE was postponed after inbound interest from exchange partners. The team published a whitepaper in June 2025 describing a Physics-Based Tokenomics model that ties token emissions directly to verifiable real-world work. The emission formula anchors token creation in measurable electricity consumption rather than arbitrary schedules, positioning it closer to proof-of-work economics than typical DePIN point systems.

The SHAG token is designed to align incentives across three stakeholder groups: gamers paying for sessions, node operators (hosts) earning for compute contributed, and participants in Shaga's broader data network.

Gamenet Testnet

Gamenet went live in November 2025 as the pre-TGE network validation phase. Hosts can earn up to 20,000 SHAG per verified gameplay hour during testnet, with earnings scaling with player demand. Gamer rewards accumulate as Glob points that convert to SHAG after TGE. Anti-gaming controls — VPN detection, IP validation, and fair-use caps — are active throughout testnet to ensure reward distributions reflect genuine compute contributions.

Team and Funding

Shaga's leadership includes CEO Guido, COO Daeshawn Ballard, and CRO Aaron, backed by a team with backgrounds in blockchain, gaming, distributed systems, and networking. The company has raised approximately five million dollars across multiple rounds:

• December 2023: An 800,000-dollar seed round from Arca
• June 2024: A one-million-dollar angel round
• February 2025: A four-million-dollar seed round led by IOSG Ventures, with participation from Amber Group, Arca, HashCIB, Memetic Digital, Everyrealm, Syndika, MH Ventures, 3rd Street Capital, and ATOM Accelerator

Notable individual backers include Anatoly Yakovenko and Stephen Akridge, co-founders of Solana, and Amir Haleem, founder of Helium — strong DePIN pedigree in the cap table. Shaga won Solana's Hyperdrive Hackathon and joined the Helius Startup Launchpad and Metaplex Startup Program as an inaugural cohort member in each program.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

Solana's high transaction throughput and low fees make it an appropriate settlement layer for a network that coordinates thousands of short-duration compute sessions in real time. Shaga's Web3 game partnerships reinforce its Solana positioning: integrated titles include Star Atlas, Wanderers, Aurory, TRIB3, and Lowlife Forms — all Solana-native or Solana-adjacent projects. A partnership with Solana Mobile extends Shaga's reach to the Saga device ecosystem.

Traction

Shaga launched invite-only in March 2025, preceded by a waitlist of over 962,000 users. As of platform-published metrics: 302,909 total streaming hours logged, 5,464 active gamers, and a community of 988,803 Glob participants across more than 170 countries. Streamer adoption grew at 300% month-over-month at peak. By August 2025, daily streaming hours averaged 728 and daily gaming sessions averaged 136, representing a 33.4% month-over-month increase — early evidence that the peer-powered edge gaming model is gaining real traction on Solana.