Today’s video game uses complex physical and technological techniques to create a wide range of digital worlds.
They use game mechanics, visual aesthetics, and narrative experiences to immerse players in meta worlds.
We all agree that developing a character, levelling up, and spending countless hours collecting stuff offer people a sense of self-worth and ensure their success is sincere. However, one thing is certain.
Games are run by centralised organisations
In games with twisted stories where players build up and personalise characters by trading and buying goods that can be bought with real-world money or acquired as the player progresses in the game in order to level up and fulfil missions, effort, precision, and preparation are generally awarded.
- The developers and the business that owns these games have complete control over the economy that exists within them.
- It is obvious that the psychology of games has evolved over time.
- Players desire larger parts. They desire to purchase and get the items they have spent countless hours acquiring through gaming. They want the freedom to influence how gaming will develop in the future, as well as unique experiences.
- Games must become more impartial for players who work hard or spend money to obtain assets because they seek fairness and transparency in transactions and asset ownership.
- However, because these resources are virtual (in a metaverse), game producers can simply manufacture an infinite number of them or manipulate the market by giving them to specific players, which goes against the idea of the games, which is to be fair.
- But every problem has a fix, right? In order to provide built-in ownership of in-game currency and items made possible by cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, a new generation of video games is utilising new technologies like blockchain and new methods like play-to-earn.
- These tokens have a direct connection to a larger, interconnected digital economy with real-world value.
What do “play-to-earn” (P2E)” games entail?
- The goal of play-to-earn games is to offer incentives with practical value.
- While “gold farming” and illegal markets for in-game goods have been used for many years to make money from playing video games, the advent of blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has quite literally changed the rules of the game in the last year or so.
- NFTs, or non-falsifiable tokens, are cryptographically unique tokens that can be used to demonstrate ownership of content like music or photographs.
- Blockchain games allow players to claim ownership of in-game objects like weapons, costumes, props, vehicles, lands, aircraft, characters, and more.
- NFTs allow players to truly own the assets they bought or earned, in contrast to normal games where in-game objects are controlled by the companies that made the game.
- Additionally, unlike Web 2.0 games, once you possess an NFT you are allowed to sell it outside of the site where it was generated.
- You pay for the game, and unless you’re a professional player or a streamer with significant influence, you will never be able to earn money from your gaming time.
- Contrarily, blockchain gaming (also known as Web3) gaming gives users the chance to make actual money.
Types of Web3 game monetization:
The practice of paying players to play online video games is not new, but NFT games have expanded the possibilities for gaming revenue with novel forms of player ownership.
In the past, committed gamers made money by establishing an online following or by selling high-level gaming accounts. Web3 Game Development is all about having more than simply the game itself.
Now, blockchain technology offers a lot more advantages. Here are a few different ways to monetize games:
- Gamers can vote and make decisions to improve the gaming experience.
- Gamers can even own a part of the game by investing in its development.
- Gamers can sell their in-game assets (weapons, gold bars, avatars, outfits, land, etc.) to make real-world money.
The increase in blockchain and play-to-earn games
Several new blockchain-based games use NFTs and game tokens to provide players digital ownership of in-game items.
Through permissionless, player-owned economies, these games are able to provide players with a fair, impartial, and tangibly advantageous gaming experience.
Games can become play-to-earn with blockchain technology, with player-driven value accurately enabling the emergence of strong and distinctive economies.
While some aspects of game development may still be centralising, both in-game NFTs and player marketplaces may be permissionless.
No organisation can revoke a player’s right to trade items or take their in-game possessions from them in these open platforms.
Blockchains and NFTs establish player-owned games or convert existing games to more transparent platforms.
- Within the blockchain ecosystem, the mindset is already shifting toward “play to earn.” A growing trend of play-to-earn games has gained popularity over the past year.
- Simply put, games like Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, My DeFi Pet, and others have introduced P2E gaming to the world.
- Play-to-earn games become decentralised by staking game tokens, which is true to blockchain technology’s objectives.
- Verified ownership of digital goods is only half of the problem, since many games include open markets and monetary prices for in-game things.
- The play-to-earn concept has been adapting by a number of blockchain applications.
- Trading card games let players win digital cards randomly by playing, avoiding the need for fungible tokens.
- Then, players can profit from their time and labour by selling these priceless NFT cards on the open market.
- Because of this, the terms “blockchain gaming” and “P2E” are sometimes using interchangeably.
- Almost all blockchain-based games are play-to-earn because they enable verifiable ownership of in-game items and currencies with real-world value.
- This framework can be applying to games of any genre.
- It’s crucial to keep in mind that decentralised governance isn’t a given.
- Some games have open markets and grant in-game objects money, thus confirmed digital goods ownership is only part of the issue.
- Blockchains offer player-owned economics and communal governance, which support fully player-owned games from a gameplay and utility viewpoint.
Future of Blockchain-Based Gaming
As with any discovery in transformational technology, there is a large chance of failure in addition to a tremendous opportunity for success. In a word, the current business environment is uncannily similar to the late 1970s video game industry. Blockchain and NFTs have a significant revenue potential for game developers, but only if players can participate in interest-based gaming in the real world.
One differentiation that blockchain presents is the concept of ownership. If a video game publisher decides to modify the rules or goes out of business, any in-game objects that players acquire in free-to-play games simply disappear. In a P2E game made possible by blockchain, these assets are genuinely owned by the player, which raises their value and transferability. In reality, players have the option of exchanging these items for cash. Blockchain Consulting Firms must educate themselves on this cutting-edge technology if they want to be more approachable and future-proof. Blockchain beginners should start here.
The gaming industry is ultimately moving into a new Wild West. Game development businesses still need to provide gamers with a compelling environment if they want to succeed in this new market. Better eras than this one would have been the late 2000s or perhaps the 1970s.
If your company has a great idea for a game that makes use of NFTs but lacks the technical know-how, get in touch with the Gigster team. We take great pride in our time-tested game development procedures and cutting-edge technical know-how. Work with us to make sure your game idea reaches the broadest audience and has the greatest possible influence on the industry.
Conclusion
The metaverse could serve as a potent stimulant for the play-to-earn ecosystem thanks to its promise of an interoperable environment, blockchain’s decentralisation, and NFTs’ ability to enable in-game item ownership.
The game beyond the game is another option.
As the Web3 market grows, more gaming communities are adopting cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Many play-to-earn blockchain games aren’t currently available, but there’s a market for them.
Given the success of existing play-to-earn games, it will be interesting to see how quickly they develop.
