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No. You can expect a different answer to come from a blockchain video game developer, but that's the truth. The game does not need a blockchain.
In fact, there are a lot of great features that games do not need. The games were fine before the online multiplayer was available, or before the quicksave option became popular – do the games need those things to succeed? Not necessarily. Different functions adapt to different games and the industry is constantly evolving to create the best, most innovative and most immersive gaming experience possible.
There is no doubt, blockchain technology has been fitted into projects where it is not really necessary. People have tried to decentralize forests and put them on the blockchain to load tree-generated air passers, and companies have seen their stock rise to 500% simply by adding the word "blockchain" to their name.
As a year of oversized blockchain projects and suspicious use cases approaching the end, many people are still not clear on what blockchain can actually do for games.
Blockchain in play
Two things on which blockchain is really good – create unique digital resources that can not be duplicated and create decentralized ecosystems where nobody is really able to manage and everyone can tell the truth.
These two aspects of the blockchain can effectively take over and interrupt a number of game mechanics.
- Game currency
- Aim for real money
- Real possession of digital resources
Game currency
Wait, the games already have an in-game currency, right? Why bother to update it to the cryptocurrency?
Well, the currency of the game is completely controlled by the video game company. It could, in theory, be canceled at will. The value could suddenly be completely changed by altering the offer.
Cryptocurrency can be used as a game currency that is really in the hands of the players. Important games like EVE Online and World of Warcraft have had a lot of controversy over developers who have eliminated entire gaming currencies or presumably generating inflation by mismanaging the supply, with hacking even for some MMOs.
When players rely on the game developer's confidence to control the economy responsibly, it does not always work well – blockchain, for the first time, will allow real-world real money to be handled exclusively by players without authority they control everything from behind the scenes. This is a big problem and leads to my next point.
High Stakes: win real money in games
The Esports sector is now worth around $ 900 million. The competitive game is extremely popular and the concept of decentralized gaming economies using real money is even more exciting due to the fact that users can bet on cryptocurrency on a game and win money depending on the outcome.
Different games can exploit cryptocurrency in different ways to allow bets, trading, transaction credits, insurance for items or items and many other complex economic solutions that were not as sophisticated in the past or even possible.
Real possession of digital resources
The third function enabled by blockchain in the game is the creation of digital resources. Yes, this can mean cryptocurrency, but it can also mean physical objects like weapons or clothes and even real estate. Just like Bitcoin, these resources can not be duplicated or deleted, which means that blockchain allows players to own unique items with real value that can be purchased, sold or traded.
The first experiment with digital resources in a blockchain video game was probably CryptoKitties, which ended with a digital resource sold for $ 170,000, something that would never have happened with an in-game object that could simply be erased or altered by the gaming company. Since the buyer was the true owner of the digital heritage, not of the company, a real market could be created for the activities.
A World Asset eXchange study shows that "62% of players believe they have the flexibility to transfer virtual items from one game to another, they'd better spend money on these items", and this is a & # 39; another feature enabled by the adoption of blockchain in games.
Blockchain Revolution
For many, I am reminded of the old adage "if it is not broken, do not fix it". Blockchain is a new and complex technology and the promises to revolutionize every sector, from games to shipping and trade, may seem a drastic change.
Here's the thing: by implementing blockchain in games, we're not really trying to "fix" everything. Currencies and game items are not necessarily broken, but they would be improved if they were decentralized, secure and managed by the community.
Do the games need blockchain?
No, I'm sure the industry would have survived without it.
However, blockchain gives us the opportunity to tackle areas of play that can be improved to create fun, creative, monetizable and innovative features that no one has been able to create before – and that's something to be very excited about.
About the author: Scot Kinney is the CEO of AlterVerse, a blockchain-based game and gaming platform with Enjin. AlterVerse is releasing its first game, Disruption, on Steam in the first quarter of 2019 with many others to follow. The games will form an interconnected multiverse in which players can purchase real estate blockchains as armor and charge registration fees for other players, managing their VR activity on the blockchain. AlterVerse is currently looking for seed funding.
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