Beyond CryptoKitties: 10 trends that have defined the year of the Crypto game

Brian Flynn is a designer and writer of products, which publishes NIFTY News, a collectible crypto newsletter.

The following is an exclusive contribution for the 2018 year of CoinDesk under consideration.

While the digital asset market was volatile this year, a new set of digital assets emerged: non-fungible tokens.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital audio assets that are unique and programmable by nature. Here is a list of the main titles and stories concerning non-fungible tokens this year, followed by a list of forecasts for 2019.

1. New standards – Non-fungible tokens came with an entire package of ways to build game resources. The standards must be applied and adopted to ensure that tokens can talk to each other. Non-fungible tokens on Ethereum were born with the ERC-721 standard, but have evolved rapidly in the last year. Standards such as Enjin ERC-1155 and ERC-998 have allowed tokens to own other tokens and save on gas costs.
2. Tokens non-fungible markets – New non-fungible tokens started to appear after the launch of CryptoKitties. OpenSea and RareBits entered the scene in the first quarter of the year allowing users to sell their gaming assets directly outside the game environment. New tools have started to be born as a FanBit so that users can create their own unique digital assets. These user-generated platforms failed to attract buyers due to the uncertainty of value, similar to many ICOs.
3. Digital art market – The user-generated market was more popular among artist platforms. New platforms have emerged such as Rare Art Labs, SuperRare and dada.NYC which have attributed real digital deficiency and authenticity to the art market. With programmable contracts, artists can earn commissions on secondary market sales and even divide it into several parts, unlike traditional physical art.
4. Record sales – Despite the volatile market volatility, some NFTs were sold at extraordinarily high prices. This includes the Gods Unchained card that sold for $ 60,000, the CryptoKitty sold for $ 170,000 and the virtual properties in Decentraland that sell up to $ 200,000.
5. Second level experiences – One of the biggest selling points of NFT is the programmability component without authorization; be able to build on the platforms of others. CryptoKitties created and promoted the KittyVerse to promote third-party developers to create these experiences. This resulted in KittyRace, KittyHats and more, but they failed to achieve any significant traction.
6. Intellectual property – In March, CryptoKitties announced the launch of "celebrity kitties" with Curry Kitty (Steph Curry) as the first in the lineup. After a bit of confusion and communication problems, Axiom Zen, the creator of CryptoKitties, was threatened with a lawsuit for violating the NDA. Axiom Zen hoped to clarify the open programmability component of third parties and preserve the value of NFT with the launch of the NIFTY license. This caused some noise in the community and eventually led the team to explore other methods of value acquisition.
7. What are the perspectives for CryptoKitties? – Recently the CryptoKitties team has raised another $ 15 million. Dapper Labs (the new entity behind CryptoKitties) is now building new blockchain gaming experiences and tools with their new funding. Some of the investors on the list include Samsung Next, aXiomatic Gaming and William Morris Endeavor, a talent.While agency the team has not released exact details on their plan, given the list of investors we could expect partnerships with main brands. Niantic Labs, the studio behind Pokémon Go, also announced a $ 200 million C series, also had a Xiomatic and Samsung game as part of the raise, similar to the revival of Dapper Labs. This could bode something much bigger to come.
8. Tools for better user experiences – The most pressing problem of non-fungible tokens was the need to use MetaMask and have ethereum on hand to complete transactions. Others have noted, like Bitski, the creation of a lockbox for users' digital assets without having to manage their private key. Coinbase Wallet, Vault, Opera and Trust Wallet (owned by Binance) have also released dApp browsers to play blockchain games from a phone.
9. Developers crowd the scalability – Because users suffered from a lack of scalability from Ethereum, EOS and WAX were able to share developers. Mythical Games announced an increase of $ 16 million to create blockchain games on EOS and their first title, Blankos. Meanwhile, some blockchain studies are doing business on Plasma like Loom Network and Blockade Games. Blockade Games has announced a $ 13 million loan to build its flagship Neon District title on top of the Loom plasma implementation.
10. Title to watch: Gods Unchained –The blockchain game supported by Coinbase Gods Unchained has come out of the carpentry this year from the Fuel Games studio game. The studio dipped his fingers into the water with a game called EtherBots at the start of the year, but quickly understood the limitations of chain gameplay without scalability. God Unchained is a trading card game that uses NFT but with off-the-wall gameplay. Users can still really own their digital assets without having to worry about "nerfing" or "buffing" cards in the game. Whenever a player buys a package, some funds are sent to the tournament prize pool. The jackpot is already over $ 300,000 for the game that has yet to be released.

2019 predictions

1. Stablecoins will hide the blockchain –A battle between centralized and decentralized players is expected next year. It will more than likely be that stablecoins such as the USD-C of CENTER Foundation and MakerDAO Dai will become key to the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. Users will begin to earn in platforms, users will cash in stablecoins. All digital assets will be priced in US dollars instead of ETH or other currencies to facilitate conversion.
2. Intersection of play and work –Mining and consumer targeting services will confuse the lines between play and work. Users will know how much they can earn in a certain period of time. As liquidity begins to build in blockchain games, users will know exactly how much they can earn to play for a set period of time.
3. Celebrities and digital products –This year the technological space of the consumer has seen an influx of app for avatars. Snapchat doubled on Bitmoji, Genies raised 10 million dollars and Zepeto reached the top of the app store. Celebrities and sports players will publish their digital material to fans who will guarantee VIP access and offer discounts.

It may take a while before the digital goods live on a blockchain, but it should not be long from now.

Have an opinion of 2018? CoinDesk is looking for proposals for our 2018 under consideration. News via e-mail [at] coindesk.com to learn how to be involved.

Image of CryptoKitties via KittyWagon