Few people expected that the advent of blockchain technology would usher in a new era for gaming. Fueled by a relentless wave of hype and innovation, countless blockchain games have rolled off the production line in recent years as both crypto-native and web2 studios have been caught in the act.
It is perhaps not surprising that as this new era unfolds, entrepreneurs and game developers have taken inspiration from the successful concepts, patterns and models of the traditional gaming world. And in fact, this is not a bad thing. Whether breakthroughs in web3 gaming are achieved by innovators and trailblazers, or mere pragmatists adapting and building on what came before is immaterial. Retrofitting web2 concepts with web3 technologies isn’t unique to gaming either: many web3/crypto protocols aren’t so much reinventing the wheel as equipping it with superior technology to make it go faster.
Ultimately, the blockchain gaming industry’s embrace of time-tested concepts is fueling growth, improving user experience and promising to transform the gaming landscape for the better. Here’s how.
Blockchain and gaming: a perfect match
Placing video games on blockchain rails allows developers to enrich the gaming experience by enabling the use of in-game assets and currencies, delivering real ownership and paving the way for a thriving secondary market.
The benefits of this are twofold: First, gamers experience the familiarity of traditional games while accessing new layers of play-to-earn (P2E) capabilities. In addition, a whole new revenue stream is created for developers and players thanks to the opportunity to earn, trade, sell and profit from virtual resources (avatars, skins, weapons, etc.).
While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been unfairly maligned for being difficult macro factors (who said these tokens would hold their value forever?), their integration into games has been a largely positive development. Web3 technology makes it possible to create and store unique, verifiable and tradable in-game items that can be transferred seamlessly across games or platforms. This way gamers can be rewarded in real terms for their gaming efforts.
Tokenization of items such as virtual land and swords creates scarcity and uniqueness in gaming, making items more coveted and trackable. Gamers can now invest in virtual goods that can increase in value over time, adding a fascinating economic dimension to the overall experience.
It must be said that virtual goods are not a web3 concept: Iron Realms Entertainment auctioned a ton of digital items to players of his multi-user dungeon (MUD) game Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands way back in 1997. What web3 games do is build on this concept and bring blockchain into play to create an open and transparent market.
Player Power: The Rise of DAOs, Guilds and P2E
In-game assets aren’t the only thing blockchain games have adapted from web2. They have also thrown guilds into the fold.
Organized groups of players, also known as guilds, clans, or factions, have formed around video games for decades, particularly those in the first-person shooter (FPS), massively multiplayer (MMO), and role-playing (RPG) genres. Guilds proliferated as the reach of online gaming grew and dedicated websites and forums sprang up en masse. The problem was that video game development and management remained largely centralized in the hands of web2 studios and publishers.
Web3 gaming has changed that by embracing the concept of DAOs – decentralized autonomous organizations – to empower guilds through community-driven decision-making and consensus. Gaming DAOs have given a voice to disparate player communities, allowing them to influence game development, contribute to content, and even allocate pooled Treasury resources to minigames, tournaments, NFT coins, and events.
Regular elections, meanwhile, ensure that every player’s opinion matters. This democratic approach has led to increased player engagement, trust and loyalty, creating a symbiotic relationship between developers and their communities.
The play-to-earn model itself is also a direct adaptation of the web2 concept to reward players for their investment of time and skill. In web2, rewards were largely limited to bragging about the level you could reach or the in-game resources (for which there was no marketplace) you could collect. Blockchain technology, however, allows players to earn as they progress through a game, receiving meaningful rewards for completing challenges and reaching milestones.
This groundbreaking model turns the traditional gaming monetization strategy on its head. Players have evolved from mere consumers to active participants in a game’s ecosystem. The DAO revolution has democratized gaming, while the emergence of P2E has provided opportunities for players to derive real value from their gameplay.
Blockchain with a purpose
Blockchain for the sake of blockchain is, of course, a completely different proposition. And without naming names, there are certainly some web3 games that aren’t nearly as decentralized as they claim. For web3 to really flourish, there must be method and usability. Blockchain, NFTs, governance tokens and the rest have to add real value to players – otherwise they are just gaudy bells and whistles.
Fortunately, we have plenty of examples of games that do just that. It is impossible to imagine a collectible trading card game NBA Top shot be popular without the blockchain (in this case, for example, the Flow blockchain). Top Shot allows basketball fans to buy, sell, and trade NFTs of NBA-themed digital collectibles such as video highlights: Could it thrive without fast transaction speeds, low fees, and an open marketplace? Probably not.
Base again is another game that reflects the blockchain-for-a-purpose ethos. Described as an AR adventure and lifestyle app, it’s essentially a web3 iteration of Pokémon Go: instead of playing to earn, ‘find to earn’. The premise is that any type of digital asset, be it crypto, NFT or in-game item, can be geotagged to a specific H3 coordinate anywhere in the world. In this way, Rebase breaks down barriers between the physical and digital worlds, gamifying the NFT mining experience and helping users start using it IRL.
Immersive metaverses like The sandpit And Strange worlds, meanwhile, use web3 technology to encourage and tokenize user-generated content and facilitate the trade of digital goods and land. Events hosted in metaverses would be difficult to run without web3 wallets and NFT tickets.
Last thought
The decision of the blockchain gaming industry to replicate successful concepts, patterns and models from the web2 world has proven to be a master stroke. By harnessing the power of distributed ledger technology and integrating it with established gaming ideals, impressive results have been achieved. Let’s hope this commitment to mixing old and new continues as the gaming landscape evolves.