A recent result from a conference of global game developers gave statistics that most of the developers didn’t like the idea of bringing Blockchain into gaming. Many game developers and game developing companies voted that they don’t want the intervention of Blockchain in their games and appose cryptocurrency as the mode of payment for Ingame assets. While few say NFTs and Online NFT gaming platforms are affecting the environment, few prove that this is not the case. The total market value of the global gaming industry today is around $204 billion, and it is expected to grow to $435 billion in 2028. This growth will definitely be higher with blockchain technology, Non-Fungible Token, or cryptocurrency getting involved. What is the confusion surrounding the industry, and what are you missing out on? Here is a blog to explain everything.
Non-Fungible Tokens- A quick Run
The concept of the Non-Fungible Token came out in the year 2015. People got to know about them to some extent with crypto punks on Ethereum Blockchain in 2017. There was 10,000 pixelated art which was initially given as an airdrop for anyone who has an Ethereum wallet. But today, Cryptopunks is one of the most expensive Non-Fungible tokens today. Many of the art forms in this collection were sold for millions of dollars.
The concept of NFTs is brought out to look out for the response of the public on the idea of owning digital assets. People were not aware of this idea at the beginning. But later, with the news of Metaverse and other celebrity influences coming out, people actually started buying Digital assets. The NFT boom happened in 2021. The sales volume of NFTs went to almost $25 billion that year. This was just under millions the previous year. There is no slowing down in the sales that the 1st quarter of 2022 itself recorded a massive $12 billion sales volume.
NFTs and their Invasion
Since NFTs were introduced to give tradeable ownership of the digital asset, their first invasion started with the Arts Industry. There were many digital artists, photographers, and others who created digital files. In general, these digital artists struggle to Monetize their creations. Non-Fungible Tokens came as a boon to these artists during the pandemic. People started buying this NFT digital art that is unique and rare. The spark lit caught up like a wildfire. Digital art was purchased as a collectible or a tradable asset.
The same year when crypto punk was released on the Ethereum blockchain, an NFT game was also released. Cryptokitties is a game with NFT kittens that the players have to train, breed, and take for battles. When the game was released, there was an overwhelming response for these kittens. The number of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain increased unconditionally, and there was a slow down of the entire network due to congestion.
After the superhit success of the Crypto kitties, game developers and gamers started to turn their attention toward blockchain-based NFT games. That’s right, the next stop of NFTs was to dominate the gaming Industry.
How are NFT games different?
In traditional games, when a player wants to buy an in-game asset, there is no ownership over that item. Though the item is usable only through the gaming account, there is no record or proof of ownership over the asset. The data of ownership is stored by the game developer. It is impossible to get the money back when a player is not interested in the game anymore.
An NFT game is something where the in-game items like avatars, weapons, accessories, clothing, weapon skins, maps, and more are minted as NFTs on the Blockchain. So the digital in-game assets are now NFTs which makes them tradeable. So when a player wants to get back the money spent on a gaming item, it is possible when it is an NFT.
NFT games not only allow the players to buy and sell these in-game NFTs but also rent them to their fellow players.
There are also games that reward the players for every match they play and every match they win. This is mostly done in the form of cryptocurrencies which can be converted into fiat currencies if needed. This has brought the new concept of Play to earn from the existing pay-to-play concept.
The decentralization concept for gaming through the Blockchain is also getting an overwhelming response from the gamers. It is also found that gamers prefer these games over the traditional games for the passive income they get when they do what they love in their leisure time. It is also getting a positive response from the professional gamers community.
The Bottom Line
Though the invasion of NFTs in the gaming industry is still debatable, it is definitely a positive sign for the gaming community. The gamers have complete control over their game and gaming items through these NFT gaming platforms. The concept of NFTs and decentralization in the gaming industry is indeed created a new gaming economy. The gaming ecosystem is getting a new revolution with Blockchain, which is taken on a positive note here. With gaming giants like Gamestop, UbiSoft, and more entering the world of NFTs, the future that it has for the industry will be a masterstroke.
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