Anyone who has used the internet in the past year is likely to have heard of Web3. Web3 is essentially the next iteration of the internet, for those who are unaware. Along with other cutting-edge technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 5G, and the internet of things, it is a crucial component of the much-heralded metaverse (IoT).
The idea behind Web3 is that it would usher in a decentralised future characterised by user-owned content and permissionless transactions.
Of course, there is still a ways to go before Web3 is entirely usable and open to the general public. However, the technology’s consequences are already being felt in a few industries.
The gaming industry is already noticing the influence of Web3
The gaming business is one of the areas that Web3 is anticipated to have a significant impact on. Web3-like video games and online playgrounds already exist; the best examples are Axie Infinity and Decentraland.
In the three-dimensional realm of Decentraland, players can explore art galleries and museums as well as purchase and build virtual property.
Sorare, a fantasy football game that is becoming more and more well-known, is another example of Web3 gaming. In this game, gamers can purchase football players’ cards from the top leagues across the world using bitcoins. There are different rarities of cards in the game, and the rarer a card is, the more valuable it is.
A marketplace is another feature of the game where players may purchase and sell cards. Recently, a rare card of Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo was sold on Sorare for more than $400,000.
Web3 will alter how video games are monetized
Publishers of video games used to primarily profit on the selling of both physical and digital copies of their titles, as well as any ancillary goods they could think of. A Web3 Development Company has joined the market to make Web3 available to corporate users.
Players’ enjoyment of the games was largely the sole benefit they received from them. Game titles, in-game goods, and even more downloadable material cost gamers a fortune (DLC).
However, as players never truly owned anything they purchased in the game, these games and any in-game things they purchased frequently lost any worth they had as soon as the player finished or became tired of the game.
The traditional monetization paradigm for gaming is about to change with the introduction of Web3 and its accompanying technologies, such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Blockchains are immutable ledgers that securely log each network transaction and permit the development of NFTs.
When it comes to nearly everything, including in-game items like weapons, costumes, avatars, and virtual land, NFTs represent distinctive and verifiable data that is attached to it. NFT-based game items can be transferred between platforms using Web3 and sold to other players in auxiliary marketplaces.
Some Web3 games may also provide players with the chance to generate passive revenue by staking and cultivating in-game cryptocurrency.
A significant principle that will counterbalance the unfairness that has long existed in the gaming industry is that players should receive real financial incentives for the time and effort they invest in games. Additionally, it will serve as a comparatively risk-free way to introduce millions of people to cryptocurrency.
Web3 will increase the variety of revenue streams available to developers. Developers will be able to manage in-game marketplaces and peer-to-peer trade, as well as a variety of in-game purchases. These markets’ operations would offer game makers an unlimited source of income. By consistently adding new NFT materials as the games improve, web3 game producers could increase the revenue from their games.
Future of gaming will be in web-3 communities
As we enter the era of the metaverse, broad, custom game-publishing platforms that unite game communities and developers will mark the next stage in the evolution of gaming.
The idea is still in its early stages, but a few ventures are emerging to get a foothold in what looks to be a lucrative market for investors, developers, and gamers.
Iskra is one such initiative laying the groundwork for such merged gaming communities. Web3 Game Development will aid both game designers and gamers in their Web3 endeavours. There is anticipation that Web3 will house gaming communities rather than gaming monopolies thanks to new platforms like Iskra.
New guidelines to manage the Web3 gaming space
The onus is now on game creators to produce entertaining games since, despite the possibility of financial reward, players won’t swarm to a dull and uninteresting title. As we move forward, Web3 game makers should think about design tenets that respect the Web3 spirit, which is predicated on the idea that all stakeholders must be equitably valued and rewarded.
Games must be free, fair, transparent, and intrinsically decentralised in order to ensure an equitable distribution of rewards between players and developers. As a requirement for income, web3 games should decouple playing from paying.
More games in the Web3 era ought to move away from the outdated pay-to-win business model, in which users pay real money to gain benefits in-game. Due to the requirement that players without access to money work harder and longer in order to advance in games, this paradigm rendered gaming less enjoyable and discriminatory. They were quickly passed by their paying rivals at the same time.
The introduction of Web3 should also result in a previously unheard-of degree of transparency in the gaming industry. A gambling platform should be required to publicly disclose any pertinent financial information. It should also be made clear how a system creates money and how the money is divided.
Conclusion
The fair distribution of rewards between players and developers that Web3 is intended to achieve should foster trust, boost participation, and open up new revenue streams for gaming communities.
Because Web3 is based on decentralisation, it is predicted that games built with it will use blockchains to record and validate gameplay data and in-game transactions. Web3-based games can create decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) for themselves so that their communities can be effectively involved in ownership and governance.
