The popularity of DeFi has been a major focus in the blockchain development space. The platforms have attracted billions in capital, and many see the space as the next frontier for finance. However, blockchain gaming may overtake DeFi in the coming years and will gamify finance to a level people aren't yet able to imagine.
Blockchain gaming uses established gaming interfaces and adds the same technology that underpins cryptocurrencies to provide genuine ownership of digital assets. The assets that players in these games own can be sold on the open market, and in-game currencies can also be used in the real world. Think about it like a game of Monopoly – but the money is real. This is definitely an attractive way to encourage people to play blockchain-based games.
So far this play-to-earn model has been very successful and is attracting a large amount of attention from high-level game devs and investors. Blockchain gaming can also foster a strong collaborative community for its players, which motivates more people to get involved in the industry. Moving around money isn’t much of a fun hobby, but people love games.
NFTs Aren't Limited to Art
Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a very flexible digital asset format that can hold just about any kind of data. The NFTs market has shocked the art world with the massive rise in NFT sales in 2021. Most of these NFTs are some form of artistic work, and blockchain-based likely isn't impacting the market yet. According to the Economic Times, NFT sales totaled more than $2.5 billion in the first half of 2021, and are now logging $1.24 billion every quarter, with 10,000 to 20,000 new accounts registered every week.
A digital collage created by Beeple which sold at Christie's in March for $69.3 million was the most expensive ever NFT sale so far. Since then, no known NFT sale has come close to this amount, yet auction houses continue to sell NFTs for millions of dollars.
But there are many new use cases in the world of NFTs. Many communities are being empowered by these tokens, as they can be shared globally, and there are no gatekeepers to the network. Others seek to create widespread awareness for causes and raise funds for charities on a protected platform. Some platforms use NFTs to represent real-world items in e-commerce, and some are even putting music into them
NFT Gaming is The Big Fish
Blockchain gaming presents a fundamental shift in the gaming industry and user experience. NFTs and blockchain technology create huge financial advantages for both creators and players. Game assets are now ownable, personal collectibles, and we have seen how quickly these NFT collectibles can become highly valuable.
In blockchain gaming, NFTs can be used to contain characters, weapons, and other tradable commodities. All of these items can be traded on decentralized exchanges, and may even be compatible with multiple gaming platforms in the future.
Players can sell their NFTs in-game to other collectors and players or earn play-to-earn tokens that, while not unique, can also be used as cash in the decentralized economy. With more people looking for an online income, these blockchain-based gaming platforms offer a lot of potentials, as well as real-world success stories like Axie Infinity.
The amount of money a person can make playing an NFT game is determined by the mechanics of the game as well as market demand for the tokens they earn. In some cases these tokens need to be traded for a major token, like Bitcoin, to be used as cash. In other cases, they can be spent directly on the local economy.
New players who don't have much experience with blockchain gaming may not fully understand both the upsides and risks in this industry. Unfortunately, there are fraudsters in the industry, as there are few regulations in the blockchain gaming space.
To avoid being scammed, community building is key. A social platform that specializes in providing a guide for popular NFT games like Gamerse may be worth a look, especially if a player is both new to cryptos and blockchain gaming. Having a social network built around NFT gaming will synchronize players to gaming studios as well as players to players. This will strengthen and streamline information sharing and weed out the bad actors before they can begin. Other features, such as the drop calendar and discover page, help steer players towards the legitimate NFT drops from genuine projects.
There are also other options, like Reddit, which also may be helpful. It may also be worth looking into blockchain gaming Telegram groups – but be careful – there are loads of grifters who steer people wrong on these open forums.
Potentially Larger Than DeFi
Bitcoin was an incredible innovation. However, Bitcoin is essentially just an asset. Gaming is a massive market that attracts people of all ages, and from almost everywhere on the planet. People love games, and the idea that their hard-earned loot will actually have value is a powerful concept. All of the time and effort we spend gaming typically goes to waste aside from the enjoyment gained. To combine income and passion is everyone’s dream.
Many DeFi platforms have been able to raise development capital by selling tokens, and this exact same model can be used to finance game development. But unlike DeFi platforms, games can be interacted with every day. Decentralized tokens simply don't have the same kind of appeal. It is easy to see how a mutually beneficial relationship can emerge in the blockchain gaming space. Gaming studios can finance development with NFT sales, and gamers can earn money after buying in. Win-win.
Disclaimer: The author holds tokens in the above-mentioned companies. The opinions in this article belong to the author alone and should not be considered investment advice.
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