Web3 gaming, against all odds, is not being adopted by traditional gamers. This is not because of digital ownership, everyone loves that. This is also not because of the bad rep that NFTs have with some of the general population.
It comes down to two facts:
- Web3 games in general are not fun, the only incentive to play these games again is to earn.
- Onboarding traditional gamers is becoming harder and harder because NFTs and the game’s tokens are being forced upon these gamers.
In this article, I will go as in-depth as possible to explain why web3 gaming is failing and how to fix the issue.
Making Games better
Web3 games are not fun. Now that, taken out of context, can cause a lot of people to get angry really fast. I want to make this clear, there are fun Web3 games, such as ev.io, a combination of Halo and Call of Duty where if you hold an ev.io genesis skin you can earn the games token, this can be boosted by holding an ev.io genesis weapon skin. This game is a good example of a good game. It is fun, you want to play it for more than earning, and you don’t have to hold an NFT to play the game, the only incentive to buy skin is to earn.
However good games are few and far between, most games in the web3 space make you buy the NFT to play the game, this makes the NFT more expensive and pushes most gamers out of playing the game. Web3 games need to have the ability to be played without owning the NFT that earns you the token.
When talking about the game we can’t only talk about the wonders of web3. Think about it, I’m not familiar with web3 or crypto, I am a gamer though and I have heard about a new game. I then try to learn more about it, so I join the twitter space, already a big step for me. All the hosts are talking about is the NFT, so I look up that. I have to make a Metamask account, then buy crypto most likely using Crypto.com another thing I have to create an account for, then I have to navigate OpenSea. This is why it is so impossible to onboard people, if you want to do anything you have to go through a checklist of tasks. It needs to be the game first, not the NFT.
“I think at its core the term web3 gaming is problematic. when the best games in the world use blockchain, it will boom. Ppl need to stop talking about the technology and just build great games”
-Dr. Jeremy
The Issue with Digital Ownership
When you think of digital ownership something immediately comes to mind. You own something that can’t be taken away from you, in theory. The first hope for this started with buying skins in games, things you own, on your account, but are 100% in control of the game developer to do with what they choose. Good examples of this are the battle royale games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and soon coming out Warzone 2. Logically the next step is to make it so that the player owns the skin, right? There will never be a game that can have its skins totally independent of the game. This is because you buy the skin from the game, and its value is dependent on what the game does. If the game is really good at the start and makes some bad decisions, then the value rises and drops accordingly. This is the issue with digital ownership.
Final Thoughts
In summary, I want to say that overall, I am very high on web3 gaming as a whole, I wrote this because I feel that there is an astronomical amount of improvement to be made but not many people know what to fix or improve. I hope in the future we can get 5-star gaming companies to adopt blockchain technology but right now that seems unlikely. I hope to make more articles like this and I have a couple of ideas lined up.
-Quinn
Dr.Jeremy Twitter: @drjeremynft
ev.io: https://ev.io
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Disclaimer this article is written purely for entertainment and educational purposes nd should not be taken as financial advice in any way.
Do your own research and, if you are seeking a financial advisory, find a professional right for you.