Every day, new ways of using blockchain technology are discovered in the world. Although most people when they hear the term ‘blockchain’ first think of Bitcoin and finance, this technology actually encompasses far more than those two niches.
You may already know that agricultural companies, energy companies, as well as the art world are largely integrating blockchain into their businesses. However, there is another sector that joins them: online gaming.
Numerous cryptocurrency projects are taking their joysticks into their hands, so to speak, and some of the biggest names in the industry are contributing with their support. In this article, we will reveal to you how blockchain technology finds its way into the online gaming market worth more than $ 50 billion.
Blockchain Technology Makes It Easier to Own ‘Real’ Virtual Goods
The virtual goods market is currently full of scams. Lack of trust in the market leads to the emergence of divided, centralized trading platforms that often charge excessive fees when exchanging funds. In addition, abruptly stopping the gaming platforms can cause someone’s hard-earned assets to suddenly become worthless.
WAX and Enjin Coin present two projects that are transforming ownership of virtual goods, albeit in somewhat different ways:
- WAX, short for Worldwide Asset eXchange, is a decentralized platform that can be used to build virtual markets. Created by the courtesy of the OPSkins team, this platform uses WAX tokens to allow the exchange of any type of virtual assets for a cryptocurrency. Although they target the online gaming sector, they emphasize that you can tokenize any type of virtual goods on the platform.
- Enjin Coin takes blockchain-based ownership one step further by creating and managing assets directly on the Ethereum blockchain. Using the platform, gaming communities create currencies, items, and even attributes that are supported by Enjin Coin. This project also includes a Smart Wallet through which it is possible to exchange goods across different gaming platforms.
Gaming Platforms Use Blockchain Technology for Payments
As in other industries, traditional gaming payment systems are usually slow, cumbersome, and expensive. They can also cause the poor distribution of wealth ecosystems, as intermediaries and large suppliers benefit most from these inefficiencies.
Here, we must not allow a misunderstanding. E-wallets are considered neither traditional nor slow payment systems so they do not fall into this group. E-wallets are especially suitable for handling funds at online bookmakers who compete against each other in allowing as many as possible digital means of payments. Online bookies are constantly reviewed on specialized platforms, such as the best PayPal bookmakers at Bookmaker-Expert.com, in terms of allowing e-wallets and in terms of how many of them they enabled.
In the case of cryptocurrency payments, in-app purchases are facilitated as players can directly make micropayment transfers to game developers. There is no longer a need for intermediaries in these transactions. The security and immutability of blockchain technology are enough to facilitate this type of exchange even without established trust.
Blockchain technology is also useful in the distribution of games. Instead of publishing in a centralized market such as the Apple App Store, game developers can reach consumers directly through a decentralized market. As they skip intermediaries again, developers pay only a fraction of what they would normally pay for sales fees.
For example, the company GameCredits has built this type of payment system. The project aims to become the only payment system in the online gaming industry. You can use GAME, the cryptocurrency of this project, to pay for games and make purchases within it. GameCredits also include Gplay, a decentralized app store that pays 90 % of its sales revenue directly to game developers.
Developers Create Blockchain-Based Games
You may already know about CryptoKitties, as well as dozens of other games where something is collected on the blockchain. However, blockchain technology is also used for something more than cute, digital animals.
Decentraland is a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain. In essence, it is a virtual world in which you can own a part of it. You buy land in the world of Decentraland, and the ownership record is recorded on the Ethereum network. You are free to do whatever you want with your land. Over time, each player will build their digital real estate by creating an entire virtual universe along with businesses, services, and social activities. The only limit is the imagination of the players on the platform.
Blockchain Technology Turns Real Life Into a Game
Some projects blur the boundaries between virtual and real reality. This trend began with the emergence of augmented reality games, such as Pokémon Go, and continues in the blockchain. Due to the smooth nature of cryptocurrencies, you can receive cash rewards for real-world activities, and you can spend those rewards on a variety of virtual platforms.
Experience Points is just one project that makes this possible. It starts by offering incentives on online gaming platforms but there are also plans to expand it to the real world. Here is how it works: when you perform certain tasks, you earn XP, the original tokens of this platform that you can exchange for items and services within the game. These tasks can range from unlocking an achievement in a game (virtually) to get an A on a math test (physically). The mission of the team behind this is to turn life into a game and reward you for everyday experiences.
Blockchain Promotes Sports Betting
Just as in the case of gambling in casinos, eSport betting benefits from blockchain technology, too. This technology creates a safe, low-fee betting ecosystem beyond the control of the central body. This opens up jurisdictions that are seriously strict in terms of betting on an entirely new gambling market.
The most significant project that deals with this idea is Unikrn, a startup backed by the famous Mark Cuban. This project uses Unicoin Gold cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange for sports betting on the platform. Unicorn raised about $ 31 million during the initial coin offering (ICO) in October 2017.
Conclusion
As you can see, blockchain technology affects almost every aspect of the online gaming world. It tokenizes virtual goods, improves betting and payment systems, and drives progress for the series of new types of games. Still, this is just the beginning. As the blockchain industry evolves, online gaming will evolve along with it, bringing a whole new set of gaming innovations.
